The Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) is the Northeast’s Center for cooperative business development. Founded in 1994 by cooperative leaders across industry sectors, CDI’s mission is to build vibrant economies through the creation and development of successful cooperatively structured enterprises in diverse communities in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and New York. While our focus is rural and regional, we contribute to innovative economic development strategies on national and global levels.

We envision an economy in which people work together to achieve their common goals, ensure access to quality jobs and affordable products and services, and share ownership and control of essential community resources.

CDI provides technical assistance, research, feasibility studies, business planning, training and education to support and strengthen start-up and existing co-operatives and other mutually-owned enterprises in all business sectors: food, housing, energy, agriculture, arts, health, forestry, fisheries, retail, service and more. We are a Certified TA Provider in the ROC USA Network, assisting the conversion and development of Manufactured Home Parks into collectively owned and democratically controlled Resident Owned Communities.