Join the CFAES Center for Cooperatives to travel by bus to Morganton, North Carolina, to visit Opportunity Threads and The Industrial Commons to learn about worker cooperatives and ecosystem building in Appalachia!
Open to cooperative, business, and economic developers and entrepreneurs in rural Appalachian Ohio and West Virginia. Capacity is limited. Registration is required.
Grant funds will defray costs for participants, including for programming, transportation, and lodging. Participants will be responsible for personal travel to pick-up locations and dinner on November 13, plus any incidental travel expenses.
Registration Fee: $80
Registration deadline is October 21, 2024.
Tour Agenda
November 13
8:15 a.m. – Coach Bus Departs, Piketon, OH
9:30 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. Pick Up, Athens, OH
11:20 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. Pick Up, Charleston, WV
Boxed lunch provided on bus.
1:40 p.m. – 2 p.m. Pick Up, Princeton, WV
5 p.m. – Hotel Check-In, Morganton, NC
6 p.m. – 8 p.m. – Group Dinner (self pay)
November 14
Continental breakfast available at hotel.
7:30 a.m. – Depart Hotel
8 a.m. – Tour Opportunity Threads
9:30 a.m. – Tour The Industrial Commons
11:15 a.m. – Deep Dive: Development of
The Industrial Commons Worker Co-op Ecosystem
12:15 p.m. – Lunch and Group Activity
1 p.m. – Supporting Worker Co-ops: Best Practices
2:30 p.m. – Depart Morganton, NC
5:30 p.m. – Princeton, WV Drop Off
Boxed meal provided on bus
7:30 p.m. – Charleston, WV Drop Off
9 p.m. – Athens, OH Drop Off
10:15 p.m. – Piketon, OH Drop Off
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Join us for an introductory webinar Webinar to be held at 11 a.m. Eastern September 10, 2024 |
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Aaron Dawson is the Workplace Development Senior Director for The Industrial Commons where he leads efforts to create and sustain worker engagement programs through open-book management and worker committees in manufacturing plants interested in shifting to a more democratic and millennial-friendly culture. He also assists in Cooperative Development for The Industrial Commons enterprises and employee ownership transition for businesses thinking of selling to their employees. He has 15 years of experience as a worker-owner at Equal Exchange, a Fair Trade Massachusetts company specializing in the sourcing and distribution of coffee, tea and chocolate. For ten of those years, Aaron held the role of Customer Service Manager, overseeing a team of 12. He has many years of experience participating in and facilitating worker committees and developing ideas, policies and practices that create a positive and supportive work environment. In addition, he was elected to serve on Equal Exchange’s Board of Directors for six years and was Chair of the Board for one of those years. Aaron holds a Masters in Management, Cooperatives and Credit Unions from St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada. He served on the Board of the US Federation of Worker Co-ops for four years and served as the Board Treasurer for the Democracy at Work Institute for six years. Aaron is a certified coach with the Great Game of Business. |
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About Opportunity Threads and The Industrial Commons
Opportunity Threads is a “worker-owned, cut and sew textile plant based in the foothills of Western North Carolina.” Learn more at opportunitythreads.com.The Industrial Commons has a mission “to rebuild a diverse working class in Western North Carolina, based on locally-rooted wealth.” Learn more at theindustrialcommons.org/
About the Appalachia Cooperates Initative (ACI)
The Appalachia Cooperates Initiative (ACI), led by the CFAES Center for Cooperatives, is a learning and peer-exchange network connecting cooperative, community, business, and economic developers and advocates in Central Appalachia to resources about the cooperative business model. Find more information and recordings of 13 past learning programs at: go.osu.edu/appalachiacooperate
If you require an accommodation, such as translation, to participate in this event, please share your request upon registration or contact Hannah Scott at scott.1220@osu.edu or 614-247-9705. Requests made two weeks in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.