Earlier this month, more than 300 attendees from 200 organizations gathered in Arlington, Va., for the National Cooperative Business Administration – The Cooperative League of the USA (NCBA CLUSA)’s 2nd annual Co-op IMPACT Conference. Featuring an array of businesses from financing, agriculture, technology and more, the conference shined a light on the strengths of cooperatives as leaders within the economy.

NISC recently became a member of NCBA CLUSA, joining the ranks of NRECA, CFC, CoBank and other national associations. NCBA CLUSA is the nation’s oldest and largest national membership association representing cooperatives of all types and in all industries. Their mission is to develop, advance and protect cooperatives and to demonstrate the power of the cooperative business model.

“Becoming a part of NCBA CLUSA and being represented on their Board of Directors just speaks to the evolution of NISC,” said NISC vice president of Member & Industry Jasper Schneider. “It’s exciting to see our technology cooperative join the ranks of these national organizations and be recognized by other cooperatives from a variety of industries.”

Schneider was part of a panel discussion at this year’s Co-op IMPACT Conference along with panelists from Savvy Cooperative, a patient-owned medical co-op helping patients share their health experiences with companies, and CoMetrics, which enables independent businesses, cooperatives and nonprofit organizations to harness the power of data to transform their performance and impact. The session dove into the advantages cooperatives have when it comes to big data, analytics and the notion of maintaining security.

“Big data is all around us now, and more and more we see a growing concern over security and privacy,” Schneider explained. “As cooperatives, our users own their data, we won’t sell to a third party. It’s a unique spot to be in, and really gives cooperatives the upper hand when it comes to delivering value to a range of sectors through data and analytics.”

To learn more about the 2018 Co-op IMPACT Conference, check out this recap from NCBA CLUSA.