In 2009, in the wake of Great Recession, Dick Peterson, Bill Kirton, and Larry Dunn realized the need for an organization that supported the creation of employee owned companies to build a more equitable economy, where employees have ownership and build wealth. Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center was launched in 2010 and became a nonprofit shortly after that.   The organization was heavily influenced by models such as the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative in Cleveland, Ohio, the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, the Vermont Employee Ownership Center, and the Mondragon Cooperatives in Spain.  

Since that time, RMEOC has promoted employee ownership in Colorado and beyond through workshops, presentations, conferences, collaborating with and providing technical assistance to businesses, and contributing to legislation such as the Main Street Employee Ownership Act of 2018.  We continue our mission “to change the current economic system to a system of inclusion by providing pathways to and advocating for employee ownership!”