Cooperative Network has a proud history of bringing together and strengthening the voice of cooperative businesses.

The Minnesota Association of Cooperatives was founded in 1945 when cooperatives were under intense scrutiny, and the Wisconsin Federation of Cooperatives was formed in 1969 by two politically divergent organizations—the Wisconsin Association of Cooperatives, which served primarily consumer co-ops, and the Wisconsin Council of Agricultural Cooperatives.

The Minnesota association entered into a management agreement with its Wisconsin counterpart in 1998. The two organizations became one in 2004 after members voted in favor of a formal unification. The association was renamed Cooperative Network in 2009.