The tally is in! For the second year in a row, employee-owned companies in Vermont joined together to collect donations for the Vermont Food Bank. Members of Employee Owners of Vermont raised a total of $35,186 and collected a total of 5,604 pounds of food for the Vermont Food Bank in October, which is Employee Ownership Month. This was nearly double the amount collected the year before.
Employee Owners of Vermont, comprised of over a dozen employee-owned companies, was formed as a way to collaborate on community impact/service projects that build relationships among employee-owned companies and raise the profile of these companies as being employee-owned. The group collaborates on many community service projects and events, but centers hunger as the primary focal point of its work.
Big shout out to this year’s participating businesses: Alliance Mechanical; Birdseye Construction; Carris Reels; Chelsea Green; Dubois & King; Gardener’s Supply; Hallam-ICS; Harpoon Brewing Company; Heritage Aviation; Hypertherm; 89 North; King Arthur Flour; PC Construction; PT-360; RSG; Stone Environmental; Switchback; VHV Company; and Vermont Information Processing (VIP).
At a gathering of company representatives marking the conclusion of the drive held at Heritage Aviation (pictured), Cassie Lindsay of Vermont Food Bank said of the companies that participated: “You are modeling for the rest of the state,” and that the resources collected will provide more than 54,500 meals for Vermonters in need.