The late U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill famously said that all politics is local.

The thought was that local issues and local input influenced all decisions made by elected officials, whether they are making their decisions in Washington, D.C., Lansing, the local city council or township board, or even the local electric cooperative board.

This local emphasis is at the heart of what makes cooperatives special. Each year you elect local people to represent you on your cooperative’s board of directors. Your directors then make decisions that affect all the members of the cooperative. They decide what the rates for service should be, or how much to invest in tree trimming or new facilities to improve service. These decisions are made locally by local people who hear directly from neighbors and friends. Perhaps a dose of local input is what our elected officials in Lansing need to do their job, as well.

October is national cooperative month. It’s been celebrated since 1964. It is an opportunity to recognize cooperatives for the contributions they make to their local communities. And the Michigan Senate did just that in a resolution passed in late September.

Co-ops play a critical role in the economic fabric of Michigan, and nationally. They touch every resident in Michigan by providing electricity and other energy, housing, financial services (credit unions), agricultural services, food, education, hardware, and health services. They employ thousands of people and provide billions of dollars in goods and services to their members on a not-for-profit basis. Co-ops buy locally and are locally owned and operated and remain in the state through good times and bad.

The cooperative principles of voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, education, training and information-sharing, cooperation among cooperatives, and concern for community provide a model of consumer responsiveness for government and business.

You should be proud of your co-op membership. It truly is ‘priceless.’