Northwest Cooperative Development Center Nominated for Economic Courage Award

Economic courage could be defined as a leader, a business, nonprofit and or organization that, while facing economic uncertainty and a radical retraction of “business as usual,” took extraordinary steps to provide a service, a product, and or a support service that made a positive impact to the community and or employees of their organization. These individuals took economic risks to continue providing a service, product and or resource in the face of unprecedented economic uncertainty. Showing the ability to adapt, change and thrive during uncertainty. The Thurston EDC awarded Economic Courage Awards at the Hootenanny on July 19.
Learn more here: https://thurstonedc.com/hootenanny/.

During the past year, Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC) showed Economic Courage and has been nominated for an Economic Courage Award.

We asked Diane Gasaway, Executive Director, to answer some questions about the past year and how the business took extraordinary steps to impact our community positively. Her answers are below.

What year was your business/organization established?

1986

How many employees do you have?

14

Is your reach local, regional or national? 

Regional; NWCDC serves Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

What does your business do? What services do you provide?

NWCDC is a technical assistance provider to the cooperative community in our region, regardless of the sector. Our work encompasses guidance to start-up, conversion, and existing cooperatives. In addition to general business development assistance such as strategic planning, feasibility research, and business systems development, NWCDC provides specific help with establishing democratic governance, access to capital, and ongoing board training.

What specific niche does your business fill in this community?

NWCDC specializes in cooperative business development.

What are some key elements you attribute to your business’s success?

The NWCDC board of directors and staff are passionate about helping people take control of their futures through shared risk and self-determination. NWCDC would not be known if it wasn’t for the efforts of all of our staff to continually reach out to local partners and to develop new programming designs that reach more people.