Employee-Owned Firms:  Sell  to your Employees to Retain Talent

Salt Lake Small Business Development Center (SL SBDC)The SL SBDC leads the way in entrepreneurial education, advocacy and business development. Thru one-on-one advising and actionable trainings, their mission is to strengthen Utah’s economic fabric and quality of life by facilitating the success and prosperity of small business endeavors.  From individuals with an established business needing solutions, to individuals wanting to learn more about what it takes to go into business, the SBDC can help.ContactChristine.rice@slcc.eduor 801-957-5441 to start getting the help you need!Click for additional info here:www.utahsbdc.org

Salt Lake Small Business Development Center

Learn how selling your company to your employees can be a winning strategy for selling your business and keeping and retaining talent.

VIRTUAL

<h3>Employee-Owned Firms: </h3><h3>Learn how selling your company to your employees can be a winning strategy when retiring and to keep and retain talent.</h3>Join us to hear from experts, who are experienced in selling and/or owning/running employee-owned companies in Utah. You will come away with an understanding of the pros and the cons of employee-owned firms, and the considerations you need to take when creating such a company. Our panel will include the following folks, experienced in this unique space:<ul><li>Marlin Shelley, Cirris (founder, sold to employees when he retired)</li><li>Jeff Thorpe, Architectureal Nexus, Inc. (Retired June 2022)</li><li>Brad Farmer, Gibbs Smith Publishing (CEO, active)</li></ul>The panel will be moderated by Bryce Hansen, Associate Director at the Salt Lake Small Business Development Center. NOTE: THIS IS AN ONLINE WEBINAR; WE ARE NOT MEETING IN-PERSON.We will be using Zoom. The link will be sent after you register. For questions about this event, please contact Bryce Hansen at bryce.hansen@slcc.edu or 801-957-5352.

Marlin Shelley enjoyed his 30 years of starting up, growing, and then exiting a technology company though an ESOP. His company, Cirris, was a Utah “Best Places to Work” Recipient.His company’s ESOP did not survive changes in management and direction that followed his departure leading to acquisition by publicly traded Swiss company. Today Marlin enjoys cost-free mentoring of entrepreneurs through SCORE, a nonprofit associated with the SBA.

Recently retired, Jeff Thorpe spent the past 25 years as CFO, Treasurer and ESOP Trustee of a professional services firm based in Salt Lake City. He helped guide the firm through a merger and an acquisition and was responsible for implementing the ESOP which was used to transition ownership of the firm to the employees, creating a 100% Employee Owned company.

Brad Farmer is the Chief Executive Officer at Gibbs Smith, employee-owned independent publisher of illustrated books in architecture, interior design, cooking, and children’s, along with award-winning social studies curriculum programs. He has worked in all aspects of the publishing process from acquisition and production through sales, marketing, and distribution. He lives in Layton, Utah, with his wife and two sets of twin boys (plus one extra for good measure) and loves to explore the world in books and in person. He has served on the board of PubWest, a publishing trade association, the Davis Arts Council, and the Gangrene Comedy Festival. He has also advised numerous publishing startups on strategy and operations.

<h2>Bryce Hansen - Moderator</h2>

Over the last decade, Bryce has mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs and companies on business planning, strategy, financial analysis, fundraising guidance, product development and commercialization. He successfully launched his own proprietary product, the Ergo Spout®, on Kickstarter in 2018, followed up with a second successful campaign in April 2022, and led the SBDC’s effort in organizing the Utah Crowdfunding Summit from 2015 to 2019.

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Employee-Owned Firms: Sell to your Employees to Retain Talent

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Employee-Owned Firms: Sell to your Employees to Retain Talent

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