Overview

Employee ownership: Keeping businesses independent when family can’t take over

Succession planning is an urgent need among an increasing number of businesses, especially as baby boomers near retirement age. Because purchasing cooperatives are an important part of helping their independent business members stay independent, competitive and rooted in their communities, the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA) has partnered with Project Equity to better understand the succession challenges of purchasing cooperative member companies, and to assess how employee ownership transitions can help keep these companies independent over the long term.

Join NCBA CLUSA, Project Equity and our purchasing cooperative panelists to learn more about how purchasing coops and other independent business networks can utilize employee ownership and worker cooperative conversions to help locally-owned businesses stay locally-owned for the long term.

In this recorded webinar, you’ll learn:

How converting a business to employee ownership works
Approaches to financing employee buy-outs
Education programs you can implement across your business network
General timeline and cost to consider for conversion

Webinar recording

Recorded December 6, 2016

[Recording coming soon]

New updates!

Our latest study across the United States indicates millions of businesses are at risk of closing and point to employee ownership as a solution.

Check it out

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Free consultation

for businesses interested in employee ownership.

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Webinar participants

Moderator:

Bryan Munson

Business Development Manager, NCBA

A 10-year marketing and business development professional with a diverse portfolio in entertainment and media (Universal Music Group, iHeartRadio, Nintendo, MTV), non- and not-for-profit (Nationwide Insurance, National Cooperative Business Association, Domains.coop) and food & beverage (Grand Marnier, Cabot Creamery Cooperative, Organic Valley, Muscle Maker Grill).

At the National Cooperative Business Association, I lead a business unit responsible for building lasting and meaningful partnerships with service providers that cater to the core needs of our member cooperatives, developing and executing omni-channel marketing plans focused on alliance strategies, event sponsorship activations and educational programming.

Presenters:

Jack Bailey

President & CEO, Independent Distributors Cooperative -USA

Jack Bailey received his Bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctorate from Indiana University, becoming a member of the Indiana State Bar in 1984. Bailey served on the Board of Directors for the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA) and a Delegate since 1997. He served on the Public Resources for Cooperative Development Committee, and the Emerging Issues Committee. Additionally, he has been a repeat presenter at the NCBA Purchasing Conference.

Bailey was the recipient of the 2002 Blue Chip Community Business Award for his leadership in guiding the cooperative through adverse challenges to the level of prosperity it enjoys today. In 2008 he received the George E. Johnston Excellence Award for his achievements in the cooperative community. He has traveled globally in pursuit of opportunities for cooperative members he serves and in 2010 was inducted into the Indiana Cooperative Hall of Fame. Bailey is passionate about the role of cooperatives in the global community and a frequent speaker and consultant both here and abroad.

Stephen K. Irvin

President & CEO, Amicus Solar Cooperative

Since it’s founding in 2011, Stephen has been President and CEO of Amicus Solar Cooperative, the first purchasing cooperative in the U.S. solar energy industry. Amicus is jointly owned and democratically managed by its membership of solar development, EPC, and installation companies. Amicus currently supports over 40 member companies across 29 states, Puerto Rico, and Canada, which employ over 1,500 solar energy professionals. Stephen led the creation of Amicus while serving as CFO for Namasté Solar, a Colorado-based solar company, which specializes in the design, construction, and long-term monitoring and maintenance of solar PV systems. Stephen was one of the original employee-owners of Namasté Solar, and treasured playing a small part in the evolution of its unique business model. Before Namasté Solar, Stephen worked in academia on the non-market valuation of public goods, renewable energy incentive programs, and irrigation and water supply projects in developing countries, such as Nepal, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. Stephen’s publications include the “Economic Valuation of River Systems” and various working papers supported by the National Science Foundation. Before academia, his early career included four years at Chase Manhattan Bank and The Provident Bank. Stephen has a B.S. in Mathematics from Vanderbilt University, an M.S. in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from The Ohio State University, and a M.A. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Alison Lingane

Co-founder, Project Equity

Alison Lingane started her career in community-based work, designing and leading micro-enterprise programs for urban youth. Inspired to gain skills to bring programs to scale that create real opportunity for people, she left to get her MBA, and co-founded what is now the Global Social Venture Competition, the largest international business plan competition for double or triple bottom line businesses. Prior to launching Project Equity, Alison spent 15 years in executive roles at mission-driven companies that are designed to have human impact at scale. A serial ‘social entrepreneur,’ Alison co-founded a thriving PreK-8th grade dual immersion school that now serves over 360 students. Her passion for building businesses as a force for good lead her to her partnership with Hilary Abell in founding Project Equity. Alison has her B.A. from Harvard University and her MBA from the Haas School of Business, and she is a 2014 Echoing Green Fellow.