The Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund (NCDF) is a cooperative development fund based in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

. NCDF acts as a financial intermediary, obtaining deposits and investments from cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

 enterprises and their supporters and providing loans and other assistance to cooperative businesses. NCDF issues loans to consumer

Consumers' cooperative

Consumer cooperatives are enterprises owned by consumers and managed democratically which aim at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit...

 and worker cooperative

Worker cooperative

A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and democratically managed by its worker-owners. This control may be exercised in a number of ways. A cooperative enterprise may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which...

s in 11 states of the Upper Midwest

Upper Midwest

The Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the midwest. Although there are no uniformly agreed-upon boundaries, the region is most commonly used to refer to the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and...

. NCDF provides training, technical assistance, and advisory services to cooperatives. NCDF was started in 1978 by Minneapolis food cooperatives after they experienced difficulty obtaining loans from conventional lenders.

NCDF comprises three organizations:

• Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund is a cooperative development fund that makes loans to cooperative businesses.
• Northcountry Cooperative Foundation supports training and nonprofit housing development work.
• Northcountry Cooperative Federal Credit Union provides opportunities for individuals to invest in cooperation. Funds are made available for loan primarily to individuals seeking to purchase shares in cooperative housing projects.