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The Company We Keep

Dear Reader,
This blog is now an archive. John Abrams (Founder of South Mountain, author of this blog, and a book of the same name) retired on December 31, 2022. All posts published up until this date are preserved below.

For updates on John's next chapter, visit abramsangell.com.

For updates on South Mountain's second act, subscribe to our newsletter using the form below.

Companies We Keep

Celebrating Forty Years

October 9, 2015 by John Abrams 1 Comment

Our 40th year in business will soon come to a close.

We had a party to celebrate. It was different from our usual parties.  This time none of our beloved clients were invited.  It was a party was for the people who do the work – our employees, our former employees, our trade partners, and our other work partners.

We missed all those incredible clients with whom we have established such important friendships.  But it was satisfying to honor and emphasize those who get up each day, go to work, and make it possible to do what we do.

It was a gorgeous day at the Tisbury Waterworks.   Our FunCom group (the SMCo party and event committee, which includes Siobhán Mullin, Betsy Smith, Jim Vercruysse, and Rob Meyers) had worked closely with Deirdre Bohan and Abbie Zell to orchestrate the event.

Patrie Grace and her wonderful catering group, along with master barbeque man Tim Laursen (a former employee) had the place set up and done up for a magnificent feast.  My son Pinto played music that set a sweet tone.

Before dinner, I said some welcomes, mentioned a few old stalwarts who weren’t there, and told a story or two.  Then I invited others to ascend the hill and share stories and memories.  A string of people took the mic– Richard Green, Tara Simmons, Jill Walsh, Billy Dillon, Pete Ives, Siobhán Mullin, Bill (Norton) Russell, Christina Platt, Eric Bates – for tall tales and rollicking sketches.  Finally, Pete D’Angelo dramatized my own exit interview in the distant future – in his inimitable manner he sent the doddering old idiot (me) out the door.

A bit later photographer Wayne Smith assembled as many of us as he could and shot this picture.

We missed some people.  Many old employees were far away and couldn’t make the trip.  September is a time when many Vineyarders take post-summer vacations.  Two major events were happening at the exact same time – a memorial service for Ernie Mendenhall (longtime West Tisbury building inspector and affordable housing advocate) and, remarkably, on the very same day Morning Glory Farm was celebrating its 40th anniversary, too!  Sister companies from way back in 1975.

For those of us who were there it was one fine party – homey, collegial, friendly, tasty, and touching.

Onward to the next 40!

Filed Under: Companies We Keep, Martha's Vineyard, South Mountain Company Tagged With: Morning Glory Farm

Yes, Indeed, it was a Zinger!

February 11, 2013 by John Abrams Leave a Comment

Last week I traveled to Portland Oregon.  It wasn’t only to get a wonderful day of skiing at Mt. Hood with my fine old friend Jonathan Orpin.  It wasn’t only to stay with Jonathan, Maxine, and son Jake River at their beautiful Vermont Street house.   And it wasn’t just to get a dose of Portland culture, hang with the downtown dirtbags, and sample some of the great food from the hundreds of food carts parked around the city (outta- this-world food and teeming with life – it makes you feel like you’re in Kowloon).

All those were good.

But the reason for the trip was to meet with the 19 members of the Partners Group who own the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses in Ann Arbor, MI.  Zingerman’s is one of the great stories of today’s business world, a hopeful harbinger of the Next Economy.  The partners manage nearly 600 employees and the eight distinct businesses have combined annual revenues of $46 million.  They are all food-related (and educational) and they are all in Ann Arbor.

Over time the Zingermans (Paul Saginaw and Ari Weinzweig, the co-founders, and their partners) have steadfastly resisted the temptation to franchise their stellar brand.  Instead they have expanded at home, and they now consist of the following:  the flagship Deli where it all started in 1982, Zingerman’s Bakehouse (bread and pastries), Zingerman’s Creamery (cheese and gelato), Zingerman’s Roadhouse, Zingerman’s Mail Order, Zingerman’s Candy Manufactory, Zingerman’s Coffee, and ZingTrain, the education business which “shares the Zingerman experience with forward-looking organizations around the world.”

