VEOC News & Events

The Importance of Ownership Culture in Difficult Times

Q&A with Frank Sands
of King Arthur Flour Company

Vermont Employee 
Ownership Center
P.O. Box 546
Burlington, VT 05402
Phone: 802-861-6611
Email: info@veoc.org
Website: www.veoc.org

VEOC News & Events

William Greider to headline the 2009 Vermont Employee
Ownership Conference on June 5th in Burlington

We are thrilled to announce that the keynote speaker for the Seventh Annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference will be renowned political journalist and author William Greider. The event will be held Friday, June 5th at Champlain College in Burlington.

Greider is the former assistant managing editor at the Washington Post, where he worked for 15 years as a national correspondent, editor and columnist. Greider has also served as a correspondent for six Frontline documentaries on PBS. He currently serves as National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation.

Click here for more information about William Grieder and the Vermont Employee Ownership Conference.

Employee Ownership to be featured on VPR's Vermont Edition
on Tuesday, January 13th at noon.
Don Jamison of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center will be a featured guest of VPR's daily call-in show Vermont Edition, along with John Abrams of South Mountain Company. The focus of the segment will be about employee ownership in hard times. If you have a question or comment you'd like to submit, call 1-800-639-2211 or send an email to the producers. VPR will be streaming the program live as well as archiving it on their website.

VEOC to exhibit at the Winter Business Fair on January 15th
The VEOC will have a tabletop exhibit at the CEDO Winter Business Fair being held Thursday, January 15th at 10:00 am at Burlington's City Hall. The event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information.

Business Succession and Employee Ownership Workshop
being held February 17th in Burlington
A free workshop entitled “Selling to the Employees: Employee Ownership as a Path for Business Succession” will be held on February 17th from 2:30 to 5:00 pm at the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce Boardroom in Burlington.

If you are thinking about the issue of business succession, this is an ideal introductory workshop. Click here for more information or to register.

First Annual Employee Ownership Day Announced
The VEOC will be holding its First Annual Employee Ownership Day at the Vermont State House on the morning of March 24th. The goals are to meet with legislators to familiarize them with the benefits of employee ownership; recognize Vermont's employee-owned companies and their contributions to the state's economy; and highlight the mission of the VEOC. All are welcome to attend. We're also seeking display items such as samples of company brochures, small banners, table displays, or photos from employee-owned companies. Please email us for more information.

The Importance of Ownership Culture in Difficult Times
By Ben F. Wells, Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP, Cincinnati, OH
(Used with permission from the ESOP Association)

As we look back on the autumn of 2008, we see one of the most tumultuous times in the financial history of the United States. Should employee owners in an ESOP company be concerned about their company and their investment? Certainly. But ESOPs have a key advantage that should help see them through this crisis — a motivated and committed workforce.

Now is the time for ESOP companies to use that advantage by stepping up efforts to reinforce and improve their ownership culture. How can this be a “teachable moment” that shows employees the benefits of their stake in what otherwise seems to be a shaky economy? It will take some honest and frank communication. Ignorance is the enemy. Here are seven topics that every ESOP company needs to discuss with its employees.

#1. How are we doing? Employees hear the worst from politicians, the media and from conversations with friends and relatives. Many have no adult memories of an economic downturn and don’t know what it means for them. The first order of business is an open and honest discussion of the company’s current situation and prospects for the near term. Nobody can see the future, and employees don’t expect that. But it’s important to give employees a realistic assessment of the situation.

#2. How is our industry doing? In the same way, employees need to know how other companies in the same industry are doing, to the extent that knowledge is available. We may be the bestmanaged widget maker in the world, but if nobody is buying widgets we have a problem. Much of this information may already be available to employees in the news media. But company managers can often give insights that can’t be found elsewhere.

#3. How are our customers and suppliers doing? Again, this information may be available in the news. But company managers will often be able to provide anecdotal evidence of new orders, cutbacks, layoffs (or even government bailouts!) that affect key customers and suppliers. Employees will hear much of this through the rumor mill anyway, so why not communicate it directly and get it out in the open? (This is assuming, of course, that the information can be communicated without violating any confidences with customers or suppliers.)

Read more...

Q&A with Frank Sands of King Arthur Flour Company

Started in Boston in 1790 and now based in Norwich, Vermont, King Arthur Flour is America’s oldest flour company. Since 1990 it has grown from a small mail-order business with five employees to a nationally known company with nearly 200 employees.

After five generations as a family-owned operation, the company is now 100 percent employee-owned.

Frank Sands explains why he and his wife Brinna chose to sell the business to their employees and how that decision has been instrumental in the company’s enormous success.

Click here to read the full Q&A.

This project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). SBA’s funding should not be construed as an endorsement of any products, opinions, or services. All SBA-funded projects are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.