From adamtrott2000 at yahoo.com Tue May 18 19:31:30 2010 From: adamtrott2000 at yahoo.com (Adam Trott) Date: Tue May 18 19:43:21 2010 Subject: [vawcnews] VAWC meeting Wednesday May 26, 6:30, River Valley Market Message-ID: <468204.88527.qm@web36901.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hello everybody, Our next VAWC meeting will be next week on Wednesday in River Valley Market's conference room (just check in at the counter to say you're there for the meeting and head up stairs). Meeting goes from 6:30 to 8:30 with gathering at 6pm (although I won't be able to be there until 6:30 myself). Please send any agenda items, along with a requested time allotment) to me and Ill add them. We have a couple items on the agenda so far: 1. Update from Co-ops on approving Member Agreement (10-20 minutes) Co-ops to update on if they will be signing the Member Agreement. 2. Reviewing Valley Green Feast's proposal (15 minutes) A member of VGF will discuss their proposal for membership in a 'start-up' fashion. 3. Staff Project Report (10-15 minutes) Erbin will report this month's activities. 4. VAWC Friend dues discussion (15-20 minutes) We will continue our discussion about dues for VAWC Friends from last month. 5. Your item here... See you then! Don't forget to carpool, if you can. Adam ..................................................... Worker/Owner, Collective Copies Member of the Valley Alliance of Worker Co-operatives Working for a Co-operative Economy www.valleyworker.org From adamtrott2000 at yahoo.com Mon May 24 10:51:39 2010 From: adamtrott2000 at yahoo.com (Adam Trott) Date: Mon May 24 10:55:48 2010 Subject: [vawcnews] Worker co-op sessions at VEOC conference, June 9 Message-ID: <1500.82283.qm@web36907.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Hey VAWCers, The Vermont Employee Ownership Center's conference iz coming soon (June 9 at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont). Here's a list of workshops that might be of particular interest to you: . First is a workshop on governance in worker co-ops. Here's the description: Governance in Worker Co-ops: A Comparison of Approaches Erbin Crowell, Cooperative Fund of New England; Aaron Dawson, Equal Exchange; Adam Trott, Collective Copies The worker cooperative structure provides for ?one-person, one-vote? governance on shareholder-level decisions, such as electing the board of directors. Beyond that, a variety of governance and operational structures are possible, from ?flat? structures, in which most decision-making is shared, to more hierarchical structures, where authority over many day-to-day decisions is delegated to department leaders or committees. We will hear about a range of options, and learn about practices in two worker co-ops. In the second round of sessions is a review of co-op basics with two of the best presenters I know of: Forming and Operating a Worker Cooperative Erbin Crowell; Newell Lessell, The ICA Group This session will provide a step-by-step roadmap for converting an established company into a worker cooperative or creating one from scratch. We?ll focus on the nuts and bolts of setting up a worker cooperative and making it run smoothly over time. Governance roles, sharing of profits and day-to-day operations will be discussed. In the third round, there are two sessions that might be up your alley. This one: Building the Movement: New Initiatives to Grow Employee Ownership Don Jamison, VEOC, moderator; Adam Trott, Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives; Chris Mackin, Ownership Associates; rep of Senator Bernie Sanders, TBA Employee ownership can help create a more stable, productive and equitable economy by preserving local ownership and sharing the wealth companies create with all those who help produce it. This panel will share news of new federal legislation and innovative efforts by a variety of organizations, all aimed at creating more ? and stronger ? employee-owned companies. And this one: What ESOPs and Co-ops Can Learn from Each Other Steve Magowan; Alex Moss While ESOPs and worker co-ops may sometimes seem to be distant cousins, they both represent forms of a new capitalism and have much to teach each other. In this session, we will take a look at the underlying principles of both ESOPs and co-ops and consider possibilities for cross-fertilization of ideas for organizational development, corporate governance, financing buy-outs of retirees and other core employee ownership issues. And what could be the most valuable session of the day for you all is in the last round: Consensus Decision-Making Merryn Rutledge, ReVisions; Adam Trott When done right, consensus can be an excellent decision-making tool for employee-owned companies. Commonly viewed as appropriate only for very small companies, consensus can work in larger companies when decisions are delegated to committees. This session will present the basics of working by consensus, and you?ll hear from a business that has been successfully using consensus for many years. Please come! Full details are at www.veoc.org. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.valleyworker.org/pipermail/vawcnews/attachments/20100524/4df72278/attachment.htm From adamtrott2000 at yahoo.com Tue May 25 19:09:29 2010 From: adamtrott2000 at yahoo.com (Adam Trott) Date: Tue May 25 19:22:41 2010 Subject: [vawcnews] Tomorrow: VAWC meeting Wednesday May 26, 6:30, River Valley Market Message-ID: <372789.53810.qm@web36908.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Skipped content of type multipart/alternative-------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: vawc.project_report.2010.5.26.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 54195 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.valleyworker.org/pipermail/vawcnews/attachments/20100525/95cc3f7d/vawc.project_report.2010.5.26.pdf