Have you ever wished to be your own boss but didn’t necessarily have ‘all the right skills?’  Do you have a great idea for a business, but it seems a daunting task to get it started on your own?  Are you employed by a small or medium sized enterprise and worry what will happen to your job when the boss finally sells?  Are you an employer of a group of people whom together, who may be the answer to your succession planning troubles?  A worker cooperative may just be the answer to any or all these questions (and many more!).

Marty Frost has spent the past 41 years working in and for co-operatives.  17 years spent with CRS Workers’ Co-operative, including 10 as General Manager, saw that co-op triple its working membership and quadruple its sales, and become one of the most successful worker co-op businesses in the country. 24 years as a co-op developer with Devco (FWC Development Cooperative) and independently,  has provided Marty with the opportunity to work with well over 190 groups, supporting the start-up and development of their co-ops, as well as upward of 50 not for profit and charitable enterprises.

Marty will step us through the question of just exactly what is a worker cooperative and then get into the weeds about applications of the model, specifically, succession planning for small to medium businesses.