THE DEVELOPMENT, OPERATION, AND DISSOLUTION OF A VALUE-ADDED COOPERATIVE: UNITED SPRING WHEAT PROCESSORS

The United Spring Wheat Processors cooperative was formed in 1996 as a value-added processor of hard red spring wheat. It obtained equity from members in a series of three funding drives, used to operate a par-baked dough baking facility in McDonough, GA. Though the cooperative achieved some substantial successes, it ceased operations in 2003 due to persistent technical failures. The circumstances that led to the closure of the cooperative can be used to extract important lessons for future value-added ventures.