Chair
Susan Davis, Common Enterprise Development Corporation
Past Chair and Leadership Circle Representative
Madeline Schultz, Iowa Alliance for Cooperative Business Development
Vice Chair
Elaine Cranford, Nebraska Cooperative Development Center
Secretary
Kate Smith, Keystone Development Center
Treasurer
Diane Gasaway, Northwest Cooperative Development Center
Member at-large
Myra Bryant, Mississippi Center for Cooperative Development
Susan Davis, a cooperative development and communication specialist with Common Enterprise Development Corporation, is the 2008/09 chair of CooperationWorks. Davis was elected by the members during the cooperative’s annual meeting in September 2008 in Jackson, Miss. She will lead the member-owned service cooperative for a year.
“I’ve been involved with CW since 2001 and I’m excited to have the opportunity to chair this unique cooperative,” Davis says.
Davis, who lives in Mandan, N.D., has more than 25 years of experience in the communications, management and cooperative development field. Her work for CEDC includes providing technical assistance to business enterprises; grant writing and reporting; public relations; and writing and editing services. CEDC, with offices in Mandan, ND and Hannover, MN, provides education, training and technical assistance to those wanting to form member-owned enterprises in rural areas.
Davis is a certified cooperative communicator and completed the national cooperative development specialist training program through CooperationWorks. This involved participating in three separate workshops.
Susan earned a bachelor’s degree in university studies with an emphasis on business and has a master’s degree in management. Besides her formal education, Davis says she has learned a lot through her involvement with CooperationWorks.
“CW is made up of hard-working professionals who truly care about people,” she says. “The depth and diverse talent we have in CW is amazing and exciting.”
Other new officers elected at CW’s annual meeting are Elaine Cranford, vice chair; Kate Smith, secretary; and Diane Gasaway, treasurer. In addition, Myra Bryant was elected to an “at-large” position on the Leadership Circle, which is made up of the officers. Madeline Schultz, past chair, is also a member of the Leadership Circle.
Elaine Cranford: Cranford is a cooperative business development specialist with the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center. She began her work there in October 2002 as a student intern. During her internship, her main focus was local food systems. She coordinated several “all Nebraska” meals across the state and worked with local farmers and ranchers in building a Web site where local foods and services could be purchased. Since January 2004 Cranford has been working full time with the NCDC, and has had the opportunity to expand her area of focus. In addition to local foods, she has been providing technical assistance to cooperatives and groups throughout the state who have been building their businesses, and also for those who are just in the beginning stages.
Cranford graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003 with a bachelor of arts degree in environmental studies, with an emphasis in anthropology.
Kate Smith: Smith is the executive director of the Keystone Development Center in Flinton, Penn. This nonprofit organization provides technical assistance and seed money to emerging and nascent groups in the process of forming cooperatives. Her responsibilities include providing technical assistance on feasibility analysis and business plan development along with other organizational development support. Duties include the administration of the Keystone Development Center (KDC) and the Keystone Development Center Foundation.
In addition to her work at KDC, Smith provides both qualitative and quantitative research services to a variety of clients. Smith has a doctorate degree economics from Iowa State University.
Diane Gasaway: Gasaway has been the executive director of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC) at Olympia, Wash., since 2003. Together with the NWCDC board of directors, she has been responsible for building the agency into what it is today. Gasaway’s specialty is strategic planning, co-op education, co-op development, grant administration and budget management for a multitude of projects. She has 13 years of financial employment background and holds a master’s degree in public administration (with a co-op emphasis) from The Evergreen State College in Olympia.
Myra Bryant: Bryant is the director of the Mississippi Center of Cooperative Development. The Center, through its projects and with its partners, provides rural communities with options and tools for expanding, creating, diversifying, and strengthening cooperatives throughout rural Mississippi.
Madeline Schultz: Madeline Schultz joined the Iowa State University Extension Value Added Agriculture Program (VAAP) in 2003. As a Program Coordinator with VAAP, she helps manage Annie’s Project, a national education program for women in agriculture. Schultz is immediate Past Chair of Cooperation Works!, a nation-wide professional organization for cooperative business developers and serves Iowans through the Iowa Alliance for Cooperative Business Development. She is co-Leader of the e-Xtension Community of Practice for Cooperatives. Her business development activities include value-added business plans, market development, and feasibility studies.
Schultz is a family farmer experienced with diversified livestock and dairy farming. Schultz contributes to the national Agricultural Marketing Resource Center Web site (www.agmrc.org), a virtual library for value-added agriculture. She designs training programs from one day value-added agriculture forums for Iowans to two week intensive agricultural courses for International learners. Schultz is a past advisor of the ISU Student National Agri-Marketing Assoc. and was recognized as the 2007 ISU Mentor of the Year. At Iowa State University Schultz earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Agribusiness and Economics in 2003 and the Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis on Sustainable Agriculture in 2007.