Sample News Article
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[NOTE: This sample is drafted as a generic news event. Use this
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Product: Sample News Story
Co-op Type: Producer Co-ops
Use: Run in Internal Member Newsletters, Newspapers,
Magazines
Audience: Members
Survey Finds Americans Support Producer Co-ops & Prefer
Their Products
October is National Cooperative Month, and as co-ops across the
country celebrate their contributions to the nation’s economy,
producer-owned cooperatives have something special to trumpet.
A new national survey of 2,031 adult Americans, released during
an October 1, 2003, press conference in Washington, D.C., found
that an overwhelming majority of Americans support farmer-owned
cooperatives and prefer to buy products produced by them.
Asked whether they agreed that farmer-owned cooperatives help farmers
succeed and strengthen rural communities, more than 80 percent of
Americans agreed that they did. Sixty-nine percent agreed that they
would be more likely to purchase food products grown and/or processed
by a farmer-owned cooperative than those produced by other types
of companies. And 64 percent agreed that food products produced
by farmer-owned cooperatives were of better quality that those produced
by other types of companies.
“This is great news for farmers and ranchers, and the co-ops
they own and govern,” said [co-op CEO or board chair first
and last name.] “It only makes sense that consumers understand
the connection between quality products and ownership by the people
who are growing the crops, milking the cows or raising the cattle.
But these results help confirm what we’ve suspected for many
years: There’s pride in ownership, it shows, and consumers
know it.”
[Spokesperson last name] said it's also reassuring that
even city dwellers understand the value of producer-owned cooperatives
to farmers’ livelihoods and the well being of local communities.
“In the countryside, most folks know about the jobs and opportunities
co-ops create in rural America. It’s reassuring to know that
urban consumers recognize those contributions as well.”
Consumers Prefer Accountable Businesses
In the wake of corporate accountability scandals, the survey also
found that consumers have greater trust in democratically governed
businesses—in other words: co-ops. The survey found that more
than two-thirds believe businesses that are owned and governed by
the people who use their services or buy their goods are more trustworthy
than those that do not.
[spokesperson last name] said farmer-owned cooperatives
have these characteristics.
“This survey shows clearly that consumers want a more responsive,
accountable business alternative to publicly traded corporations
that have made headlines over the past year for fraud and malfeasance,”
[last name of spokesperson] said today.
“They want businesses they can trust and that support their
communities and rural America, rather than enrich Wall Street investors.
Those businesses are co-ops.”
[last name of spokesperson] said there are more than 48,000
cooperatives across the U.S., including [number of local or
state co-ops] in [locality or state.] “These
co-ops already provide consumers with a democratic and accountable
business option,” [last name of spokesperson] said.
“And this survey shows that their trust in and preference
for co-ops far exceeds that for public firms.”
Consumer-Owned Co-ops Score High
Americans also highly rated consumer-owned cooperatives—businesses
like credit unions, food co-ops, housing cooperatives and rural
electric and telephone co-ops—relative to large, publicly
traded corporations.
Survey respondents were given nine positive business attributes
and asked if they agreed or disagreed whether each attribute described
consumer co-ops and investor-owned corporations
More than two-thirds of Americans agreed that consumer co-ops are
ethically governed, while just 45 percent said the same of publicly
traded corporations. More than 75 percent agreed that these co-ops
run their businesses in a trustworthy manner compared to just 53
percent for publicly traded firms.
Asked whether consumer co-ops have the best interests of consumers
in mind when conducting business, 77 percent of Americans agreed
they did. Fewer than half said the same of investor-owned counterparts.
Consumer co-ops also outscored public companies by wide margins
on questions of value, quality, price, and commitment to their communities.
The survey was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, a Princeton,
N.J. polling firm, between July 24-28, 2003. At a 95 percent confidence
level, the maximum expected error is plus or minus two percent.
The survey was sponsored by a coalition of national cooperative
membership associations including the Credit Union National Association,
the National Assn. of Federal Credit Unions, the National Cooperative
Bank, the National Cooperative Business Assn., the National Milk
Producers Assn., the National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn.,
the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, the National
Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation, and the National
Telecommunications Cooperative Assn., in partnership with the Consumer
Federation of America.
Results were released during October, the month in which cooperatives
celebrate their accomplishments.
-end-
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