OFUFFC Partners

OFU Family Farm Center

Center for Innovative Food Technology

New Agrarian Center

Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy

The Ohio Farmers Union Cooperative Development Center is a collaborative partnership between the Ohio farmers Union Family Farm Center located in Ottawa, OH; Oberlin College and the North East Ohio Foodshed Coalition, located in Oberlin, OH; the Center for Innovative Food Technology, located in Toledo, OH; and the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, located in Peninsula, OH. OFUCDCis coordinated and administered by John Ellerman, Executive Director of Ohio Farmers Union Family Farm Center, but all four partnersare involved in the decision making process through monthly meetings, weekly conference calls, and daily communications through email and telephone. OFUCDC functions as a cooperative and collaborative effort.

The above collaborative partnership provides an enormous amount of knowledge, experience and resources in rural development; cooperative development; value added processing/marketing development; marketing, distribution, and market infrastructure development; renewable energy development; cooperative housing development; cooperative development outreach, technical assistance delivery, and education; and cooperative center management. With additional resources OFUCDC will establish two cooperative value-added incubators, one renewable energy/broadband access incubator, two beginning farmer incubators, and add cooperative development to marketing/distribution initiatives already in progress through the NE Ohio Foodshed Coalition and CIFT’s efforts in NW Ohio. OFUCDC will also provide resources to agricultural, renewable energy and broadband access efforts under way at the Ohio Farmers Union, cooperative housing efforts, and any other cooperative related initiatives as requested.

All four partners provide resources and experiences that add to the viability of Ohio Farmers Union Cooperative Development Center. Key personnel from the partners are Rebecca Singer and Paula Ray from CIFT, Brad Masi from NEOFC, Darwin Kelsey and Kari Moore from CVCC, and John Ellerman OFUFFC. The four partnersand staff bring many years of experience in cooperative and association development, value added processing, cooperative student housing, marketing, food distribution, and renewable energy development. They also provide well developed networks of clientele and relationships with other initiatives and projects throughout Ohio.