Pellervo Coop Center

About Pellervo

Pellervo is a service and a lobbying organisation for all Finnish co-operatives and mutuals and a forum for co-operative activities.

Our goal is to make the co-operative and mutual business model more known to the public and offer the co-operative model as a competitive alternative for those thinking about starting a business.

Pellervo was founded in 1899 and the Pellervo name comes from the national epic of Finland Kalevala where Sampsa Pellervoinen is the patron of field and harvest.

Advocacy work

Pellervo strives to influence the legislative work and the economic and financial policies in Finland to accommodate the cooperative business model.

Pellervo’s message to the decision-makers: Diversity of business models increases economic performance

• One business model – investor owned – is not enough
• Cooperative businesses play a significant role in the everyday life of people
• The scope of cooperatives is constantly expanding
  • Over 3 000 cooperatives and mutuals
  • Over 7 million memberships
• Cooperatives mean Finnish ownership
  • They invest in Finland

Current issues and themes:

• The government's Entrepreneurship Strategy
• The Parliament's Co-operative Group
• Government’s action plan 2019-2023
• Entrepreneurship education at schools
• Research and teaching
• Start-up advice
• Co-operative governance
• Sustainability and CSR