The 2012 key accomplishments for the Iowa Alliance for Cooperative Business Development (IACBD) is now available for viewing at the following: www.extension.iastate.edu/coops/presentations_publications/2012accomplishments.pdf.

IACBD is located at Iowa State and was initiated in 2003. It is led by Department of Economics faculty members Keri Jacobs (project director), assistant professor of economics and extension specialist for cooperatives; Georgeanne Artz, scientist in economics; Kevin Kimle, Rastetter Chair of Agricultural Entrepreneurship and director of the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative; in addition to Darren Jarboe, program manager for the Center for Crops Utilization Research and the BioCentury Research Farm.

IACBD combines outreach, teaching, and applied research programs to provide rural Iowans with viable alternatives for economic development. The overarching goal of the IACBD is to effectively serve eligible rural areas in the United States and improve the economic conditions of these areas through development, training, and applied research on cooperatives.

Supported by the USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Grants (RCDG) program, its affiliates engage with rural stakeholders, scientists, and industry leaders in agribusiness to address the following primary objectives:

• Conduct training workshops to educate directors, officers, and managers about finance, strategic management, and other issues important to cooperatives and mutually-owned businesses.
• Create educational materials and case examples that startup groups can use to compare the economic and management distinctions between cooperative and investor-oriented firms.
• Use Cooperative Benchmarking Program data to provide cooperatives with benchmark-type reports and charts that allow them to compare their cooperative’s management outcomes with those of their peers.
• Develop and support a pilot program that links student teams studying entrepreneurship with Iowa cooperatives to identify potential business opportunities.
• Develop educational materials for small fruit and vegetable growers to assist them with production efficiency and growth.

Through IACBD, graduate students in the Department of Economics are supported with research assistantships and have used the opportunity to develop research related to financing and management of cooperatives, as well as machinery and labor sharing arrangements. Undergraduate agricultural business students in the department are able to connect with agribusinesses and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities as part of their curriculum. IACBD’s work supports the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ mission to conduct mission-oriented applied research and to share the knowledge and outcomes with our stakeholders.