Deeper Dive on Private Company Transitions to Worker Co-ops and Financing

Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023
Time: 01:00 PM ET / 12:00 PM CT / 11:00 AM MT / 10:00 AM PT [Prevailing Time]
Presenter: Stacey Smith, Vice President, Program Operations & Client Experience, Project Equity
Moderator: Wayne Sine, Director of Education, National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives
Learning Objectives:
1. Understand how business owners can sell their business to their employees.
2. Understand how businesses transition to a Cooperative.
3. Understand how to finance a sale of a business to its employees.
Field of Study: Finance
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 1 Credit Hour
Delivery Method: Group Internet-based
Prerequisite(s): No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
  Order Recording

Course Description

The goal of this introductory course is to introduce NSAC members to the many advantages of being informed and ready to recommend employee ownership exit options for their small business owner clients when appropriate.  This session is specifically tailored to accounting, tax, and lending professionals to provide a closer look at private company transitions and advisory support needed when business owners sell their businesses to their employees.  We’ll also discuss financing options and tax implications unique to worker co-operatives as an owner-business exit strategy.  The session will provide several case studies of successful worker-cooperative transitions.

Presenter and Moderator Bios

Presenter: Stacey Smith, Vice President, Program Operations & Client Experience, Project Equity

Stacey Smith has spent most of her career helping businesses examine their impact and aligning it with their values. She started as a CPA with Arthur Andersen, then moved into strategy and organizational development. Seeking to devote her financial expertise to social and environmental issues, she was an early mover in the field of sustainability and corporate responsibility in the US. She joined Business for Social Responsibility in 2001 to build their business consulting practice and spent the next decade guiding Fortune 500 companies to address their negative impacts. Recently, Stacey began consulting with nonprofits and foundations to strengthen their strategy, management, and governance practices. Through her work with the Public Equity Group and her own independent practice, she explored the structural barriers to wealth and other drivers of generational poverty. At Project Equity she is helping grow our team of professionals to accelerate the adoption of employee ownership as a key to building wealth and high-quality careers in communities. In addition to having been a licensed CPA, Stacey has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Vermont and has done coursework in International Business Studies at the University of Copenhagen. When she is not working, you can find her hiking the Bay Area hills, indulging in the restaurant scene, and playing with her family.

Project Equity is a national leader in the movement to harness employee ownership to maintain thriving local business communities, honor selling owners’ legacies, and address income and wealth inequality. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Project Equity works with partners around the country to raise awareness about employee ownership as an exit strategy for business owners, and as an important approach for increasing employee engagement and wellbeing. We also provide hands-on consulting, support and financing to companies that want to transition to employee ownership, as well as to the new employee-owners to ensure that they, and their businesses, thrive after the transition.

Moderator: Wayne Sine, Director of Education, National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives

Wayne Sine is an experienced and highly knowledgeable professional in the field of Tax. Wayne recently retired as Tax Director from his company, Southern States Cooperative. He has extensive experience working with agricultural cooperatives and has been a long-time member of the NSAC. He is extremely active in the NSAC, serving as both past Chapter President of the Atlantic Chapter, and past Chair of the Tax Committee, and is currently serving as the NSAC Director of Education.. Wayne's career is marked by several accomplishments, and he has always been involved in many organizations, spreading his knowledge. Wayne is a member of the Legal, Tax, and Accounting (LTA) Committee for the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. He is also Past Chair of both the Tax Committee of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Virginia Manufacturers Association. Wayne also served on the Tax Policy Committee at the Virginia Society of CPAs and served as past Region Vice President for the Tax Executives Institute.

Cost
Free for NSAC Members / $56.00 for Non-Members

Delivery System

• All programs are delivered using the Zoom platform.
• Confirmations will include log-in instructions.
• Participants are able to participate using any device with an Internet connect (if the device does not have speakers, the participant can also dial-in) or they can participate with audio only by dialing in.
• All registrants will receive a link to the CLN’s recording by email within 48 business hours of event’s conclusion.
• There will be assistance available to help with technical and connectivity issues up to 10 minutes prior to the start of the presentation.

Registration

All registration is done on-line and each guest must provide their name and email address to participate. All NSAC members may register for free. Non-members may register for a nominal fee.

Refund Policy

NSAC will not issue refunds for CLNs. If a registrant is unable to participate in the CLN and provides notification to info@nsacoop.org 48 hours prior to the session, a credit will be provided for a future CLN. Alert the NSAC staff member monitoring the CLN if technical difficulties are encountered and technical support will be provided to eliminate problems with future CLNs.

Additional Information

Live participation is required for CPE credit and polling questions must be answered to document your active participation. All registrants will receive an email following the session with links to the slides and/or handouts, and a link to the CLN recording (unless otherwise stated). If you are unable to participate in the live session, you can still watch the recorded session, but you will not be eligible for CPE credits. Those eligible for credits will receive their certificate by email with 7 business days.

For more information regarding NSAC CLNs or administrative policies such as complaint and refund, contact the NSAC Headquarters, 7946 Clyo Road, Suite A, Centerville, OH 45459, 937-222-6707, or info@nsacoop.org.