The best kept secret about credit unions might be theopportunities that exist in partnering with other localcooperatives.

Consider the statistics. Globally, the largest 300 cooperativeshave collective revenues of $1.6 trillion. In the United States,a recent Filene Research Institute and National Credit UnionFoundation report entitled Quantifying the Business Case forCredit Unions and Other Cooperatives revealed thatcooperatives' assets totaled $1.754 billion. A breakdown ofthose assets revealed $346 billion were non-financial cooperatives,$1.126 billion were credit unions and $282 billion were otherfinancial cooperatives that were owned, at least in part, bynon-financial cooperatives.

With shared principles of service to members, credit unions andtheir community cooperatives working together to build mutuallybeneficial relationships would be a no-brainer.

Yet there seems to be a disconnect; even in Wisconsin, with itslong history of cooperatives.

According to Holly Fearing, social media advisor at FileneResearch Institute and board member of natural foods cooperativeWilly Street Coop, a combination of ideological misconceptions andlip service have created stumbling blocks to collaborativeefforts.

“There's this mentality among cooperatives here in Madison thatcredit unions are very corporate, too similar to banks, and don'tget the mission of cooperatives,” she said. “As for credit unions,they don't necessarily understand the structure of workercooperatives. You can't treat cooperatives like a run of the millbusiness partnership.”

Worker cooperatives find themselves unable to turn to a creditunion for a loan because of underwriting challenges. When WillyStreet Coop was looking to pilot a Local Vendor Loan Fund tosupport the continued growth of its local food producers/vendorswith loans in the $25,000 to $75,000 range, it wasn't a creditunion that stepped up for a partnership but Slow Money Wisconsin,Forward Community Investments and UW-Extension's Food FinanceInstitute.

Slow Money Wisconsin is a 501(c)3 that connects those interestedin investing in local food enterprises and sustainable farms witharea farms and food entrepreneurs that are looking forinvestments.

To Fearing, while supporting cooperatives may be a challenge,the potential rewards are worth the effort.

“We all talk about cooperation among cooperatives and itfrustrates me because it feels a bit like lip service if our givingback to the community is simply the checks we write to charities,”she said. “We have to take an honest look and ask if we are reallydoing anything to fulfill our mission. How are we living the sevencooperative principles? If our mission is to support thecooperative industry then it's up to us to balance the ROI and hardnumbers with a bit of a risk and leap of faith to find meaningfulways to help our local cooperatives succeed.”

For example, the $226 million Heartland CreditUnion's Go Local initiative highlights the relationship between thecredit union and local communities. An Own It campaign thatfeatured some 20 different video stories of the local cooperativebusiness has not only helped foster deeper relationships but alsoopened the door to business opportunities and partnerships.

“It's an educational process that takes time,” Robin Marohn,vice president marketing and business development at theMadison-based Heartland said. “We reached small egg and dairyfarmers through our relationship with different farmcooperatives.”

He added that the value of being endorsed by farm co-ops hashelped open doors to farmers and producers who prefer to dobusiness with a financial cooperative.

For the past four years, the $2 billion Summit Credit Union inMadison has celebrated Madison area cooperatives through Co-opConnection. The number of visitors to the popular event has swelledto over 4,000 with more than 26 cooperatives participating lastyear, including Heartland and Dane County Credit Union.Participating cooperatives each get their own booth and haveopportunities to engage and educate locals about the cooperativebusiness model and how it helps boost the local economy. Focused onthe role Summit will play in the communities it serves, the eventhas been just one piece of an ongoing dialogue with communityleaders to better understand achievement gaps and identify wherethe challenges exist in the community.

“I think that credit unions and cooperatives can get past thisweird ideological barrier by getting together to talk about thewhys behind their volunteering their time. Once in a room together,suddenly there's this epiphany of we both care about the well beingof our staff, what happens in the community, dollars staying localand the bigger picture economic factors. Get them in a roomtogether and they find they share common ground despite the waythey may operate their individual businesses,” Fearing said.

In Vancouver, British Columbia, Vancity Credit Union hasbeen using its $18.6 billion in assets to help improve thefinancial well-being of its members while helping to develophealthy communities that are socially, economically andenvironmentally sustainable.

During a session at the 2014 CU Water Cooler Symposium, WilliamAzaroff, director of business and community development at Vancity,explained that by staying curious about what's happening inmembers' lives and in the community has opened doors to businessesand partnership that bring value to Vancity and members alike.

“Look at the landscape and find out what's really going on anddiscover the hidden markets in your community,” he said. “When youthink about the genesis stories of credit unions and cooperatives,no one ever started a co-op who wasn't pissed off. So relook atthose values upon which you were founded, which are timeless andapply them to the troubles and opportunities happening in yourcommunities.”

The credit union has been focused on taking a long-termview of what is happening in the economy by looking beyond thefinancial markets to the production of goods and services thatimpact people's lives. The values based banking has helped thecredit union post strong 2014 results attracting nearly 27,000 newmembers and increased assets from $17.5 billion to $18.6billion.