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This week we published our 2023 Annual Report to the Community online to update you on our recent efforts to promote and foster employee ownership in Vermont!

The report covers our outreach and educational programming, a snapshot of our 2023 revenues and expenses, and a multi-year review of our key metrics.

If you would like a PDF version of the report to read and share, send us an email at [email protected].

Read the report

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) is seeking an intern to work for the Summer of 2024 in Burlington, Vermont. This position is generally intended for a rising college junior, senior, or graduate student, but non-students with a college degree and interest in employee ownership are also welcome to apply.

The VEOC is a statewide non-profit whose mission is to promote and foster employee ownership in order to broaden capital ownership, deepen employee participation, retain jobs, increase living standards for working families, and stabilize communities.

In celebration of Employee Ownership Month, the Employee Owners of Vermont, an active group of local employee-owned companies, raised just under $30,000 in October for the group’s sixth annual fundraiser for the Vermont Foodbank.

Every dollar raised throughout the fundraiser has been donated directly to the Vermont Foodbank to support the organizations work in providing meals for those in our communities facing hardship.

Our mission at VEOC is to “promote and foster employee ownership” in Vermont. Sometimes, that means providing support and education so that a business can successfully make the transition to ownership by its employees. Other times, it means identifying resources or creating opportunities to help existing employee-owned companies respond to a challenge. And on occasion we have the chance to provide assistance to entrepreneurs ready to launch a new business with employee ownership built in from the start.

by Lizah Makombore

June 22, 2023

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center held its 21st annual conference in the Davis Center at the University of Vermont on June 1. It featured a keynote by Derek Peebles, Director of Public Policy & Advocacy for Inclusive Economy at the American Sustainable Business Network, and four rounds of workshops covering a range of topics and offering opportunities for professional development, networking, and collaboration.

We're very pleased to announce that Lizah Makombore will be our Program & Research Intern for Summer 2023!

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) is seeking an intern to work for the Summer of 2023 in Burlington, Vermont. This position is generally intended for a rising college junior, senior, or graduate student, but non-students with a college degree and interest in employee-ownership are also welcome to apply. 

The VEOC is a statewide non-profit whose mission is to promote and foster employee ownership in order to broaden capital ownership, deepen employee participation, retain jobs, increase living standards for working families, and stabilize communities.

Thanks to the 2022 earmark from Senator Bernie Sanders, the VEOC is thrilled to announce the availability of $50,000 in technical assistance grant dollars for those interested in exploring employee ownership!

After securing $158,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending for VEOC's outreach, technical assistance, and legal resources development in the spring of 2022, Senator Bernie Sanders finished out the year with another victory for employee ownership when the Senate passed the $1.7 trillion fiscal year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations bill last week.

by Don Jamison, VEOC Co-Founder and former Executive Director

 

When Bruce Seifer and Will Raap died recently, the VEOC lost two longtime friends. 

December 12, 2022

Vermont Employee Ownership Center is accepting proposals for the creation of a set of documents intended to provide guidance and templates for employee-owned companies and employee groups seeking alternative financing to convert their company to employee ownership.

Deliverables

In celebration of Employee Ownership Month, the Employee Owners of Vermont, an active group of local employee-owned companies, raised more than $30,865 and collected 480 pounds of food in October for the group’s fifth annual fundraiser for the Vermont Foodbank.

UPDATE: The application period for this position has closed.

We are seeking a multi-talented person with enthusiasm for our mission to join our small team working to expand employee ownership in Vermont! A highly organized person with excellent communication and research skills would be an ideal fit for this role, and familiarity and experience with business is a plus.

VEOC is a small organization, and this multi-talented person will wear many hats, with tasks including:

VEOC board treasurer and Gardener's Supply executive Cindy Turcot participated in the symposium at Oxford on September 7 & 8.

The 2022 Oxford Symposium was sponsored by the Employee Ownership Foundation.

