Seventh Annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference
Friday June 5th, 2009
Conference photos (on Flickr)
Conference program (PDF)
Presentations and remarks
Audio recordings
Nearly 180 people attended the Seventh Annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference, held on June 5, 2009 at Champlain College in Burlington. The day began at 9:00 am with the morning plenary, which featured remarks by VEOC Board President Paul Millman, Vermont's Governor Jim Douglas, and a keynote address by William Greider.
"I think employee ownership provides a great opportunity for some stability of the economic status of Vermont at this challenging time, because obviously if somebody is local, is a part of our community, is a part of an organization, then he or she has a far greater commitment to the success of that enterprise than somebody who might be located far from home," explained Governor Douglas. "So if we can encourage employee ownership of businesses, I think it's a lot better for the future of our state's economic base." (Click here to listen to portions of the morning plenary.)
William Greider (left), Governor Jim Douglas (center), and Paul Millman (right)
speaking during the morning plenary session of the conference.
The full-day conference featured 14 workshops covering a range of topics from employee ownership basics to culture and management issues. Many of the presentations are available for download in PDF format (see below).
The
conference's closing remarks were delivered by
John Abrams, co-founder and president of South Mountain Company. John spoke about the challenges the company is facing as a result of the economic downturn and the role that employee ownership might play as our economy is reshaped in the coming years. Click here to read a full transcript of his remarks.
Thank you to all of the speakers and attendees for making the Seventh Annual conference our best yet. We look forward to seeing you next year.
Presentations and Remarks
- Opening Remarks by Paul Millman (PDF)
- Welcome Remarks by Governor James Douglas (MP3)
- Keynote Address by William Greider (MP3)
- Closing Remarks by John Abrams (PDF)
- Remarks by Senator Patrick Leahy (Video)
- Presentations