They are a fixture of rural life in not just Grey Bruce and Huron Counties, but right across the province.
They are Co-Operatives.
More than a tenth of Ontario’s population are members of credit unions and co-operatives, and the province’s co-op sectors employing more than 15,500 people.
This is Co-Op Week and the Ontario Co-Operative Association holding its 9th annual meeting in Burlington on Wednesday.
Communications Manager Mark Ventry says Co-op sector staff, board members, developers and stakeholders from all parts of Ontario’s Co-op movement will attend 12 educational forums ranging from ‘Social Media 101’ to ‘Women in the Co-operative Movement.
He says many people associate Co-Ops with rural areas, when in fact they embrace all sectors of the provincial economy.
Ventry says there are agricultural co-ops, energy co-ops, credit unions and artists co-ops.
He says there are more than 13 hundred different co ops in the province which work in their own communities helping not just their members but other people as well.
Ventry says the meeting will also see the handing out of a number of special awards to honour special co op members.
Retired Huron County dairy farmer and former Chair of Gay Lee Foods, Stuart Steckle becomes 2009 Distinguished Co-operator.