ALL OUR HISTORY
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2016
2016 marked a turning point for MONDRAGON, as it was the year in which the foundations were laid for a new stage. The Cooperative Congress held in July that year rolled out the Group’s new roadmap, launching a new phase centred on the policy documents “MONDRAGON del futuro” [MONDRAGON of the future] and “Política Socioempresarial 2017/2020” [Corporate Business Policy 2017/2020], with both proposals being unanimously approved by the Congress. The former seeks to give a new impetus to the experience of cooperative values, migrating toward a new and more competitive organisational model and restructuring the funds and instruments of financial intercooperation. In turn, the challenge facing the latter – Corporate Business Policy – for this new strategic phase focuses on ensuring that the Group’s operations are undertaken from sustainable competitive positions based on five strategies: cooperative identity and commitment, financing, business innovation and promotion, intercooperation, and globalisation.
This Congress also saw Mr Iñigo Ucín installed as president of the MONDRAGON General Council, replacing Mr Javier Sotil, who retired at the end of July. The outgoing president delivered a heartfelt and moving farewell speech that included words of thanks for “all those that have helped me to become a better person”. He also referred to the need in the future to count on “people that are more cooperative-minded and more committed, while focusing on the development of more profitable projects”.
In turn, Mr Iñigo Ucín, the General Council’s incoming president, directed his first words to the Congress members.
The economic figures in 2016 recorded a positive trend, along the same lines as the two preceding years. In terms of milestones, specific mention should be made of the 175th anniversary of the Orbea Cooperative, and the 50th anniversary of the social welfare provider LagunAro EPSV.
2017
There has been no let-up in the positive trend recorded by the Corporation’s business figures, with the outstanding result for 2017 being the creation of 2,600 new jobs, with the Group’s headcount now exceeding 80,000 people.
In other matters, it is worth mentioning that 2017 marked the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Group’s social welfare provider LagunAro EPSV. Among other events, a moving ceremony was dedicated to some of the leading figures in the organisation’s history.
Another of the highlights in 2017 was the challenge undertaken by Fagor Ederlan Tafalla to mark its tenth anniversary as a cooperative. One of its members, Mr Riki Abad, decided to run from Tafalla to Aretxabaleta, and return riding a replica of the bike belonging to Mondragon’s founder, Father Arizmendiarrieta. In total, a journey of 340 km, 145 on foot and 195 in the saddle. Abad successfully completed the challenge, and the 60,000 euros collected through sponsorship were donated to two charities: the Gerna Association and the Mundukide Foundation.
Three business highlights. The largest ever order placed with the Matrici cooperative for delivering the dies required for making all the inside-outside parts for a major project involving the Volvo Group. The Ulma Group received 50 million euros through a programme of promissory notes, an innovative funding scheme in the cooperative ambit, as it is the first time that a cooperative has adopted this financing arrangement in the capital market. Last but not least, Fagor Industrial has won the tender for all the catering equipment to be installed at Atletico Madrid’s new Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
Mention should finally be made of the publication of number 600 of TU Lankide, the in-house cooperative magazine that Arizmendiarrieta launched in 1960, and which now constitutes a communication project based on its printed version and its website www.tulankide.com.
2018
2018 has generally been a good year for the sum of cooperatives that make up MONDRAGON. There has been a rise in invoicing over the preceding year, jobs have been created, and a fresh boost has been given to business sustainability. Special mention should be made of the industrial sector, which has created 8,000 jobs over the past five years, of which 57% (4,589) were within our own catchment area.
The 2018 Congress approved the policy document “Distribución de Resultados para el Reforzamiento de Recursos propios” [Distribution of Earnings for Reinforcing Equity], with the main aim being to reinforce the cooperatives’ equity to ensure the future sustainability of their businesses.
Bilbao hosted the Global Social Economy Forum on 1, 2 and 3 October. The event held at the Euskalduna Conference Hall was attended by 1,700 delegates from more than 80 countries, and was sponsored by MONDRAGON and LABORAL Kutxa.
In May, the theatre Amaia Antzokia premiered the screening of “Arizmendiarrieta, el hombre cooperativo” [Arizmendiarrieta, the cooperative man], a film directed by Gaizka Urresti, from Bilbao, on the founder of the Cooperative Experience. Following its first showing in Mondragón-Arrasate, it was shown in cinemas up and down the country.
Two visits. The first was made by Joseph Stiglitz, a US professor and economist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics. This is his second visit to MONDRAGON, and he joked about “revealing the success of the cooperative model, which many people talk about”, highlighting it as a benchmark to be followed.