For the last 6 months I have been communicating by phone and e-mail with Ari.  He and a small group of partners have been designing a plan to transition Zingerman’s to an employee owned worker co-operative.  When the plan is implemented they will become one of the largest worker co-ops in the U.S.

The partners were gathering in Portland for a three-day offsite retreat, partly to discuss the co-op design.  Ari had asked each of them to read my book, Companies We Keep, and asked me if I would come to react to their governance and business transition plan.

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet and think with such an extraordinary collection of people so brimful of honest intelligence.

It was quite a day.  The dialogue was good.  Although I was the only outsider in the room I felt comfortable there.  It was relaxed but productive.  Funny and philosophical.  They work together with remarkable flow – tackling big issues with such passion and commitment to excellence (using first-rate meeting facilitation provided by Fran Alexander of Alexander Resources) that they are able to allow the great and the grungy and the elegant and the messy to all co-exist at once in the service of a greater good.

They’re not only competent and principled; they’re courageous too.  For several decades all policy decision-making has been by consensus – not an easy thing to do in a large dispersed network of businesses.  The two co-founders have veto power, but they have never used it yet.

And now they’re transitioning to a worker co-op.  That takes courage too, or (as in our case when we did it 25 years ago) pure naiveté!  And naïve they are not.

When I asked Ari and Paul if I could write about what they are doing (given that they are still in process and I didn’t know if it was public knowledge) Ari thought it would be fine and queried Paul who said, “Sounds just fine to me. That’s the power of putting the vision out there. It imposes accountability on us all to execute, preform and succeed.”

Now that’s the way to run a business, isn’t it?  Fearless and transparent.

They also have a publishing house, called Zingerman’s Press.  Ari has been writing consistently for at least the last decade.  Two of his most recent books are ZINGERMAN’S GUIDE TO GOOD LEADING, PART 1: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Building a Great Business and PART 2:  A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to Being a Better Leader.  He’s a good one, and these are thoughtful and engaging books that mix humor and wisdom as they introduce the reader to the methods and madness that led to Zingerman’s emergence as a powerful force in progressive business.

Paul reminded me that we had met once before, at a Business Alliance for Living Local Economies (BALLE) conference about five years ago.  I remember that I was immediately impressed when he was talking about principled business and said, “But principles aren’t really principles until they cost something.”

Like everyone else, apparently, I asked Ari where the name came from.  It’s a long story, and a good one, and he gave me the whole thing.  You can hear it from him, but I’ll tell you one good part.  After they had finally decided on the name Zingerman’s, says Ari, “one thing we still weren’t sure about was whether we should spell it the European way, with two ‘n’s or with one.  Paul called his grandfather to ask his opinion.  Didn’t take him but a second to decide:  ‘with one ‘n’, of course, so it’ll be easier for them to write the checks.’  Paul’s grandfather was a very wise man.”

And so are the folks at Zingerman’s, who represent long haul, next economy thinking at its best. We at SMCo appreciate this new association.

And we appreciate another one, too.

In December we hosted Blake Jones, CEO of Namaste Solar, – a 100-person worker co-op solar company in Boulder, CO – for several days of information exchange between our two companies.   Namaste is far younger than Zingerman’s, but equally inspiring.  Next post I’ll talk about Blake’s visit.

 

 

Filed Under: Companies We Keep, Employee Ownership, Small Business, Workplace Democracy Tagged With: Ari Weinzweig, BALLE, Blake Jones, Business Alliance for Living Local Economies, Companies We Keep, Francine Alexander, Namaste Solar, New Energy Works, Paul Saginaw, Vermont Street House, Zingerman's, Zingerman's Community of Businesses, ZingTrain

A Christmas Story

December 24, 2012 by John Abrams 4 Comments

I got a letter a few days ago from Happy Valley, PA.  Here’s what it said, in part:

Dear John,

I am writing to share information regarding a wonderful construction/energy company that was established in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania.  This company was greatly inspired by the model outlined in your book, Companies We Keep, and has had a remarkable impact on many peoples lives.  It is my personal opinion that this Pennsylvania company can be viewed as a descendant of your South Mountain Company.