As Vermont's employee-owned companies celebrate Employee Ownership month in a diversity of ways, including the annual Employee Owners of Vermont fundraiser to benefit the Vermont Foodbank, we're pleased to announce that Governor Scott has again issued an official proclamation recognizing Employee Ownership Month and the vital contributions Vermont's employee owned companies make to the local economy:

 

The New England architecture firm has long taken a different approach to its design work. Now it has joined the movement for a different type of ownership.

More than scones have been heating up at Flat Iron Cooperative, a worker-owned coffeehouse in downtown Bellows Falls.

In mid-July, with daily highs in the 90s, the afternoon heat started to become severe for workers and guests inside the cafe. Flat Iron had been running an A/C unit and fans in its ground-floor space in the historic wedge-shaped building, but the cafe still wouldn't cool to comfortable temperatures.

Kalchē Wine Co., a recently incorporated worker cooperative winery in Fletcher, VT, invites the public to come celebrate “spring, wine, merriment,” and its newest wine release, Touch of Noir, at Brick at Hotel Vermont on Sunday, April 24 from 1pm-4pm EDT. The Festival of Dionysus, as the event is called, will include wine, snacks, and flower crowns, and will also feature the participation of local businesses Wilder Wines, Poppy Café, Salt & Bubbles, and Hotel Vermont.;

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center was awarded $158,000 for outreach, technical assistance grants, and legal resources development last week as part of the $1.5 trillion federal omnibus bill signed by President Joe Biden on Friday, March 11.

The VEOC is currently experiencing higher-than-average interest in employee ownership business conversions, in part due to economic shifts resulting from both the COVID-19 pandemic and the accelerating rate of retiring business owners, also known as the “Silver Tsunami.”

In a recent article published in Fifty by Fifty, Matt Cropp explains how the VEOC is coordinating with state agencies to leverage $57 million in new State Small Business Credit Initiative dollars to accelerate employee ownership conversions.

Read the article.

Green Screen Graphics joined forces with a Rutland-based graphics company in November to form a 100% employee-owned graphics service provider. With the aim of diversifying its graphics and printing offerings, Tuttle Printing, d/b/a QuickPrint of Rutland, has purchased Green Screen Graphics, combining customers and printing capabilities while bringing Green Screen employees into the fold of Tuttle’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

With the overwhelming variety of holiday gift ideas out there, we wanted to offer a sampler this year for those wishing to have a positive community impact while buying gifts loved ones are sure to enjoy. Whether you live in Vermont or simply appreciate its fine artisanship, this guide provides a tasting of the countless splendid and unique gift items available from Vermont's treasured employee-owned companies. Please share among friends and family!

Burlington, Vermont, November 15, 2021 -- In celebration of Employee Ownership Month, the Employee Owners of Vermont, an active group of local employee-owned companies, successfully carried out its fourth annual fundraiser for the Vermont Foodbank in October. Collectively, the group raised $29,923, providing approximately 50,000 meals for kids, seniors, and families who don’t have enough to eat on a regular basis.

Burlington, VT, October, 13, 2021 -- Cindy Turcot, CEO and President of Gardener’s Supply Company, has received the 2021 Terry Ehrich Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) 20th Annual VBSR Awards Ceremony on Tuesday evening. Turcot received the award in recognition of her dedication to the company’s innovative management style and her commitment and furtherance of employee ownership.

With wealth inequality on a steady climb in the US, it will be little surprise to most that workers at employee-owned companies have suffered fewer of the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic than the average American full-time employee.


You may, however, be shocked at just how dramatic the difference in outcomes has been.

 

Ryan at work in the VEOC office.After interviewing many impressive applicants from the community over the past few weeks, Vermont Employee Ownership Center is excited to announce the hiring of Ryan Thornton as our new Communications and Outreach Coordinator!

UPDATE: This position has been filled.

The VEOC, a non-profit organization which promotes and fosters broad-based employee ownership of Vermont businesses, is looking for a multi-talented person to join our small team! Basic understanding of – and enthusiasm for – our mission is essential. Understanding of business and economic development, and experience in delivering presentations are desirable. 

