

2023 Maine
Employee Ownership
spring conference
June 13, 2023 8:30 AM - 3:00PM
Thomas College - Waterville, Maine

AGENDA
8:30am – REGISTRATION & EARLY NETWORKING: (Coffee and continental breakfast provided.)
9:00am – WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS: (Mark Adams, Sebago Technics / Shawn Moody, Moody’s Co-Worker Owned)
9:15am – KEYNOTE: (Linshuang Liu, Praxis)
10:00am – 10:45am - SESSION I
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Nifty Fifty (Sargent Corp, Allen Insurance and Financial, Systems Engineering)
Now that we are an ESOP, what is different? This will be a fast-paced panel of ESOP companies at various stages in their lifecycle listing their top 50 ideas for employee engagement, ownership culture, and ESOP communications. This will provide you with plenty of ideas to bring back to your company!
11:00am – 11:45am - SESSION II
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Valuation Basics (Atlantic Management)
Join us as we give an overview of the valuation process (who performs it and why) and then get into what you can do to impact the value of your company. We’ll talk about the importance of productivity and profitability (and how they are linked to higher cash flows). Take this back to your employees so they better understand the different levers driving value.
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Workforce Development (Maine Drilling & Blasting)
How does an ESOP Company develop a strong team of leaders, build operational depth, and prepare the next generation of operational and department leaders? This workshop tells the story of how MD&B started and maintains their vibrant Leadership Development Program, and how it influences a positive culture.
12:00pm – 1:00pm - LUNCH
(Networking & visit with vendors)
1:15pm – 2:00pm - SESSION III
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ESOP Committees (Praxis, Bull Moose Music)
This session is designed to provide ideas on how to start, sustain and revitalize a Communication Committee. No matter what stage you are at currently a committee poses challenges and requires support!
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Fostering an Ownership Culture (Sebago Technics, Ethos)
Does being an ESOP influence employees decisions to stay with a company? Is it a tool for attracting new talent? We believe the answer is yes but how do we use ESOP as more than just a retirement benefit to motivate talented employees. This class will discuss the importance of leveraging the benefits of employee ownership to influence retention!
2:15pm – CLOSING REMARKS & GIVEAWAYS
PRESENTATIONS
Will be posted after the event!
speakers
MARK ADAMS
President/CEO, Sebago Technics
Mark Adams joined Sebago Technics, Inc. in 2005 and serves as President/CEO. He also serves on the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees for Sebago Technics and other ESOP Companies. Mr. Adams is a graduate of the University of Maine with a BA in Public Management and has a demonstrated history of organizational development and management in both the public and private sectors. He is skilled in business development, land development, nonprofit organizations, public speaking, municipalities, and the AEC industry. He is a passionate advocate for ESOPs, having served as the President of the New England Chapter ESOP Association from 2013-2015, and is a frequent presenter at conferences throughout New England on employee ownership.
KIERSTEN SCARPATI
Director of Finance, Ethos | VONT
Kiersten Scarpati manages the day-to-day finances and operations at Ethos | VONT - a multi-platform branding agency in Maine. In addition to financial management and reporting, Kiersten is tasked withcreating and executing project work plans, identifying resources needed, assigning individual responsibilities and managing and tracking all budgets. Kiersten also serves as Account Executive for Ethos | VONT projects and clients, continually seeking opportunities to increase customer satisfaction and deepen client relationships while building an understanding of each client’s business, organization and objectives. In addition, Kiersten participates in the website development process as a member of the Ethos | VONT team from the initial stages of planning through the website launch and development of post-launch digital marketing campaigns. She is a member of the Leadership Team, Strategic Planning Team, and the Operations Team at the agency.
Before coming to Ethos | VONT, Kiersten spent four years at The New Yorker magazine in New York City as Manager of Promotion & Merchandising. She returned to Maine where she worked at Archi-Tech & Archi-Tech Residential magazines in Portland as the Production and Marketing Manager before spending 5 years as the Vice President, Marketing for the Portland Pirates.
Kiersten's company, Ethos | VONT, is has been an ESOP since 2017. Kiersten is working on her Doctorate of Business Administration through Wilmington University in Delaware with the focus of her dissertation being an examination of the organizational attractiveness and employee retention benefits of ESOPs. By the time of the June 13th Maine ESOP Conference, Kiersten hopes to have defended her dissertation and have completed the degree.
FRAN LIAUTAUD
Organizational Development & Training Manager, Maine Drilling & Blasting
As Organizational Development & Training Manager at MD&B since 2011, Fran Liautaud’s focus is on healthy culture, leadership development, and succession planning. Through MD&B’s leadership development program, we develop and promote high potential talent to create a safe, professional, and sustainable business.
To advance healthy culture, Fran teaches leadership and communication tools to empower individual leaders, and to help teams to work at optimal levels of excellence. At MD&B, Fran is honored to work with a team of leaders dedicated to the growth of the organization for future generations to come.
MOLLY MEAD
Senior Consultant, Praxis Consulting
Molly helps employee- owned companies with strategic planning, financial literacy, organizational design and change work.
Drawing on data that shows diverse and inclusive companies outperform their competitors, Molly works with employee-owned companies to realize that advantage.
She draws on her background as an educator in all her work: communicating to employees what it means to be an employee owner, helping employees understand how the business works, or engaging stakeholders across a company in strategic planning.
SHANE COCHRAN
Business Developer, Systems Engineering
Shane Cochran is a Business Developer at Systems Engineering, a managed IT & cybersecurity services provider. He works closely with clients to understand their use of technology and delivers solutions to enable secure productivity. Shane has been with the company since 2016 and is Co-Chair of the Employee Ownership Communications Committee at Systems Engineering.

maine Employee-owned companies

sponsors/vendors
We are looking for sponsors! We aim to keep these events as cost effective as possible, so if you are interested in sponsoring please email Beth Valley at bvalley@sebagotechnics.com.
Please download the PDF to view sponsorship levels and details.
** AS OF MAY 1, ALL SPONSORSHIP LEVELS ARE SOLD OUT. THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPRING 2023 SPONSORS. VENDOR TABLES ARE STILL AVAILABLE. CONTACT BETH FOR MORE INFO!
register
**Registration will be closing on Friday, June 2 at 5pm. Please be sure to register before then, as we are nearing capacity!
COST: $55/per person
TO REGISTER: Fill out the form below.
Please send payment payable to:
Sebago Technics
Attn: Beth Valley
75 John Roberts Road, Ste. 4A
South Portland, ME 04106
Or pay by check at registration (we do not have the ability to take a credit card at this time).