Southern Vermont Employee Ownership Forum

When:

Friday, November 6, 2026

Where:

Winston Prouty Center

209 Austine Dr, Brattleboro, VT 05301

Who:

You, if you are a Business Owner interested in selling your business to the employees. Come for the morning Ownership Succession Workshop and stay for lunch to talk with folks in the field.

OR

You, if you are an Employee Owner at an ESOP, Worker Cooperative, or other EO business. Come for the afternoon Employee Ownership Sessions.

Cost:

Morning Ownership Succession Workshop - Free! Lunch included.

Afternoon EO Sessions - $20 per person. Lunch included.

Agenda for the day:

8:30 - 9:00am Coffee and pastries

9:00am - 12:00pm Ownership Succession Workshop: Selling Business Owners only

12:00 - 1pm Lunch

1:00 - 2:30pm Round 1 of Employee Owner Sessions

2:30 - 3:00pm Networking Break/Roundtables

3:00 - 4:30pm Round 2 of Employee Owner Sessions

4:30 - 5:00pm Snacks and networking

The full-day event features two complementary educational programs designed for different audiences while encouraging shared learning throughout the day.

The morning program, Business Owner Succession Workshop, is an interactive, small-group session designed for business owners who are actively considering retirement, succession planning, or transitioning their business. Participants will work through key questions surrounding business readiness, valuation, timing, financing options, and ownership transition strategies. The workshop will explore a variety of succession pathways, with a focus on key employee or broad based employee ownership conversion.

The afternoon transitions to a broader regional forum focused on Employee Owned Businesses, bringing together employee-owned companies, worker cooperatives, business owners and advisors from across Vermont, Southern New Hampshire, and Western Massachusetts.

Employee Owner Afternoon Sessions

1:00-2:30pm

Leadership Succession Planning for Worker Owned Companies with Allison Curtis (ICA Group) and Miriam Alyward (HELM Consulting)

Leadership transitions are inevitable—but they don't have to be destabilizing. This interactive session helps cooperative leaders assess their organization's readiness for a leadership change and leave with a concrete action plan.

We'll explore why succession planning matters for cooperative stability, then introduce a Resiliency Framework to help you evaluate your own organization across key factors like documentation, staffing, revenue, governance, and board strength. You'll rate your cooperative, identify realistic areas for improvement, and walk away with 2-3 prioritized next steps—plus insights from peers navigating similar challenges.

Audience: Co-op/Professional Advisor

Effective ESOP Committees with Matt Cropp (VEOC)

ESOP committees are a powerful tool for building great Employee Ownership culture. This session will start with a brief overview of the purpose of ESOP Committees and some best practices. You will share a bit about the committee at your company, identify challenges, and discuss experience-based approaches to starting, growing, and renewing ESOP committees.

Audience: ESOP/Professional Advisor

3:00-4:30

Transforming Conflict into Collaboration with Bonnie Hudspeth (Silvo Cooperative)

Do you and your ESOP/co-op’s leaders feel overwhelmed and stuck when conflict arises among your staff or board? In this interactive workshop, you’ll learn techniques for transforming conflict into a tool to strengthen your team and organization instead of feeling like a threat or undermining your cohesion. Come explore tools and practice de-escalation, design containers for better meetings, and co-create solutions for your organization.

Audience: Co-op/ESOP/Professional Advisor

Open Book Management - Engage your Workforce with Ryan Demers (CDI)

Utilizing a curriculum that developed at CDI, Ryan will lead participants through a session of learning using a combination of instruction and small group work. Information will be shared about the basics of OBM, including sharing your financial information (and how to do so), selecting a critical number, and identifying levers. Then, using some small group work, participants will apply these learnings to an example scenario.

Finally, participants will apply these learnings to their individual businesses: How will you bring this back? What will be your next move? What is your ultimate goal for bringing something related to OBM to your businesses?

Audience: Co-op/ESOP/Professional Advisor

Note:

If you are a current business owner interested in Employee Ownership for the future of your company, please register for the Ownership Succession Workshop. You are welcome to attend the entire day if you want, but that workshop is especially for you!

Hosted by VEOC and BDCC