--it still brings more minds to the table, exactly. It is very much driven by the community. Co-ops exist to provide benefits to their membership. By benefits, I mean products, goods and services that maybe are not attainable in the community without that cooperative, or at a price the members are willing to pay. That's the reason cooperatives exist.
I operated a farm. Why did I belong to my local co-op? It's because they provided the goods and services I required when I needed them. The head office was in my local community, so I had a direct line to say “I need this today”.
The responsiveness of a cooperative model to the community I think is underestimated. In being part of that democratic process, it's phenomenal.