This company is known as Envinity.  Please have a look at their site.

Envinity began in 2005 with a vision from a very highly respected community member and, my personal partner, Shaun Pardi.  Shaun wished to create a design/build company which would be deeply rooted in environmentally responsible building methods and standards — very similar to the values of the South Mountain Company.  Others very quickly became interested in Shaun’s vision and soon, the employee-owned company formed.  Envinity began with just a few dedicated owners, a trusting client and, like magic, attracted some of the most amazing and skilled carpenters in Pennsylvania!  Envinity slowly added owners and employees to their team and expanded to include its equally valuable energy division. 

The company prospered. They made mistakes along the way, but they were always able to turn these experiences into their own kind of wealth.  The road has not always been smooth but this dedicated team continued to work together to welcome contracts and leave clients extremely satisfied.  Before anyone realized it, a beautiful community had formed — a community of not only company owners and employees, but also of devoted clients.  They are found mingling together at each other’s homes, traveling, playing on the Envinity softball team and celebrating life’s joys and sorrows together.  It is truly beautiful to see how this community has woven itself together from the common threads of sustainable values! 

Envinity’s story does not end here, however.  Today the company is experiencing the effects of the staggering economy, likely similar to what you experienced in 2008.  A few layoffs have been made and the decisions that Shaun has been faced with have not been easy.  I do the best that I can to support him, but of course I am not able to give him the mentoring that he really deserves.  He needs someone who can understand what he is facing, someone who has experienced the highs and lows of the business. 

With Christmas arriving I have been considering that perhaps you would be willing to talk with him.  

John, I am wondering if it would be possible for you to call Shaun on Christmas day to wish him a Merry Christmas, briefly tell him something positive that you saw on the Envinity web site and ask to schedule time to talk.   Your short call would be a wonderful gift to our entire family, and the highlight of our day! 

I do understand that you have a family of your own and would deeply respect you feeling that this idea would not fit in.  

Call me brave.  Call me naive.  I don’t know.  But the reward that could come from this request would certainly be well worth it!

Most Sincerely,

Katrina

So that’s what the letter said.  It said a lot of other stuff, too, but that was the gist of it.  Not such happy times in Happy Valley.  And as for Katrina, maybe a little brave, hardly naive, and certainly soulful.

Yesterday, as you may know, was Christmas!  I called Shaun.  He picked up the phone and I said, “Hey Shaun, it’s John Abrams and I’m just calling to wish you a Merry Christmas.”

“Who?”

“John Abrams, and I heard you’d fallen on some rough times and it sounds like you could use some words of encouragement to pump you up for the challenges ahead.”

“Wow,” he said, “John Abrams from Martha’s Vineyard?  Did Katrina put you up to this?”

“Sure did. She’s to blame for me barging in on your Christmas day.”

“That’s really amazing,” he said, ” because just last Friday one of our guys took your book home to read over the week-end and here you are!  It would be great to talk ‘cause you know some times you hit these peaks and all is well and steaming along and then you drop down into the toughs and you never know when you’re going to hit bottom.”  For a while they were in high gear, keeping 28 people going and now they’re down to 20, and falling, and wondering where it stops.

“Hopefully you’re already at bottom and starting to climb out,” I offered (lamely), “but let’s set up a time that’s not Christmas when we could talk for awhile.  I’ve got no special wisdom but I’ve experienced the highs and the lows and maybe if we rummage around a bit we can find something that would be helpful.”

So we agreed to talk next week.  I’m looking forward to it.

