CT Center for Employee Ownership

07/27/2026

We’ve all seen stories about small businesses closing when owners retire. But there are other ways to preserve the legacy of a lifetime’s work—selling the business to employees is one of them.

Whether through a direct sale, an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, a Worker Cooperative, or an Employee Ownership Trust, CTCEO helps business owners explore their options and connect with the experts needed to complete the transition. Thanks to the work of our founding Board Members Amy Fody Huot, Richard Glassman, Carolyn L Edsell-Vetter, Steve Storkan and everyone at the Employee Ownership Expansion Network, CTCEO is building a community of like-minded business owners and professionals to make employee ownership a possibility for more of our friends and neighbors.

Keeping local jobs local, sustaining small businesses, and reducing wealth inequality are important steps toward helping our Connecticut communities thrive for years to come.

Still relatively unknown in Connecticut, employee ownership is a way for business owners to keep their business open when they retire and to preserve their legacy. According to Robin Lamott Sparks, executive director of the Connecticut Center for Employee Ownership, it helps keep jobs local and stab...

07/07/2026

"Over the next decade, roughly six million baby boomer small business owners are expected to exit their companies .... Over one million of these businesses, representing $5 trillion in value, will enter the market."

Check out this article by the NCRC featuring CTCEO Board Member, Cooperative Fund of the Northeast's Carolyn Edsell-Vetter. In the article, she discusses the impact of worker cooperatives on community wealth generation and how they can be a viable option for many business owners to preserve their legacy while keeping jobs in their local community.

If you have questions about whether Employee Ownership is a viable option for your legacy, reach out to CTCEO for more information!

Learn more about NCRC member Cooperative Fund of the Northeast (CFNE)'s work in collaboration with nonprofit developers the Cooperative Development Institute (CDI) and ICA Group helping business owners in the Northeast through the business conversion process and supporting employees as they become n...

06/18/2026

Video Production Day! Thanks to everyone at Web Industries, Inc. in Dayville for sharing their stories about the positive impact has had in their community. Special thanks to Motion Inc. for your expertise and talent to help us bring the Web Industries, Inc. success story to life. We can’t wait to see the final product!

06/13/2026

Employee Ownership takes many different forms. Check out this story about Clegg Auto and their conversation to an Employee Ownership Trust!

When it was time to plan their exit, Clegg Auto's owners chose the road less traveled — and it made all the difference.

Instead of selling to a chain or closing the shop, they became an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT):

• Workers share in profits and build real wealth
• Employees have a voice in how the business runs
• The business stays independent and community-rooted
• Customers keep the team they've trusted for years

An EOT permanently locks in shared ownership — no single person can ever sell the company out from under the workers.

Read Clegg Auto's story: https://www.rmeoc.org/employee-ownership/success-stories/clegg-auto/

06/03/2026

Are you curious if Employee Ownership is right for your business? Thank you to our friends in Colorado for this post explaining the various models. Contact us if you want more information or want to explore your options.

05/28/2026

Interested in learning more about employee ownership? Our friends at the Vermont Employee Ownership Center are hosting their annual conference in just a few weeks where you can ask questions, meet fellow business owners, and learn about the various forms of employee ownership. Register today!

24th Annual Vermont Employee Ownership ConferenceWhen: Friday, June 12, 2026Where: The DoubleTree by Hilton BurlingtonFor 24 years the Vermont Employee Ownership Center has organized an annual employee ownership conference. It is one of a handful of conferences all about employee ownership in the na...

05/21/2026

Had a productive day learning about Web Industries, Inc. and their work in Dayville while planning our upcoming video shoot that will highlight the power of employee ownership. They have been a model of success for other companies since establishing their Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) over 50 years ago. Can’t wait to share the final product! Special thanks to the Employee Ownership Expansion Networkn Network for the grant to Connecticut Center for Employee Ownership (CTCEO) for funding this project.

04/23/2026

Know a small business owner thinking about retirement?
Check out this New Hampshire small business that the employees just bought from the owner!

The employees of Earth Sky + Water, a New Hampshire-based publisher of laminated, fold-up field guides, formed a cooperative and bought the business from their boss this month.

Steven Lewers, 77, started and ran the company for 25 years before deciding to sell it to his employees. About a year ago, Mr. Lewers started thinking seriously about what to do with the business when he retires.

“I knew book publishers who were interested in buying my company, but naturally I was worried what they would do with it,” Mr. Lewers said. “I concluded that Earth Sky + Water would have the best chance of surviving and thriving if the people who work here owned it, rather than if I sold it to an outsider or to a large company.”

“A part of my thinking was, of course, my legacy; I want the company to do well after I leave, and I also felt an obligation to my employees and to the community we’ve worked in all these years,” Mr. Lewers added.

When he floated the idea of transitioning to a worker-owned cooperative to his staff, many were incredulous.

“It seemed too good to be true,” said Heather Carver, one of the worker-owners who has worked at Earth Sky + Water for the past seven years and has now taken on the position of General Manager. Among other questions, Heather wondered, “could the employees really come up with the financing to buy the business?”

Read the full story here: https://cdi.coop/earth-sky-water-new-hampshire-publishing-worker-owned-cooperative/

04/07/2026

Excited to meet Connecticut National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) conference attendees while also learning from our fellow State Centers and experts from across the country. Stop by to say hello at the State and Regional networking session!