Check out the video recording from our annual conference last month of our keynote speaker, Ken Baker of NewAge Industries, Inc.

He outlines his journey to becoming CEO, his interest in employee ownership and the importance of it becoming more accessible and integrated in college education, and concludes with an informative Q&A session.

 

Get your tickets here for our 19th annual (virtual this year) gathering of Vermont's employee ownership community, to be held June 3rd! The full agenda and more details can be found on the conference page.

After a relatively quiet 2020, 2021 is shaping up to be a banner year for employee ownership in Vermont, with the second transition of the year of a company to ownership by an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) having taken place in early April! 

Alpine Snowguards of Morrisville, VT specializes in rooftop snow retention devices and recently announced that they are now officially 100% employee owned. 

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center is thrilled to announce that this year’s keynote speaker at our June 3rd Annual Conference will be NewAge Industries CEO Ken Baker. Ken will be kicking off the day of virtual learning and networking with a talk titled “The Transforming Power of Employee Ownership: One Company's Journey.”

After numerous conversations over the years with the leadership of Woodstock, Vermont-based Chippers, Inc., VEOC was excited to learn last week that they have joined the employee ownership community by merging with Davey Tree!

January 26th, 2021: VEOC Annual Report to the Community

As Vermont's employee-owned companies celebrate Employee Ownership month in a diversity of ways, including the annual Employee Owners of Vermont fundraiser to benefit the Vermont Food Bank, we're pleased to announce that Governor Scott has issued an official proclamation recognizing Employee Ownership Month and the vital contributions Vermont's employee owned companies make to Vermont's economy:

To learn more and register, please visit this page.

The VEOC is pleased to announce that the keynote speaker for this year's Vermont Employee Ownership Conference on will be Blake Jones!

Pay Rate: $15/hour
Hours Per Week: 10
Start Date: As early as March 1, 2020
End Date: August 28, 2020
Maximum Budgeted Hours: 300

Vermont Employee Ownership Center is hiring an intern to assist our team in diverse initiatives and tasks, with a particular focus on communications and program support.

We recently added three new interviews to our EO Convos video series! You can check them out below, and can view all the interviews on the series page on Youtube.

Another Employee Ownership Month is now in the books, so we figured we’d share some highlights from this year’s activities:

There are lots of folks doing great things in the employee ownership world, and one of my goals this summer was to get into a pattern of recording conversations with such folks on a regular basis. Thus far, we've been fortunate to have Camille Kerr on to discuss her work on Employee Ownership Trusts, Nathan Schneider to discuss his recent research into Louis Kelso and the origins of the ESOP, and Oliver Goodenough to chat about his work at the intersection of blockchain, law, and ownership design.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) and the Burlington Community Economic Development Office (CEDO) are pleased to announce their co-sponsorship of a free “lunch and learn” seminar on employee ownership as an ownership succession option for Burlington business owners. This event is a follow-up to two trainings that the VEOC has provided CEDO staff to help familiarize them with how employee-ownership exits work, as well as how to identify companies that might be good candidates for that path.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) is seeking an intern to work for the Summer of 2019 in Burlington, Vermont. This position is generally intended for a rising college junior, senior, or graduate student, but non-students with a college degree and interest in employee-ownership are also welcome to apply. Please submit your application via the VBSR Internship listing here.

Contacts:
Keith Flaherty, CEO
Hallam-ICS
[email protected]

Matt Cropp, Co-Executive Director
Vermont Employee Ownership Center
[email protected]

Collaborative of Vermont Employee-Owned Companies Raise $17,800, Collect 3,000 Pounds of Food to Benefit Vermont Food Bank.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center is Seeking a Program and Outreach Coordinator!

This multi-talented person will be responsible for overall communication and marketing duties. They will be involved in:

It's October in Vermont, which means changing leaves, cider donuts, and Employee Ownership Month!

