The south carolinacenter for cooperative and enterprise developmentclemson university is submitting this application on behalf of the south carolina center for cooperative and enterprise…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Clemson University $199,922 on September 30, 2025, through the Rural Cooperative Development Grants program (CFDA 10.771) to expand the South Carolina Center for Cooperative and Enterprise Development's capacity to provide technical assistance and business development activities to rural cooperatives and mutually owned businesses.

The Center, a collaboration between Clemson University, Small Business Development Centers, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture, and Matson Consulting, will assist legacy and value-added cooperatives in creating new products and improving business management skills; scale specialty cooperatives with niche products and services to achieve efficient production levels; and enhance rural food systems efficiency and workforce development. The work includes technical assistance to cooperatives and rural businesses in areas of economic distress, focusing on job creation, economic opportunity development, and increased profitability.

Performance runs through December 30, 2026, with place of performance in Clemson, South Carolina. The South Carolina Department of Agriculture serves as a sub-grantee, facilitating meetings and listening sessions, identifying clients from existing networks, planning steering committee meetings, conducting trainings, developing materials for published resources, and providing follow-up technical assistance and industry research support to Center clients.

The south carolinacenter for cooperative and enterprise developmentclemson university is submitting this application on behalf of the south carolina center for cooperative and enterprise development, hereafter referred to as the center. The center's staff and partners have a proven track record of providing technical assistance and development activities to businesses in rural areas. This project will further expand the center's capacity to provide technical assistance and business development activities to rural cooperative and mutually owned businesses, leading to the formation of these entities in the state. The south carolina center for cooperative and enterprise development (the center) represents a collaboration between clemson university, small business development centers (sbdcs), the south carolina department of agriculture, and matson consulting. The center has a proven track record of providing technical assistance, economic opportunities, and resources to cooperatives and rural businesses in areas of economic distress.goals of projectthe center's goals are: (1) assisting cooperatives and mutually owned businesses to create jobs and economic opportunities, (2) scaling up innovative cooperative services and value-added products, (3) increasing the efficiency and scale of rural food systems, and (4) leveraging existing partnerships to increase rural workforce development activities. These goals are consistent with the grant program's focus and include specific focus areas for this proposal:1. Assisting legacy and value-added cooperatives. The center will work with new value-added and existing legacy (commodity) cooperatives to create new products, improve business management skills, and increase profitability.2. Scaling specialty cooperatives. Niche products and specialty services have one thing in common: a need for increased scale of activity. The center will assist in scaling up these cooperatives to achieve efficient production levels.3. Enhancing rural food systems. The center will assist rural cooperatives in meeting the demand for local food products. Many of these projects need center assistance for inaugural board formation and implementing management systems.methods USED1. Development of cooperatives and mutually owned BUSINESSES2.establishing newcooperatives and mutually owned BUSINESSES3. Employingnew approaches to establish more cooperatives and mutually owned BUSINESSES4. Assisting business startup and expansion: feasibility STUDIES5. Assisting business retention and expansion: business PLANS6. Business retention and expansion: financial management ASSISTANCE7.education and training: improving other economic conditionsthe outcomes of the projectnumber of groups that are not legal entities assisted: 10 groupsnumber of businesses that are not cooperatives assisted: 150 businessesnumber of cooperatives assisted: 10 cooperativesnumber of non-cooperative businesses incorporated: 20 non-cooperative businesses incor, poratednumber of cooperatives incorporated: 3 cooperative incorporatednumber of jobs created as a result of assistance: 50 jobs creatednumber of jobs saved as a result of assistance: 30 jobs savednumber of jobs created for the center due to rcdg: 2 jobs created for the centernumber of jobs saved for center due to rcdg: 2 jobs saved for the centerdevelopment of business plans and feasibility studies: 40 plans, both feasibility studies and business plansregional collaborations: 3 regional collaborationsnational collaborations: 2 national collaborations