A NEW FUTURE FOR COOPERATIVES
NO HOLDS BARRED (045) December 15, 2009
By Ike Señeres
A NEW FUTURE FOR COOPERATIVES
My son asked me what a cooperative is, and I told him in simple terms that a cooperative is just like a corporation, except that in the former, it is one vote per member and in the latter, it is one vote per share. One way or the other, some people tend to look down on cooperatives on one hand. On the other hand, if we start looking at cooperatives as the co-equal of corporations except for the voting method, we can start looking at them with more respect.
Dr. Virginia Teodosio, a UP professor who was formerly the head of the Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA) told me that out of the 30,000 or so cooperatives in the country, about 10,000 of them are already considered as multi-millionaires in terms of assets. There are many ways to gain respect, but if it is only measured in terms of company income, then these rich cooperatives would truly merit our respect.
Admittedly, I was one of those who tended to look down on cooperatives, not out of disrespect, but out of disappointment. Out of the two coops that I joined, I had bad experiences, not being able to collect my dividends on one, and not being able to receive my stock certificates from the other one, despite many attempts. Thanks to Dr. Teodosio, I have now revived my interest in the cooperatives, and I am now looking at them as a source of hope that this country could still move on towards something better.
Dr. Teodosio or “Benji” to his friends is now my co-host in “Bears & Bulls”, our daily business show in the Global News Network (GNN). She is the now the host of the “Coop Hour” every Tuesday from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. The response from the cooperative community has been tremendous. Since then, we have attracted many community leaders, in a way forming a new solid alliance to move the movement forward.
In a manner of speaking, cooperative companies (yes, they are in effect companies too) could be considered as democratic institutions, because the open window for people to invest in small amounts has a democratizing effect, giving a chance for small investors who are in effect shut out or excluded from big investments in the corporate companies.
In the same manner that corporations could invest in any business of their choice, cooperatives too could invest in any business and could provide any service, as long as they are licensed to do so, just like the corporations. It is because of this reason that many cooperatives have graduated from the usual model of operating grocery stores and canteen concessions, and are now into more profitable and more respectable businesses, so to speak.
How could the cooperative movement become a force in national development? Looking at the broad side, cooperatives are somehow in the middle of the corporations that are offering high priced services with high value but are beyond the reach of the mainstream market, and the government agencies that are offering services that are free, but have low value. In other words, cooperatives have a built-in niche market for services with low prices but have high values.
For example, some cooperatives are now operating primary and secondary schools that have better quality than the public schools, but are charging lower than the other private schools. And of course, the parents who are also the members could have the added benefit of earning patronage rebates from the expenses, aside from the dividends that they would get.
Basing it on the good experiences of the cooperatives in the education business so far, it would be a good idea for cooperatives to run clinics and hospitals as well, following the same idea of providing high value services with low prices, and with rebates and dividends to boot. Would this not totally bring down the costs of health care? Of course, they could also run their own drugstores, thereby bringing down the costs of medicines too.
Being in the technical field, I am now making it my mission to provide affordable technologies to the cooperatives that would enhance their business one way or the other. We are starting with the provision of direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV services, and we are now lining up other technologies such as wireless point-of-sale (POS) terminals. The sum total of technologies that we will deliver will hopefully spell a new future not only for the cooperatives, but also for the whole country as well.
Watch my business show 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit senseneres@blogspot.com
By Ike Señeres
A NEW FUTURE FOR COOPERATIVES
My son asked me what a cooperative is, and I told him in simple terms that a cooperative is just like a corporation, except that in the former, it is one vote per member and in the latter, it is one vote per share. One way or the other, some people tend to look down on cooperatives on one hand. On the other hand, if we start looking at cooperatives as the co-equal of corporations except for the voting method, we can start looking at them with more respect.
Dr. Virginia Teodosio, a UP professor who was formerly the head of the Cooperatives Development Authority (CDA) told me that out of the 30,000 or so cooperatives in the country, about 10,000 of them are already considered as multi-millionaires in terms of assets. There are many ways to gain respect, but if it is only measured in terms of company income, then these rich cooperatives would truly merit our respect.
Admittedly, I was one of those who tended to look down on cooperatives, not out of disrespect, but out of disappointment. Out of the two coops that I joined, I had bad experiences, not being able to collect my dividends on one, and not being able to receive my stock certificates from the other one, despite many attempts. Thanks to Dr. Teodosio, I have now revived my interest in the cooperatives, and I am now looking at them as a source of hope that this country could still move on towards something better.
Dr. Teodosio or “Benji” to his friends is now my co-host in “Bears & Bulls”, our daily business show in the Global News Network (GNN). She is the now the host of the “Coop Hour” every Tuesday from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. The response from the cooperative community has been tremendous. Since then, we have attracted many community leaders, in a way forming a new solid alliance to move the movement forward.
In a manner of speaking, cooperative companies (yes, they are in effect companies too) could be considered as democratic institutions, because the open window for people to invest in small amounts has a democratizing effect, giving a chance for small investors who are in effect shut out or excluded from big investments in the corporate companies.
In the same manner that corporations could invest in any business of their choice, cooperatives too could invest in any business and could provide any service, as long as they are licensed to do so, just like the corporations. It is because of this reason that many cooperatives have graduated from the usual model of operating grocery stores and canteen concessions, and are now into more profitable and more respectable businesses, so to speak.
How could the cooperative movement become a force in national development? Looking at the broad side, cooperatives are somehow in the middle of the corporations that are offering high priced services with high value but are beyond the reach of the mainstream market, and the government agencies that are offering services that are free, but have low value. In other words, cooperatives have a built-in niche market for services with low prices but have high values.
For example, some cooperatives are now operating primary and secondary schools that have better quality than the public schools, but are charging lower than the other private schools. And of course, the parents who are also the members could have the added benefit of earning patronage rebates from the expenses, aside from the dividends that they would get.
Basing it on the good experiences of the cooperatives in the education business so far, it would be a good idea for cooperatives to run clinics and hospitals as well, following the same idea of providing high value services with low prices, and with rebates and dividends to boot. Would this not totally bring down the costs of health care? Of course, they could also run their own drugstores, thereby bringing down the costs of medicines too.
Being in the technical field, I am now making it my mission to provide affordable technologies to the cooperatives that would enhance their business one way or the other. We are starting with the provision of direct-to-home (DTH) satellite TV services, and we are now lining up other technologies such as wireless point-of-sale (POS) terminals. The sum total of technologies that we will deliver will hopefully spell a new future not only for the cooperatives, but also for the whole country as well.
Watch my business show 9:00 am to 1:00 pm in Global News Network (GNN), Channel 21 in Destiny Cable. Email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639293605140 for local cable listings. Visit senseneres@blogspot.com
posted by Ike Señeres at 3:14 PM
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