Written by Andy Seibel

Each spring, the Virginia Cooperative Council sponsors a three-day conference, which will be held this year from March 31 – April 2, 2017 at Graves Mountain Lodge-Syria, Virginia for Virginia 4-H and FFA students.  The primary objective of this Cooperative Education Conference is to educate youth about the unique aspects of a cooperative business. 4-H/FFA participants will gain an understanding of how cooperatives differ from other business and will hear about cooperative success stories in both the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors.

In a team setting, attendees will serve as managers of a simulated cooperative store, competing with other stores in their market area for sales and profit. Teams will also analyze case studies, develop their own student-run cooperative, and participate in team-building and leadership development activities.

The overall top scoring 4-H/FFA members will win a college scholarship, ($2,000, $1500, $1000) that can be used to attend a college of your choice.  Several students will also be selected to attend the NICE – National Institute on Cooperative Education conference at the University of Kentucky in late June.

Through an interactive, educational, and entertaining conference, students will enhance their business, teamwork, leadership, and communication skills.

Each member, age 16 – 19 (as of July of year attending) selected to attend the Virginia Conference will receive a scholarship to attend the state conference.   Members must be willing to attend the entire weekend. (Friday, 10:30 a.m. – Sunday, 2:30 p.m.) and abide by a Code of Conduct.

The applications for this conference are due by March 22, 2017 and can be downloaded at: http://www.virginia.coop/App_Content/media/vice%20docs/2017/VaICE%20Application%202017.pdf