The VEOC has provided direct assistance to owners of 44 Vermont businesses, with a total of 981 employees. Some recent activity in this area:
- In 2005, Birdseye Building, a 25-employee business that we directly assisted, implemented an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
- In March of 2006, Pre-Tech Plastics (65 employees) implemented an ESOP. A representative of that company attended our conference in 2003.
- In November of 2006, Green Mountain Spinnery became owned by all of its nine full-time employees through a worker cooperative structure. The VEOC provided direct assistance with this ownership transition.
- Another business we have directly assisted, with over 100 employees, has announced to employees its intention to implement an ESOP as soon as possible.
- Several of the businesses we have assisted have been, or are likely to be, purchased by managers.
The VEOC has provided direct assistance to groups representing a total of 354 employees in 14 companies interested in the possibility of buying the business in which they work. In addition, in eight plant closing situations, we helped groups representing a total of 636 employees explore the possibility of a buyout. We have also provided advice in 16 cases to entrepreneurs interested in starting a company with broadly-shared ownership. Recent highlights:
- We assisted five employees of a construction company to re-organize as a worker cooperative that purchased the company’s assets from its founder. The new company, called Red House, now has eight members (employee owners) and several other employees on track to become owners.
- We helped the three founders of a new web design firm, the Brattleboro Tech Collective, start up as a worker cooperative.
- One of the plant closing cases led to the start-up of Island Pond Woodworkers. At its peak, IPW employed over 20 people. It was sold at the end of 2005 to a Vermont investor who intends to grow the company and provide more jobs for the Island Pond area.