This study was initiated to study the factors leading to formation and eventual sale of International Cooperative, Inc., a potato processing cooperative located at Grand Forks, North Dakota. The business, which began operation in the fall of 1976, developed from the desire of potato growers in the Red River Valley region of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Manitoba, Canada to maintain a local market for their potatoes. The cooperative was dissolved in June 1981 and the processing facility wac sold to a major potato processing firm.