As an electric cooperative member, you’ve likely seen this up close. When storms knock out power, crews from co-ops across the state show up to help restore power to communities that aren’t even their own. That’s P6 at its most visible moment.

But it doesn’t stop with storm response, and it isn’t limited to one sector. Some of the most meaningful cooperation happening across the Carolinas right now crosses industry lines: electric co-ops partnering with credit unions to keep capital working in local communities, electric and telephone co-ops teaming up with agricultural cooperatives to bring broadband to rural areas, and food co-ops, worker-owned businesses, and agricultural cooperatives finding new ways to support each other’s members.

“Intentional collaboration multiplies our impact.”

That cross-sector work is exactly what the Cooperative Council of the Carolinas (CCC) exists to build. Operating in a silo might feel simpler in the short term, but intentional collaboration multiplies our impact. When cooperatives across industries choose to work together, we build a stronger economic foundation for families across both North and South Carolina.

Charlie Farrell, CCC’s board chair and manager of Member Engagement Strategy for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives, has watched that principle shape CCC’s board table itself. “Our strongest decisions come when every sector — electric, credit union, agriculture, food, worker-owned — has a seat in the room,” he says. “That’s P6 before we ever get to the community-facing work.”

This July’s “Co-op Unlocked” event brought that same idea to life for the next generation, with Piedmont Electric and Central Electric partnering alongside Coastal Credit Union to give high school students a firsthand look at the cooperative model across sectors.

That momentum carries into November, when CCC hosts The Cooperative Advantage Summit (Nov. 5–6), bringing cooperative leaders and cooperative-serving organizations from across the Carolinas together to strengthen cross-sector partnerships and explore new ways to serve their communities.

CCC is also investing in who comes next. Applications are now open through Oct. 15 for the Jim Graham Emerging Cooperator Scholarship. High school graduates from the Carolinas, as of July 1, 2026, are eligible to apply whether heading to college, trade school or a credentialing program.

So, cooperation isn’t accidental. It’s a choice cooperatives across the Carolinas make every day, and one that makes all of us stronger.