Twenty-five years building mutually owned, democratically controlled businesses that keep wealth and opportunity in rural western Montana.
The Cooperative Development Center helps individuals and communities start, grow, and sustain cooperative businesses. Cooperatives are enterprises owned and democratically controlled by their members, with profits shared equitably among the people who use them.
We've spent over 25 years making that model work in rural western Montana. Whether you're a group of farmers looking to share equipment and markets, a community trying to save a local business, or workers ready to own their workplace, we have the experience to guide you through every step.
Support across the full cooperative lifecycle, from the first conversation to long-term sustainability.
We guide founding groups through vision development, feasibility analysis, model design, legal formation, and launch, turning a shared idea into a real business.
Membership development, capital fundraising strategies, board governance coaching, and strategic planning to help established cooperatives build lasting resilience.
Helping business owners transition to cooperative ownership, a proven path for succession planning that keeps businesses rooted in their communities.
Access to cooperative-focused loan packages through Mission West's Business Development Center, plus guidance on capitalization strategies and member investment structures.
Workshops, retreats, and board governance programs that build the leadership capacity and shared knowledge cooperatives need to thrive.
Connections to specialized legal, HR, and accounting expertise, and a network of cooperative development organizations across the region.
From the first conversation through long-term operation, here's what working with the CDC looks like in practice.
Twenty-five years of cooperatives that are still operating, still growing, and still rooted in this region.
Montana’s first consumer-owned cooperative brewery, developed by Mission West as part of a downtown revitalization campaign.
When a regional USDA-inspected meat processing facility faced closure, Mission West guided local producers to form a co-op and purchase it, saving essential infrastructure for family-scale ranching.
A democratic, member-owned space for area residents to perform, practice, and enjoy music together, built from a shared vision among friends.
A partnership of farmer-owned cooperatives delivering a complete catalog of local food to regional communities year-round, under Mission West’s leadership.
The CoBuild Montana Summit brings founders, entrepreneurs, cooperatives, economic developers, and community leaders from across the state to the University of Montana for three days focused on building values-based businesses and ventures that solve real Montana challenges. This year’s focus areas include employee ownership, affordable housing, entrepreneurship, food systems, rural health, biocarbon, and energy, with […]
Event details →Whether you're starting fresh, converting an existing business, or strengthening a cooperative you already run, our team will follow up within one business day.