He thanked me and said I really made his Christmas.

I hope so, because that was pretty easy, and it’s always nice to have an opportunity to check in on one of the thousands of stories happening everyday and everywhere, affecting peoples’ lives and livelihoods.

I hope you had a good Christmas too, and I hope 2013 will be a stellar year with no more tragedies having the word “Sandy” in them.

(I was wondering about the Sandy coincidence.  Hurricane Sandy hits New York, not Pensacola, and suddenly Obama is talking about climate change for the first time in years.  Sandy Hook happens in Newtown CT, not a small town in Kansas, and suddenly Obama is talking about gun control and mental health.  New York is our nerve center and Newtown is our model for a safe and nurturing community.  Quite the wake-up call.  Tragedy can strike anywhere at any time. Let’s hope that neither of these tragedies fades from memory and gets lost in Fiscal Cliffdom,  and let’s hope and do what we can to be sure this is the year when Obama, and the U.S., begin to make real progress on both kinds of violence – to our environment and to each other.)

While I was exercising on the treadmill the other day I read in a Michael Connelly whodunit that “there are the knowns, the known unknowns, and the unknown unknowns . .  it’s our job to master the first two and always be prepared for the third.”  Seems like a reasonable aspiration for the year ahead.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Companies We Keep, Employee Ownership, South Mountain Company Tagged With: Envinity, Happy Valley, Hurricane Sandy, Michael Connelly, Sandy Hook

Exits & Opportunities

November 23, 2010 by John Abrams 2 Comments

BO BURLINGHAM IS AN INC. MAGAZINE editor-at-large who has been writing about entrepreneurship  for three decades.  I know him; we have crossed paths several times.  But I know him much better from his writing, which includes a fine book called SMALL GIANTS:  Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big (I have to admit here, sheepishly, and maybe arrogantly at the same time, that when I read that book I wished we had been included).

The November issue of INC., has a long piece by Bo called “What Am I, If Not My Business?” which is about the challenges entrepreneurs face in leaving their companies when they retire or sell.  He is in the midst of writing a book about the subject.

Read More about Exits & Opportunities

Filed Under: Companies We Keep, Employee Ownership, Small Business, South Mountain Company Tagged With: A-1 Builders, Bo Burlingham, Companies We Keep, Greensaw Design/Build, INC., Small Giants

Madeline’s Solar House

June 30, 2010 by John Abrams 8 Comments

In 1980 a woman named Madeline Blakeley called me to ask me to look at a piece of land with her.  She was a librarian in her early sixties whose husband had recently died.  They had no children and had always lived in rented apartments.  Her dream was to own a piece of property.

She had $7,000 in cash.  A realtor showed her a lot priced at exactly that, but all her friends advised her against buying it.  The property sloped steeply south to a beautiful little valley, a perfectly matched solar exposure and view.  But it was right beside the main road from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown, which was very loud and loomed over the property.  Except for that proximity and the fact that the whole lot was a hillside, it was a lovely site.  There was nothing else on Martha’s Vineyard within her price range.

Read More about Madeline’s Solar House

Filed Under: Companies We Keep, Design, Housing, Martha's Vineyard, South Mountain Company Tagged With: Companies We Keep, passive solar

Sharing Ownership of the Future

August 21, 2009 by John Abrams 3 Comments

One more post (which might become two) about employee ownership and workplace democracy before I veer off toward some related topics. . . .

Despite the Obama administration’s recent shift in emphasis from homeownership to rental housing (which I will discuss in detail in a future post), homeownership is at the very heart of the American dream. Owning our work, and finding meaning there, seems as essential to a good life as owning our homes. But although many of us own homes, far fewer own our work.

Read More about Sharing Ownership of the Future

Filed Under: Companies We Keep, Employee Ownership, Martha's Vineyard, South Mountain Company Tagged With: Charlottesville, Employee ownership, Martha's Vineyard, South Mountain Company, Va.

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