July 2018
KDC partnered with the National Cooperative Business Association(NCBA-CLUSA) for an inspiring series of tours in the
Philadelphia, Lancaster and Baltimore/ Washington Areas.
A number of cooperatives shared their inspiring stories with us.
From taxi cabs to onions growers, grocery stores to
housing co-ops, KDC's clients represent a diverse array of ownership models and industries.
This three-day, three-legged, whirlwind trek took us across a landscape ranging from urban centers to rural Amish communities, visiting start-ups and established co-ops operating small five-member cooperatives with no employees to large multi-location businesses with greater than $15 Million in annual sales.


With fifteen stops in total, we were brought face to face with co-op leaders from a complete sampling of consumer, producer, and shared services cooperatives. We learned about a dozen distinct industries and witnessing many facilities in action. We met with board leaders, management, staff and members across generations to hear from those engaged in the daily life and work of making their co-ops a success! It was nothing short of inspiring to hear about the impact these businesses are making daily, in the lives of their members and communities!
An amazing process with amazing outcomes!

  • Learning more about the history of our clients as well as current successes, challenges, and aspirations helped us build stronger relationships
  • From many stories with diversity of perspectives, we were able to gain new insights and augment client support,
  • We found opportunites to strengthen and advance the cooperative business sector by connecting clients with national efforts.
  • We were blessed with the chance to celebrate some of many accomplishments our clients and KDC have made over years!

Photos by: Elizabeth Lechleitner
(NCBA CLUSA)
Thank you to everyone who participated
in making the tours such a success!
Peggy, our Executive Director, and NCBA’s Stephen McDow and Elizabeth Lechleitner visited all fifteen stops. Joining us each for a day of the tours were KDC Consultants, Jim Johnson and Lori Burge, KDC board members, Sonia Wasco, Sanjib Bhuyan, Laura England and Parag Rajendra Khandhar as well as KDC’s summer intern, Mohamed Tarakji  from Rutgers University. Jeff Stoltzfus from Penn State Extension was our host in Lancaster County. It was an enriching experience, with a great many connections and take-aways that we will all carry with us throughout our careers! Thank you all!

Stay tuned, our plan is to take you on a virtual tour,
sharing highlights and photos from each of our
site-visits in upcoming newsletters – join us!  
If your organization is interested in working with Keystone Development Center,   click here   to fill out a Request for Assistance! 
Keystone Development Center| 717-792-2163 | Info@kdc.coop | https://www.kdc.coop