Montana Credit Union Network Vice President to Help Set Up Rural Co-ops

HELENA, Mt. – As it makes the switch to non-profit status and continues its search for a new home, the Montana Cooperative Development Center also has a new governing board. Scott Morrison, assistant vice president of marketing and communications for the Montana Credit Union Network, was recently elected treasurer of MCDC, a statewide resource center that helps develop co-ops in rural Montana. Morrison will assist with the establishment of cooperative enterprises that incorporate some of the state’s natural resources including agricultural, forestry, energy and mineral products. Montana Department of Agriculture officials have asked Montana cooperatives and cooperative-supportive organizations for proposals to permanently house the MCDC by Jan. 1, 2004. Three recent bids to house and provide support for the cooperative came up short. The center also hopes to add two additional employees for a total of four once it gets its own space and begins operating as a nonprofit, officials said. MCDC’s budget consists of nearly $280,000 in federal money and approximately $60,000 in state money. Rich Owen, a former director of CHS Inc., the nation’s largest cooperative marketer of grain and oilseed, was elected MCDC’s president; Brooks Dailey of the Montana Farmers Union was selected as vice president and Walter Coffman of the Montana Council of Cooperatives was named secretary.