This year, we are again collaborating with a number of local companies to organize two Employee Ownership Month celebrations, at which employee-owners and supporters of the model can meet each other and learn about how employee ownership impacts the culture and work-life of different companies. Follow the links below to learn more about the events and to register:

After following its progress through Congress over the past year, the Main Street Employee Ownership Act was signed into law on August 12th!

Among other elements, the Act makes the conversion of a business to employee ownership via a worker co-op or Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) eligible for Small Business Administration (SBA) 7(a) loans. Such loans, which the SBA guarantees up to 85% up to $5 million, will be a significant new tool in the box for business owners considering selling to their employees.

Guest Post By Hallam-ICS CEO Keith Flaherty

In early January, I was sitting at my desk and decided to send out an email.  I love to run, and on several recent outings my brain kept coming back to the same question:

How can we bring local employee owned companies together to impact our communities?

Date: Friday, June 8th, 2018
Location: UVM Davis Center, 590 Main Street, Burlington, VT

NOTE: This position has been hired for the 2018 Summer season, but if you are interested, we expect to have another position for Summer 2019!

We're excited to announce that we're seeking a paid, part-time intern for the Summer of 2018 to assist the VEOC with our annual conference on June 8th, our annual census of Vermont employee-owned companies, and some marketing and outreach work. The position will start May 29th and run a total of 200 hours over the course of the summer, ending no later than August 31, and will pay $15/hour.

The VEOC is pleased to announce our 2018 spring series of ownership succession seminars!

Each year we partner with RDCs to present, free of charge, "The Search for a Good Exit: Introduction to Ownership Succession Planning" in communities across Vermont, and this year's offerings will include Brattleboro, Burlington, Rutland, and Middlebury. Details may be found below, and, while the sessions are free, space is limited, so please RSVP ASAP to reserve your spot if interested...

We're excited to be partnering with the Cooperative Fund of New England and the Center for an Agricultural Economy to present our FREE "Selling to the Employees: A Path to Ownership Succession" seminar in Hardwick from 4:30-6pm on Wednesday, 1/24! The event will cover the ESOP and worker co-op models, including a discussion of financing options for low-wealth employee groups seeking to purchase a business from a departing founder.

With employee ownership month officially concluded, we figured we'd share a few reflections on October's happenings!

Expanding on the success we've had for the past two years organizing Employee Ownership Month celebrations in the Upper Valley, for 2017 we're expanding to three events in different parts of the state: Montpelier, Windsor, and Burlington! These gatherings are always a great opportunity to meet folks from different employee owned companies and learn what they're doing to build strong cultures of ownership.

Thomas Dudley of the new "Certified Employee Owned" program discusses its approach and goals with VEOC Associate Director Matt Cropp!

On Wednesday, June 10, VEOC board Treasurer Cindy Turcot and Associate Director Matt Cropp participated in a briefing on Capitol Hill aimed at informing Congressional staffers about the benefits of employee ownership, as well as discussing the details of three recently introduced bills aimed at expanding it nation-wide. The proposals have since picked up a bit of press, and the key points of the bills currently in play are:

"Worker Ownership, Readiness and Knowledge (WORK) Act" - S. 1081, H.R. 2387

Another great company has joined the ranks of Vermont's employee ownership community: Vermont Heating and Ventilating (VHV)! Founded in 1949 and currently employing ~170 people, 3rd generation owner David Brown recently announced the sale of 100% of the company to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), who stated in a press release that:

On February 8th, the news officially broke that Burlington-based Switchback Brewing Company has been sold to its employees as an 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), making it the 7th brewery in the country to choose that path. Given the visibility of the craft beer sector in Vermont's economy, the news spread like wildfire, boosting public awareness of the ESOP model. A sampling of the press:

REGISTER HERE
Date: Friday, June 2nd, 2017

Location: UVM Davis Center, 590 Main Street, Burlington, VT

Vermont Employee Ownership Center

2016 Report to the Community

January 17, 2017

Our mission: to promote and foster employee ownership in order to broaden capital ownership, deepen employee participation, retain jobs, increase living standards for working families, and stabilize communities.”

 

1. New employee-owned companies in 2016

The VEOC is pleased to announce that the latest installment of our "The Search for a Good Exit: Introduction to Ownership Succession Planning" will tak place from 2-5pm on Tuesday, December 13th in St. Johnsbury at the offices of NVDA.

On Monday, October 17th, forty-five folks from eight Upper Valley employee-owned companies gathered in the taproom of Harpoon Brewery's Windsor location to celebrate Employee Ownership Month.

The VEOC is excited to announce two upcoming events in Bennington on Thursday, 10/27!

The 2016 Worker Cooperative National Conference, hosted by The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and The Democracy at Work Institute, was held this year in Austin, Texas, just blocks away from the Texas Capitol Building.

The VEOC is excited to announce that we were selected as one of the fourteen Vermont organizations to receive a grant from the Northern Border Regional Commission! The Commission, which funds economic and community development initiatives in economically challenged areas on the northern border with Canada, recognized the value of employee ownership as an effective strategy for job retention via successful business owners

Presented August 12th, 2016 by Jerry Koch-Gonzalez of Sociocracy for All and the Sociocracy Consulting Group.

 

 

 

This year’s Vermont Employee Ownership Conference was the most well attended to date, with approximately 180 people gathered to learn, teach, network, and reconnect! Representatives from a wide range of businesses attended, along with experts, organizers and consultants from across the Northeast.

Cindy Turcot Keynote

Thanks to a tip from Bruce Seifer, Matt went spelunking in the VEOC archives and emerged bearing a video tape from a 1985 forum on employee ownership at City Hall in Burlington! We'll be posting the rest of the forum to our Youtube channel soon, but, in the meantime, check out then-Mayor Bernie Sanders' introduction to the event:

 

Date: Thursday, June 2nd, 2016
Time:
 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM (Registration starts at 7:30 AM)
Location: Champlain College, CCM Building, 375 Maple St, Burlington, VT 05401

On January 19th, the VEOC's board of directors staff gathered for the second edition of our Annual Meeting and Report to the Community at the State House in Montpelier. After duly electing our new set of officers and conducting other necessary affairs during our business meeting, we retired to a reception in Cedar Creek Room, where we highlighted the progress since we last gathered there in January of 2015.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center is pleased to announce two free seminars intended for business advisors (attorneys, accountants, bankers, etc.) interested in learning more about the benefits and mechanics of ownership succession via sale to employees via Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Worker Cooperatives. Lead presenters for this event will be Tabitha Croscut, a nationally-known ESOP attorney who is Managing Shareholder at Steiker, Greenapple & Croscut, P.C., and 

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center is pleased to announce two free seminars for business owners and key managers interested in learning more about the benefits and mechanics of selling their company to the employees via an Employee Stock Ownership plan!

After more than a year of conversations with staff, meetings with experts, and negotiations with financial institutions, we're excited to announce the completion of the conversion of the New School of Montpelier into a worker co-op! Financed via a combination of employee investments, the Vermont Economic Development Authority, the Cooperative Fund of New England, and our own revolving loan fund, the New School of Montpelier is now the largest worker cooperative in Vermont.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, is seeking a videographer for our annual conference at Saint Michael's College on Tuesday June 2, 2015.

SOLD OUT!

We are currently at capacity for our venue.  Please write us at [email protected] if you would like to receive materials for particular sessions, or if you'd like to discuss any aspect of employee ownership.

The 13th Annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference will be held this year on Tuesday, June 2 at St. Michael's College in Colchester!

In light of the success of last year's ownership succession seminars, the Vermont Employee Ownership Center is pleased to announce that we are organizing another series around the state this spring!

We're doing something new for our annual meeting this year: gathering in the State House in Monpelier!

Exciting news: this afternoon, our Board President Dunbar Oehmig of Red House Building signed the check for the very first loan made by our Vermont Employee Ownership Loan Fund!

Join the VEOC and Burlington-area worker co-op members for an evening of discussion and pizza with Equal Exchange co-founder Rink Dickinson! Doors are at 6:30 pm, and Rink will give a short talk followed by Q&A around 7:00. The event will take place at 156 North Winooski Ave in Burlington.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center is pleased to join Hallam ICS, PC Construction, PT-360, Gardners' Supply Company, Pension Works, and Carris Reels in presenting a free screening of the award-winning documentary We The Owners: Employees Expanding the American Dream. The event will take place at the Main Street Landing Film House, with hors d'ouevres beginning at 7pm, and the movie will start at 8pm.

Trailer:

The VEOC is seeking a Program and Outreach Coordinator.

This multi-talented person will be responsible for overall communication and marketing duties. She/he will be involved in...

The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce (LCRCC) and the VEOC will present a free introduction to business ownership succession planning on Tuesday, February 19 from noon to 3:00 PM in the LCRCC offices at 60 Main Street in Burlington. 

The event will feature close looks at four different ways of selling a business: to an outsider, to family members, to managers and to the larger group of employees.  While some technical details will be explored, the focus will be on stories about each path, told by owners who have successfully sold their businesses. 

VEOC is offering a free workshop entitled “Selling to the Employees: Employee Ownership as a Path for Business Succession” on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 from 2 to 5 PM in Gardener's Supply Company's administrative offices, 128 Intervale Road in Burlington, Vermont.  Founded in 1983, Gardener’s Supply Company serves millions of gardeners nationwide, and is 100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). 

The New England Chapter of The ESOP Association is proud to present its flagship Annual Fall Conference at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel Thursday, October 11 – Friday, October 12, 2012.

Read this blog post from the Great Place to Work Institute.

The VEOC is offering its latest free workshop, "Selling to the Employees: Employee Ownership as a Path for Business Succession” on Wednesday, October 3rd from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm in the offices of Carris Reels in Proctor, Vermont.  Carris Reels manufactures packaging for the wire and cable industry, and is 100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  Lunch is included, courtesy of our host!

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has introduced two pieces of legislation that could give an enormous boost to employee ownership in this country.

"Economic success stories are rare in recession hit Spain these days but one can be found in the small northern Basque town of Arrasate, nestling in rolling green hills."

Read more here.

 

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT — Independent book publisher Chelsea Green announced that it has become an employee-owned company, with close to 80 percent of its stock to be held by its employees.

The transaction, completed on June 29, allows a minority portion of the company’s privately held stock to be held by Ian and Margo Baldwin, who founded Chelsea Green in 1984 on the south green in Chelsea, Vermont. Margo Baldwin is currently the company’s president and publisher and will retain that role for the foreseeable future.

John Abrams, a frequent speaker at VEOC conferences and author of "COMPANIES WE KEEP: Employee Ownership and the Business of Community and Place", will be giving a 2-day workshop on business management at Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Waitsfield, Vermont on April 21-22.  The Art of Small Business/Re-Inventing Small Business will include how businesses can become more engaged in their communities, succession planning, business plans, and business structure alternatives, including cooperative, employee ownership, and B corporations.

The VEOC recently created an ad campaign to promote employee ownership and increase the Center's exposure in the Verm

The 2012 Vermont Employee Ownership Conference was held Friday, June 8th, 2012 at Champlain College in Burlington, VT

Company also moving its corporate headquarters

A group of 10 seasoned physical therapists, along with two support staff, have formed PT360, a new employee-owned physical therapy firm based in Williston, Vermont. Under the leadership of Mary Steiger, the members of the group decided to form a new business and were interested in sharing ownership. The Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) provided initial information on starting up as a worker cooperative and assisted the group with their bylaws.

Sonnax Industries, an auto parts manufacturer based in Bellows Falls, VT, has been sold to its employees. The previous owners, Tommy Harmon and Rick Fritz, sold 100% of the company stock to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The company employs about 150 people.