The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives (UWCC), (http://www.uwcc.wisc.edu/welc.html) established in 1962, “strives to study, promote and research cooperative action as a means of meeting the economic and social needs of people.” … “The Center organizes various extension/outreach programs directed at all aspects of cooperative business principles, organizing cooperatives, cooperative financing, cooperative structure, cooperative management, leadership and governance, and related topics for both agricultural and consumer cooperatives. The Center also conducts applied and theoretical research on a variety of cooperative issues” In 2005 Congress awarded UWCC $500,000 to “gauge the impact of all cooperatives on the U.S. economy.” http://www.ncba.coop/pubs_newsrel.cfm?nrid=138