October in the Upper Valley is the month of layered dressing, the ever-fantastic foliage show that hopefully stops you in your tracks at least once, and the ushering in of all things cozy. It’s also Co-op Month! This October we are reflecting on the cooperative movement, rejoicing in the growth and evolution of the movement, and setting our sights on a cooperative future.
This past week I sat down with Covered Bridge Cookies to learn more about their transition from a sole proprietorship to a Worker Cooperative. Their story serves to inspire and highlight the potential of cooperatives to uplift equitable work models.
It’s likely you’ve enjoyed some of Covered Bridge’s delicious cookies—the business has been operating since 1992, when Carl Goulet began renting the commercial kitchen he worked in as a pastry chef after hours to bake cookies for the Windsor Farmer’s Market. Carl saw the bakery through several iterations, at different points offering custom cakes and services, but landed on cookies as the bread and butter of the business. The cookies, baked by hand with high quality ingredients became wildly popular.
Over the years, Carl’s son Chris jumped in to help—boxing cookies, even completing a work study in high school. Like many small business owners, Carl’s entrepreneurial spirit kept the business running with a tenacity and wearer of many-hats sacrifice that is not easily replicable. Though Chris loved the bakery and was proud of what his father had built, it didn’t always feel like the right fit to take the business over.
Chris pursued other opportunities and became disillusioned by businesses with hierarchical structures that failed to empower employees and support them with fair pay and benefits. Many can relate to what Chris saw–businesses creating wealth through the work of its employees but failing to meaningfully distribute the result of their labor. [Cooperatives have a long history and principle of distributing the wealth created by the organization to its members in the form of a divvy or patronage refund. Reinvestment for the business is also provided for, as well as education for employees and community about the benefits of cooperation.] Frustrated with these shortcomings Chris, encouraged by his partner Shannon Smith, considered the bakery again. He knew he wanted to avoid the trappings of “being a boss,” having been on either end of the imbalanced supervisor/supervisee dynamic.
At this time, he’d been exposed to the idea of worker cooperatives and liked how the model put employees so close to the levers of the business.
Chris and Shannon took the leap, taking Carl out for dinner in early 2022 to propose their idea. By that fall Chris had started working in the bakery full time, Shannon beginning part time shortly after. By January of 2023 the two had completed the purchase and transition to a worker coop as the inaugural members, supported with technical assistance from the Vermont Employee Ownership Center and legal aid through Attorney Joseph Andriano. They were shortly thereafter joined by longtime friend Colin Moon, also of Windsor. Beginning with working Fridays only, business demands ushered Colin into the coop; he became the third worker-owner.
Today Covered Bridge Cookies has four worker-owners. The waiting period for employees to join as members is typically a year as it solidifyies a strong and mutually beneficial commitment between business and worker. Cody Sullivan entered the organization as a part time employee, working one day a week for 7 months, gradually increasing to 2 days a week as the business grew and the demands for production rose. In May of this year Cody joined the team full-time and as a member.
Chatting with the four member-owners: Cody, Colin, Chris, and Shannon, it’s impossible to ignore the thought and care they pour into the business. Their structure allows them to enjoy the successes of the business and field the pitfalls and opportunities fluidly. They experience the dynamics of the business at a much closer level. Each worker-member has an essential and unique skillset to contribute to the thriving of the business. In their nascent stage, these four also double as the organization’s board of directors. The four organize their daily work according to skillsets, using specialized knowledge for many business areas, and shared decision making for the cooperative. They approach the work of laying out policy for the organization with future worker-owners in mind. Like many coops, Covered Bridge Cookies are positioning their organization as a community asset to continue to provide equitable, fair-wage work.
Staying within their community continues to be important to the owners—their bakery is still nested on the bottom level of the old firehouse on Main Street in Windsor. Though the group noted that the business may need a larger space in the coming years, their commitment to Windsor and the community there is strong.
The cookies are as delicious as you could hope. Baking hermits, maple shortbread, and gingersnaps, their iconic New England flavors can be found across the Upper Valley including in our three food stores. For the far-flung cookie connoisseur, you can now order Covered Bridge Cookies directly to your door from their website.
Rebecca White is the Co-op’s Public & Government Affairs Associate.
