Who Owns Vermont? 8:45am, October 15, 2014 Capitol Plaza Hotel, Montpelier, VT Sponsored by the Donella Meadows Institute and Clean Yield Asset Management Marjorie Kelly—Keynote Address Marjorie opened the event by places that understand relocalizing noting that, “there are very few the economy the few that way Vermont does.” She went on to highlight a stories of “companies that use ownership structures to and behave differently,” businesses serve their employees’ examples included: communities’ happiness. These steakhouse that was very Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, New Orleans, LA—local focused until it went public and became responsible to its shareholders instead of its community Beverly Cooperative Bank, Salem, MA—focus is on serving the community and making good loans. After the 2008 financial crisis, the CEO noted that only 10 of the 1,000 the past 8 years had gone bad. mortgages he’d made in South Mountain Company design/build, MA—when the company was feeling the pains of growth, it asked its employees what they should do, and employees voted to maintain the current size rather than grow the company John Lewis Partnership, United Kingdom—largest department store chain in the UK with a is serve $4 billion revenue. It’s stated purpose “to employee happiness.” Marjorie noted that there are two primary kinds of ownership: EXTRACTIVE, which seeks to extract maximum profits, and GENERATIVE, which is life serving. Generative ownership models are profit-making but not profit-maximizing. She said that, without transitioning to more generative ownership models, it is unlikely that in a sustainable place 100 years from we’ll be now. But she also noted that, the seeds of a sustainable future, and those “We’re now creating seeds are sometimes farther along than we realize.” Questions for Marjorie Q: Has any thought been given to the idea of Vermont owning the housing industry? Marjorie highlighted community land trusts as one ownership approach to housing. She explained models in which individuals own homes and communities own the land they sit on, likening them to a permanent subsidy that provides affordable housing and keeps ownership local. Q: Was the creation of the North Dakota State Bank proactive or reactive to the harsh economic climate?
Who Owns Vermont? 8:45am, October 15, 2014 Capitol Plaza Hotel, Montpelier, VT Sponsored by the Donella Meadows Institute and Clean Yield Asset Management Marjorie Kelly—Keynote Address Marjorie opened the event by noting that, “there are very few places that understand relocalizing the economy the way Vermont does.” She went on to highlight a few stories of “companies that behave differently,” businesses that use ownership structures to serve their employees’ and communities’ happiness. These examples included: Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, New Orleans, LA—local steakhouse that was very until it went public and became responsible to its shareholders instead of its community Beverly Cooperative Bank, Salem, MA—focus is on serving the community and making good loans. After the 2008 financial crisis, the CEO noted that only 10 of the 1,000 mortgages he’d made in the past 8 years had gone bad. South Mountain Company design/build, MA—when the company was feeling the pains of growth, it asked its employees what they should do, and employees voted to maintain the current size rather than grow the company John Lewis Partnership, United Kingdom—largest department store chain in the UK with a $4 billion revenue. It’s stated purpose is “to serve employee happiness.” Marjorie noted that there are two primary kinds of ownership: EXTRACTIVE, which seeks to extract maximum profits, and GENERATIVE, which is life serving. Generative ownership models are profit-making but not profit-maximizing. She said that, without transitioning to more generative ownership models, it is unlikely that we’ll be in a sustainable place 100 years from now. But she also noted that, “We’re now creating the seeds of a sustainable future, and those seeds are sometimes farther along than we realize.” Questions for Marjorie Q: Has any thought been given to the idea of Vermont owning the housing industry? Marjorie highlighted community land trusts as one ownership approach to housing. She explained models in which individuals own homes and communities own the land they sit on, likening them to a permanent subsidy that provides affordable housing and keeps ownership local. Q: Was the creation of the North Dakota State Bank proactive or reactive to the harsh economic climate? focused