Utah Cooperative Association photograph collection., 1950-1978

A cooperative is a business owned and controlled by the people who use its services. The UCA was a wholesale cooperative owned and controlled by local cooperatives throughout the state. The local co-ops organized with the assistance of the State Self-Help Board on August 17, 1936 with six employees and six local co-ops. By 1941, UCA became independent of the Self-Help Board and began operating as a wholesale supply co-op for farmers. By 1945 UCA had become financially strong enough to enable the organization to purchase its own warehouse and bulk plant. Their affiliation with the Cooperative League of the United States of America in the same year increased their buying power. By the early 1950s UCA had expanded its operation through the purchase of an oil refinery in the Uintah Basin and by becoming sole owner of the PAX trademark for agricultural chemicals through its acquisition of Kelly-Western Seed Company. UCA ceased to exist when it merged with the Farmer’s Union Central Exchange (CENEX) in 1976. CENEX is now one of the largest retail/wholesale propane networks in the nation.