The New School of Montpelier is 45-employee worker cooperative school that serves students with severe disabilities in Montpelier, Vermont.  The private business was founded in 2005 and began exploring options for the owner-director to exit as she looked ahead to other projects.  Driven to find an option that ensured the highest quality service, the business was sold to its employees in 2015.  The Vermont Employee Ownership Center provided training and organizational development services to shepherd the transition.  The state agency granting renewal in 2016 called the system of governance “highly unusual yet apparently quite effective.”

Industry: Education
Location: Montpelier, Vermont
Number of employees: 45
Became employee owned: 2015
Assistance: Vermont Employee Ownership Center
Financing: Cooperative Fund of New England

From the company

• https://www.nsmvt.org/

Learn more

• VT Digger – Employees Purchase The New School Of Montpelier From Founder As A Worker Cooperative
• VEOC – Elias Gardner on the New School of Montpelier Becoming a Worker Co-op (video)
• Project Equity – Financing Case Study: New School of Montpelier
• Seven Days – Public to Private: Could “Conversion” Become a Trend in Vermont Schools?
• 2016 State Board of Education Renewal

Video

 

Employee Owned Small Businesses in Vermont

Employee Owned Small Businesses Assisted by the Vermont Employee Ownership Center

Employee Owned Small Businesses Assisted by the Cooperative Fund of New England