Rural electric, rural telephone, dairy, farm credit, petroleum, credit union, consumer, plus various regional co-ops comprise the remainder of the membership. Under the umbrella of the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives, they can share experience, get answers and receive support. It was started by local Iowa cooperatives in the early 1950's to provide educational programs on cooperatives, to promote the cooperative form of business and to provide assistance with legislative and regulatory matters. Financial and management consulting and cooperative development services were added in 1987. IIC has a staff consisting of five employees, including the executive director, director of cooperative education, director of cooperative development, office manager, and secretary.
Members provide about half of the operating budget through annual dues.
Additional revenues come from charges for educational and service-related programs and grants from various sources. All of the Iowa Institute's programs and activities are designed to address current problems, to help position Iowa's cooperatives for the future and to help them achieve economic gains for their members. The Institute encourages and assists the development of new cooperatives to promote rural economic development throughout Iowa and also works cooperatively with other state cooperative councils throughout the Midwest. The future environment will be significantly different from that of today. The efforts of the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives will continue to focus on developing programs, providing services and guiding legislative actions which will build upon and strengthen our cooperative system.