December 11, 2025
2025 was a year of tremendous growth and change for CoNorth. We expanded our ability to preserve and create safe, dignified and permanently affordable housing. Below are just a few of the highlights:
We rebranded, launched a new website, and moved into a new office location
In July, we officially changed our name from Northcountry Cooperative Foundation (NCF) to CoNorth and launched a new website. We took a moment to celebrate our past and look toward the future at our combination 25th Anniversary / Brand Launch party in July. In October, we moved into a new office space in St. Paul, MN.
We assisted the residents of two manufactured home communities to become co-ops
Raasch Ranch in Zumbrota, MN and Lone Oak Estates in Cannon Falls, MN each converted to resident ownership with support from CoNorth.
We helped bring cooperatives together across sectors
CoMinnesota was relaunched in 2025 as a program of CoNorth. The goal of the CoMinnesota program is to advance the cooperative movement in Minnesota through connection, education, and outreach. In July, CoMinnesota hosted the first-ever Minnesota Cooperative Summit in Morris, MN. The event sold out with over 200 hundred attendees. We’re looking forward to an even bigger and better event next year! Watch a recap video of the Summit below.
We launched a redevelopment initiative and made great progress on our New North Cooperatives initiative
We launched a redevelopment initiative aimed at rehabilitating manufactured home communities that– due to physical vacancy and infrastructure problems–aren’t candidates for cooperative ownership. We make our first acquisition of a nearly completely vacant community in Renville, MN in April. We are working to rehab the community, bring in new homes, and eventually convert the property to a cooperative. We made significant progress on our New North Cooperatives initiative aimed at developing new, ground-up manufactured home cooperatives.
We launched CoNorth Homes, our new homeownership program
CoNorth Homes is designed to purchase, site, and sell durable, affordable, and energy-efficient manufactured homes in CoNorth-affiliated communities. We placed our first home in Hillcrest Community Cooperative in Clarks Grove, MN in September. Look for the CoNorth Homes website to launch in January 2026.
We were featured as a grantee highlight story by the Bush Foundation
We received a $4.4 million Innovation Award from the Bush Foundation in 2023, which included a $3 million program related investment in CoNorth Loan Fund. In November, we were a featured partner in the Foundation’s newsletter.
We secured nearly $100,000 to improve tree canopies in CoNorth affiliated co-ops
The funding has enabled CoNorth-affiliated co-ops to remove dead and dangerous trees and replace them with disease resistant varieties. The funding is provided by the Centering Communities in Canopy Solutions grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
We established new partnerships to advance homeownership in our partner cooperatives
We partnered with NeighborWorks Home Partners (NWHP) to help develop the Prime Path Manufactured Home Loan program. NWHP launched the loan program in May 2025. Prime Path is designed to deliver more affordable home financing for homebuyers purchasing new manufactured homes. The initial financial capital to seed the program was provided by a 2023 Minnesota legislative appropriation.
We also partnered with the Minnesota Home Ownership Center to create a new manufactured homebuyer education program to help buyers make informed decisions about purchasing and maintaining a manufactured home. The program launched in November and a Spanish language version of the course was launched in the summer.
CoNorth Loan Fund deployed over $5 million in loans to manufactured home cooperatives
CoNorth Loan Fund deployed $5.285 million in loans to support projects including the acquisitions of Raasch Ranch in Zumbrota, MN and Lone Oak Estates in Cannon Falls, MN. Refinance loans were made to Five Lakes Cooperative in Fairmont, MN, and Hillcrest Community Cooperative in Clarks Grove, MN. Since the launch of the Fund in 2024, CLF has deployed $6.68 million.
We advocated for $3 million in state funding for manufactured home community development
The Minnesota State Legislature appropriated $3 million in General Obligation bonds to help municipalities fund the cost of building municipally-owned infrastructure as part of new-construction manufactured home community development projects.
We facilitated over $3 million in infrastructure improvement projects in CoNorth-affiliated cooperatives
Zumbro Ridge Estates, in Rochester, MN, completed $2.33 million in road work and drainage improvements. El Nuevo Amanecer in Gaylord, MN, spent $1 million to upgrade the community’s water and sanitary sewer systems and repave its roads.
