News – Virginia Cooperative Council

Rockingham Cooperative to host March 2, 2023 Annual Meeting

Joe Guthrie, Commissioner of the Virginia Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services, will be keynote speaker for our 61st Annual Meeting on Thursday, March 2, 2023 beginning at 9 a.m. This event is free to all members and guests, with an optional tour of Friendly City Food Cooperative to follow. RSVPs are requested by Feb. 27 to mary.howell@sscoop.com. Please specify if you wish to stay for the tour as well; lunch will be provided for up to 30 attendees.

Virginia Institute on Cooperative Education applications accepted through Feb. 15, 2023

Now’s the time for students 16-19 (grades 11 & 12) to decide which Virginia cooperative they want to profile as part of their 2023 VICE application. Scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500 will be available to participants who attend the March 24-26, 2023 VICE.

Virginia Institute on Cooperative Education winners

“VICE” was held March 25-26, 2022 at Graves Mountain Lodge, our 31st year at this scenic location. A total of 32 students, six of them state FFA officers, learned about co-ops and participated in the “Who’s Minding the Store?” business simulation. Congratulations to scholarship winners Rachel Craun, Regan Jackson, Nathan Badgley, Aidan Hill and Katie Powell. Next year’s event is March 24-26, 2023.

Council’s 60th Annual Meeting held March 3 in Staunton

The Council’s 60th Annual Meeting was held March 3, 2022 at the Frontier Culture Museum. Keynote speaker Whitney Perkins of the Virginia Farm Bureau provided an update on the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture, Innovation and Sustainability, for which she leads business development.

Alex White Earns Young Cooperator Award

Jack “Alex” White III, a government major currently attending Harvard University, received the Council’s Young Cooperator Award in a ceremony held Dec. 21, 2021 in Luray, Va. He was nominated by Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative (SVEC), to which his family belongs.

A graduate of a small rural high school and community college, this Page County native consistently strives to make a positive impact through public service. Alex was one of Virginia’s youngest delegates to a 2020 national political convention, served as Boys Nation Senator from Virginia and attended the Sorenson Institute High School Leaders Program, held at the University of Virginia. A self-proclaimed “big believer” in the cooperative model, he also participated in the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s 2018 Youth Tour, with his local co-op, SVEC, sponsoring him. The first person from his rural community to enroll in an Ivy League school as an undergraduate, Alex founded the Rural Leadership Initiative, a nonprofit that offers a stipend program to support rural undergraduate students at our nation’s elite schools.

Graves and White Honored at Sept. 30 Co-op Month Breakfast

Jimmy Graves and Greg White were honored with Career Cooperative Leadership Awards at the Co-op Month Breakfast, held Sept. 30 at The Place in Glen Allen. Keynote speaker Thomas Beckett of Carolina Common Enterprise shared his efforts to help launch and support new cooperatives in North Carolina.

2023 Virginia Institute on Cooperative Education applications accepted through Feb. 15, 2023

Now’s the time for students 16-19 (currently in grades 11 & 12) to decide which Virginia cooperative to profile as part of their 2023 VICE application. Scholarships ranging from $500 to $1,500 will be available to participants who attend the March 24-26, 2023 VICE.

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