Cooperatives are Businesses That...
• Are owned and democratically controlled by their members—the people
who use their services or buy their goods—not by investors.
• Return surplus revenues to members proportionate to their
use of the cooperative, not proportionate to their ownership share.
• Are motivated not by profit, but to meet their members' needs for goods or services.
• Pay taxes on income kept within the co-op for investment and reserves.
Surplus revenues are returned to individual members, who pay taxes on that income.
Cooperatives fall into four categories: consumer, producer, worker and purchasing/shared services.
Peer Marketing Associates is a Purchasing Cooperative
Purchasing or shared services cooperatives are cooperatives whose members are other businesses or public entities which join together to increase the performance and competitiveness of their organizations. Members of these cooperatives have found that, by pooling their purchasing power to acquire goods and services, they can lower their operating costs. Like all cooperatives, the purchasing or shared service cooperative exists to meet its members' needs, and almost any service can be provided by these cooperatives for their members.
Peer Marketing Associates, Inc. is a member of the:
American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA)
National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA)