Registration is open for the 20th Annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference!
Conference registration is now open!
Registration is live for the 20th Annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference! The conference will be held at the Dudley H. Davis Center at UVM in Burlington on June 9, 7:30 AM - 5:00 PM.
We're pleased to be offering a selection of 19 workshops this year covering an array of topics sure to interest newcomers interested in learning about employee ownership as well as existing employee-owners and leaders at employee-owned companies.
Head over to the conference page on our website to browse the agenda and get a discounted "early bird" ticket. We are also offering discounted tickets for:
- representatives of companies exploring employee ownership
- college students and faculty
- lawyers and professional advisors
- legislators
We'll be using the Whova mobile app this year, so once you get registered, be sure to create a Whova account and download the app to begin networking with other attendees, see the agenda, and gain access to information about this year's speakers and sponsors.
We can't wait to see you in June!
Big wins for employee ownership and the VEOC
The (at last) approved $1.5 trillion FY22 federal budget brings good news for employee ownership, and in particular for the VEOC, which will be receiving $158,000 for outreach, technical assistance grants, and development of legal resources as part of the $38 million secured for Vermont by Sen. Sanders.
Here's what our executive director, Matt Cropp, had to say about the news:
“This grant comes at an opportune time when both the need for our services and the opportunities to expand the number of Vermonters experiencing the benefits of employee ownership are significant. We look forward to the additional resources helping us to maximize our impact in the coming year while also creating resources that will benefit Vermonters for years to come!”
Read the full story in Vermont Business Magazine.
Also covered in Fifty by Fifty.
The importance of partnering with SBDCs
In recognition of SBDC Day on March 16, the VEOC collaborated with employee ownership organizations across the nation to strengthen the partnerships between organizations like ours and state SBDCs. For our contribution, we told a brief version of the story of New School of Montpelier's conversion to a worker-owned cooperative in 2015.
Here's part of what worker-owner Elias Gardner had to say of his interactions with Dave Rubel, who worked with the Vermont Small Business Development Center at the time:
“[Rubel] spent a lot of time helping us. I was blown away by how much support we got for nothing – it was just there. There are so many things to help people with small businesses, but really it was the personal time that was incredible, because, you know, you can read all you want and not understand half of it.”
Read the rest of the story on our blog.
WEBINAR: THURSDAY, MAY 5TH
Webinar: An Inside Exit: Selling Your Business to Family, Managers, or Employees
In collaboration with the Addison County Economic Development Corporation & Addison County Chamber of Commerce, the VEOC is presenting a one-hour overview of three "internal exit paths" for business owners considering retirement.
Certified Exit Planning Advisor Mark Beliveau of Gallagher, Flynn & Co. will provide a close look at selling a business to family members or to managers, and Don Jamison of the VEOC will detail options for selling a company to its employees through an ESOP or worker cooperative.
LaunchVT accepting applications through March 18
The Vermont Department of Economic Development is now accepting applications for LaunchVT, a business acceleration program for Vermont-based entrepreneurs. More from the program website:
"LaunchVT provides business acceleration services to cohorts of eight entrepreneurs. All eight members of the cohort receive mentorship specific to the needs of their businesses and participate in office hours, peer strategy sessions, focused trainings, pitch prep workshops, and investor events. Each member of the cohort will leave the accelerator with a refined and polished pitch deck, a Launch Report (executive summary), and extensive connections to local founders, advisors, investors, and service providers."
Employee-Owned B Corps in the spotlight
If you follow us on our social media channels, you likely noticed that we have been highlighting the 100% employee-owned certified B Corps in Vermont.
The reason for this is that studies have shown that employee ownership performs very well with regards to contributing social and economic benefit to more workers, but that employee-owned companies do not necessarily perform above average in other areas, such as environmental sustainability.
In 2020, Fifty by Fifty and the Democracy Collaborative conducted a study of various ownership designs and found that when employee ownership is combined with a clear mission, as in a B Corp, the total benefits far outweigh those of companies that are either B Corps or employee owned. Compared to other similar firms, employee-owned B Corps scored an average of nearly 21% higher in B score categories.
If you'd like more of this kind of information, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
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