The second, at the end of November, involved Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China, on a visit to Spain, with the president of MONDRAGON being invited to attend.
2019
In short, there were four aspects that defined the Group’s trajectory in 2019.
Firstly, the positive trend in MONDRAGON’s Industrial sector, as it was the first ever year in which sales exceeded six billion euros. In turn, the average number of jobs in the year amounted to more than 39,000. Two records that speak for themselves about the importance of Industry for the Corporation.
Secondly, the end of 2019 saw the start of talks for outlining the Corporation’s roadmap over the coming four years. “Política Socioempresarial 2021-2024” [Corporate Business Policy 2021-2014] and “Adecuación de la Misión” [Adapting the Mission] will be the two policy documents submitted to the next Congress, mapping out MONDRAGON’s future over the coming years.
Thirdly, a unique, once-in-a-lifetime project: “Humanity at Music – Sinfonia Kooperatiboa”. On 14 September last year, the Buesa Arena in Vitoria-Gasteiz hosted this unprecedented event in the Experience’s history. A cooperative symphony for adding the soundtrack to MONDRAGON’s human and business exploits. The musical memory of our cooperative movement is now part of our Experience’s cultural heritage.
Finally, 2019 was the year we said goodbye to José Mari Ormaetxea and Alfonso Gorroñogoitia, two of the founders of our Experience, two leaders, and two unique individuals that played a key role in the development of our cooperative movement.
The overall business trend was positive, in step with the growth dynamics of recent years.
2021
2021 was a year of ups and downs with much media coverage, largely due to the pandemic, which saw a strong resurgence towards the end of the year. All signs were pointing to a gradual return to normal until the sudden spread of the Omicron variant across the globe, reviving old ghosts and stirring up fears from our recent past. “Vaccine” was the word of the year – as “lockdown” had been in 2020 – but there were also others like “next generation” or “microchips”, and one rather worrying financial term in particular was rescued from oblivion: inflation.
However, it was a positive year overall for business trends. Sales recovered, employment levels were maintained and business performance figures were good.
On a different note, some other highlights were the commemoration of Cikautxo’s 50th anniversary as a cooperative and the appointment of Rosa Carabel as the new Managing Director of Eroski, and also the presentation of the biographical book on one of the Cooperative Experience founders: “Jose María Ormaetxea, Toda una Vida Cooperativa”. It was also the year of the Mars landing of the Perseverance, and Goimek was involved in the manufacture of the space vehicle’s antenna, together with the engineering company Sener.
2022
The year began with the appointment of Leire Mugerza as the new Chairwoman of both the Standing Committee and the MONDRAGON Congress, replacing Javier Goienetxea after 7 years in the post.
2022 was a year when the Ukraine invasion was in the news, although the exorbitant increase in energy prices, unbridled inflation and a negative outlook for the trend in the world economy also figured among the year’s headlines.
In our cooperative environment, the most talked about news item was the exit of Orona and Ulma as MONDRAGON member cooperatives following the extraordinary general meetings held on December 16.
Despite the complex environment, the growth of business dynamics continued once again, as had been the case in 2021.
It was also the year when MONDRAGON Hospitality was presented; Enea won the 2022 National Design Award; Mondragon Lingua and Alecop signed their merger as a single cooperative and several anniversaries were celebrated: Soraluce (60th), Embega (50th), Ondoan (40th), and Mondragon University (25th). Congratulations!
2023
Geopolitical tensions caused by the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine wars, together with the ongoing digital, ecological and socio-economic transitions and the highest inflation rates in many years heightened market uncertainty. However, despite this backdrop, it was a positive year for the Corporation’s businesses overall, showing that the cooperatives were able to adapt to the changing circumstances.
2023 was the year when San Sebastián-Donostia became the Social Economy Capital and when the new cooperative initiative MONDRAGON Health was launched, bringing together 7 cooperatives from the fields of health, healthcare and biotechnology. The Knowledge Division, made up of education centres, a university and technology centres, was also started up with the idea of strengthening MONDRAGON’s knowledge ecosystem. Another item making the news in 2023 was that Ekiola Mendialdea, based in Arraia-Maeztu (Álava), became the Basque Country’s first energy-producing citizens’ cooperative.
At the end of the year, the appointment of Pello Rodríguez Zabaleta as the new Chairman of the MONDRAGON General Council was also announced. He will replace Iñigo Ucin and will take on the post as from 1 August 2024.
