2023 Maryland Statutes › Corporations and Associations › Title 5 - Special Types of Corporations › Subtitle 5 - Agricultural Cooperatives › Section 5-504 - Powers in General

A cooperative has the power to:
(1)    Engage in or finance any activity in connection with:
(i)    Producing, marketing, selling, preserving, drying, catching, taking, harvesting, cultivating, propagating, processing, canning, packing, handling, storing, purchasing, or using any agricultural or fishery products of its members or nonmember patrons or goods incidentally and customarily purchased or marketed in conjunction with these products;
(ii)    Manufacturing or marketing the by-products of these products; or
(iii)    The purchase, hire, or use by its members or nonmember patrons of supplies, machinery, equipment, or services;
(2)    Transport the products of its members or nonmember patrons, even if in competition with licensed common carriers;
(3)    Borrow money, give its notes, bonds, or other obligations for the debt, and secure payment of the debt;
(4)    Make advances to its members or nonmember patrons on their products held by the cooperative;
(5)    Act as an agent for or representative of any member or nonmember patron in any activity listed in items (1) through (4) of this section;
(6)    Deposit or invest surplus funds in:
(i)    Direct and indirect obligations of the United States, any other government, state, territory, government district, and municipality, and any instrumentality of them;
(ii)    Any Maryland banking institution, or any national bank located in a state in which the cooperative has members; and
(iii)    Shares or certificates of deposit of any insured savings and loan association permitted to do business in the State;
(7)    Buy or otherwise acquire, hold, own, and exercise all rights of ownership in and sell, transfer, or pledge shares of the capital stock or bonds of any cooperative or any corporation or association engaged in any related activity, including the financing of the activities of cooperatives;
(8)    Establish and accumulate reserves and surplus to capital and any other funds authorized by its charter or bylaws;
(9)    Buy, hold, and exercise every privilege of ownership over any real or personal property necessary or convenient for or incidental to the conduct and operation of the business of the cooperative;
(10)    Sue, be sued, complain, and defend in all courts;
(11)    Issue stock of any class authorized by its charter;
(12)    Issue certificates of indebtedness;
(13)    Provide by contract with its members or nonmember patrons that any money due from the cooperative to them may be retained as necessary:
(i)    To pay dividends on preferred stock or interest on certificates of indebtedness; and
(ii)    To be used to retire the stock or certificates of indebtedness;
(14)    Issue to each nonmember patron a certificate or other evidence of his equity in any fund, capital investment, or other assets of the cooperative, which certificate or other evidence of equity may be transferred only to the cooperative or to another purchaser approved by the board of directors, on the terms and conditions provided in its bylaws and printed on the certificate or other evidence of equity;
(15)    Do anything necessary, suitable, or proper to accomplish the purposes mentioned in this section and exercise each power, right, and privilege necessary or incidental to the purposes for which the cooperative is organized or to the activities in which it is engaged; and
(16)    Exercise any other right, power, and privilege granted by the laws of the State to corporations in general, if not inconsistent with the provisions of this subtitle.