Leahy Secures $500,000 To Boost
Employee-Owned Businesses In Vermont
(THURSDAY, Dec.
1) – Sen. Patrick Leahy announced Thursday that he has secured
$500,000 in funding through the Small Business Administration to
help the Vermont Employee Ownership Center expand its employee
ownership efforts throughout Vermont. The funds will be used for
additional outreach and educational work, to give technical help to
business owners and employee groups, and to develop new funding
streams for the future.
“Employee
ownership preserves local ownership of our businesses,” said Leahy,
a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “Instead of
closing down or selling to a competitor, small business owners
looking for a good exit strategy can sell the business to their
employees. Employee ownership keeps businesses and jobs in our
communities.”
Leahy noted
that employee ownership, when paired with employee participation,
can lead to greater productivity and higher quality, making
companies better able to compete in global markets. Employee
buyouts of plants slated for closure can preserve jobs that would
otherwise be lost. Employee ownership, like homeownership, offers a
way for ordinary people to build wealth. In addition,
employee-owned businesses tend to pay higher wages and provide
better benefits.
The Vermont
Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) is a statewide non-profit
organization founded in 2001 to provide
information and resources to owners interested in selling their
business to their employees, employee groups interested in
purchasing a business, and entrepreneurs who wish to start up a
company with broadly shared ownership. To date VEOC has
given direct assistance to 56 Vermont businesses, employing a total
of 1,669 Vermonters.
There are nearly 40 Vermont-based companies that are at least
partially employee-owned, including Gardener’s Supply Company, King
Arthur Flour, Merchant’s Bank, Carris Reels, Chroma Technology, Hill
Associates, Hallam Associates, The Trust Company of Vermont, and
Homestead Design.
Contacts:
-
Don
Jamison, Executive Director of VEOC, 802-861-6611
-
Cindy
Turcot, Chair of VEOC Board, COO of Gardener’s Supply Company,
802-660-3500
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