Cooperative Professionals Guild


April 2023 Newsletter

Guild News, Community Events, Jobs and Announcements 

April Webinar: Allocating Patronage: Accounting and Legal Considerations With Preston Cardinet of CliftonLarsonAllen

On Thursday, April 27th, 2023 at 10am PT/11am MT/12pm CT/1pm ET, the Cooperative Professionals Guild presents CPA Preston Cardinet, who will discuss agricultural pool accounting and deferring patronage distributions. Preston is a Principal at CliftonLarsonAllen. He joined CLA in 2017 after serving as a tax manager at Ernst & Young. Preston has a bachelors and a masters in accountancy from Brigham Young University.

A request for approval of 1 hour of CLE credit in California is pending.

Register here to join the webinar.  

Save the date for our May webinar: What Your Co-op Bylaws Need With CPA David Antoni and Attorney Todd Eskelsen, on Thursday, May 25th, 2023 at 10am PT/11am MT/12pm CT/1pm ET. Bylaws govern the activities of the cooperative and affect the governance of the cooperative, its capital structure, the rights of members, the tax treatment of the cooperative's earnings, and whether the cooperative qualifies for securities and/or antitrust exemptions.  Attorney Todd Eskelsen and CPA David Antoni will explain what you need to know about what to include in cooperative bylaws. Register here. 

Our members-only recordings library has been updated and includes links to our past webinars.

Currently, CPG offers California CLE credit for qualifying webinars. Most CPG webinars can count as CLE credits in most US states. If you’d like to help us offer CLE credit in other states, please email Sarah Kaplan at the Webinar Committee: sarah@cuttingedgecounsel.com.

Two May Coffee Chats

We will be hosting two May coffee chats, instead of hosting one in April, to accommodate our invitees’ schedules. Mark your calendars for May 5th and May 13th; chats last one hour and usually start at 9:30am PT/12:30pm ET. On May 5th, our coffee chat will feature a conversation among, and with, law school clinical instructors in community economic development clinics and adjacent clinical spaces. Our May 13th coffee chat will feature co-op accountants. We’ll send event announcements and registration links to the Guild network listserv.

Community announcements


  • Solidarity Resource is developing open-source tools for building a more just economy. The group just released its first tool, an Anti-Racist Facilitation Guide for Co-op Development, which is available to use at https://www.solidarityresource.org.

  • The California Worker Owned Recovery Coalition (WORC) is requesting signatures in support of state funding for SB1407 initiatives, including California’s new voter-approved co-op development hubs. Please consider lending your support by signing on to WORC’s letter or sending one of your own (you’re welcome to review WORC’s draft letter).
  • Each year, NSAC awards partial tuition scholarships to graduating high school seniors or students enrolled in college who are immediate family members of NSAC members and have an interest in pursuing cooperative business, accounting, or finance. Apply by April 30th here.
  • The USFWC’s Union Co-ops Council is spreading the word that CUNA Mutual in Wisconsin, which provides Credit Union services to unions, is partnering with union-busting firm Jackson Lewis P.C. to fight workers’ unionization efforts.

Community jobs listings

  • ​​The Sustainable Economies Law Center is looking to add 1-2 new staff attorneys to its team. They are looking for full-time (30 hours per week) core staff members to help bolster legal work serving worker cooperatives, worker self-directed nonprofits, housing cooperatives, and land rematriation and land justice organizations. Applications are requested by midnight April 28th. 

Community upcoming events

  • ​​Save the date for an April 26 webinar sponsored by NCBA-CLUSA on how to strengthen your application for the USDA Socially Disadvantaged Groups Grant and the Rural Cooperative Development Grant. USDA Rural Development Cooperative Programs will provide examples of successful SDGG projects and important things to consider when applying. Applications for the SDGG are due May 16, 2023 at 4:30 pm EDT. The webinar is scheduled for April 26 at 10 PT/1 MT/12 CT/1 ET.

  • The National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives (NSAC) is hosting a webinar on Fundamentals of Co-op Taxation on April 19th. Teree Castanias and Brett Huston, both CPAs with a combined experience of over 64 years in cooperative taxation, will present the basic rules of Subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code and describe how those rules affect a cooperative's tax return, Form 1120-C. You can register here. If you’re not an NSAC member and prefer not to pay the non-member fee, you can get a free access code from NCBA by emailing arpa@ncba.coop. The Guild’s recording of a similar webinar featuring the same presenters this January is available to Guild members in our webinar library.

  • The National Coalition for Community Capital (NC3) is co-hosting the upcoming SuperCrowd 2023 conference on May 10-11th. This conference is a good fit for anyone interested in learning more about investment crowdfunding, one of the options cooperatives have for raising capital. To register using NC3’s discount, use this link.

  • SMU's International Centre for Cooperative Management will host a two-day (virtual) interactive short course in April 2023 to take a deep dive on the topic of Cooperative Principle 6 from diverse perspectives. From the role of associations and federations to business partnerships and supply chains, to the development of new co-operatives. All content and examples will illustrate the benefits of inter-co-operation in strengthening co-operatives, economies, and communities. 

  • The National Conference On Black Cooperative Agenda is being held on June 1-3 in Las Vegas. Find more info at https://ndccnetwork.org/2023-conference/. 

  • The Consumer Cooperative Management Association (CCMA) annual conference will be held on June 8-10 in Sacramento, California. Scholarships are available; the application deadline is March 17 and applications can be found here https://ccma.coop/scholarships/. 

  • The NSAC Far Western Chapter’s annual meeting will be held on June 7-9 in Las Vegas. The chapter honors the memory of cooperator Dan Nutley by offering the Dan Nutley Scholarship, which includes 1 free registration to both the Educational and General sessions. If you’re interested, send an application to Josh Bakke (Josh.Bakke@mossadams.com) by April 30th. 

  • The International Centre for Co-operative Management and the J. Dobrila University of Pula (Croatia) are offering an international cooperative law summer school on August 20-30, 2023 in Pula, Croatia for co-op practitioners and students. It will be taught by international cooperative law expert Hagen Henrÿ and other guest speakers. Courses bridge co-operative law, cooperative identity (ICA 1995), and sustainable development with legal rules and practice. Find more information here. 

Participate in the Cooperative Professionals Guild

The Guild is currently volunteer-run. Here are some ways you can participate: 

  • Submit community listings for the next newsletter using this Google form;

  • Send messages to the CPG network by emailing the CPG listserv at  members@professionals.coop;

  • Attend meetings or join governance circles. Circle members are also eligible to join the General Circle. 

  • Webinar Circle: Email Sarah Kaplan at sarah@cuttingedgecounsel.com.

  • Membership Circle: Email Pacyinz Lyfoung at pacyinz@gmail.com.

  • Finance Circle: Email Alexandra Devendra at ​​alexandra@aligned.law. 2023 CPG Conference Circle: Fill out this form forms.gle/ezPhbxPvRCh1Gf6r8. 

  • Conference Circle: Fill out this form forms.gle/ezPhbxPvRCh1Gf6r8

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