OEOC - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center
Chris Cooper is the Director of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC) at Kent State University. In his 20-plus years at the OEOC, he has done almost everything at one point or another, but now focuses primarily on ownership culture education and coordinating Ohio's Employee-Owned Network; working with business owners on succession planning and sales to employees; and business development and employee-owned start-ups.
He was formerly a contributor on the COSE Mindspring website (an online resource for small business in NE Ohio), the Small Business Advocacy Blog of the Small Business Advocacy Council in Chicago, and formerly to Slate.com's BizBox small business blog. In 2010, Chris was designated a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) from the Exit Planning Institute (EPI).
Chris is also active in various Center training programs on employee ownership, including annual Employee Owner Retreats and the annual Ohio Employee Ownership Conference, and has been a featured speaker at conferences and programs across the US as well as Bermuda, Canada, and Wales. He has conducted numerous in-company training programs, and has been involved in creating and improving OEOC training programs and materials. He oversees the OEOC's efforts in new media and technology, including video, podcasting, social media, and the OEOC website. Prior to joining the Center, he spent over 15 years working in various capacities in small, family-owned, and closely-held businesses in the hospitality and foodservice industries; he was a substitute teacher with the Kent City Schools; worked at SEIU Local 47 in Cleveland, OH; and is a graduate of Kent State's Political Science program.
Kelley is the Office Manager at the OEOC and has been with the Center since January 2002. She oversees the daily financial operation and human resource functions of the Center and is the lead day-to-day contact between the OEOC and Kent State University. She provides administrative support to achieve department goals through liaison activities, coordination of daily business functions, and implementation of program/projects.
Job Titles:
- Research Associate & Special Projects
After relocating from New Jersey to Ohio, Michael started working at the OEOC in 2019. Currently, he is a PhD candidate at Kent State's Political Science Department where he studies American Politics and Public Policy and is currently working on his dissertation tentatively titled, "The Politics of Employee Ownership: Organizational & Individual level dynamics".
At the OEOC he helps conduct research that overlaps with his graduate work which focuses on the ways employee-ownership can be used as a local economic development strategy to create individual and community wealth and lessen economic and political inequality. Lately this includes producing estimates of the economic impact of baby-boomer retirements on local communities, as well as the role networks of nonprofits play in helping develop employee-owned businesses. His most recent work can be found in the 2019 Owners At Work Newsletter, FiftybyFifty, and the IEDC Economic Development Journal.
Michael also helps manage and develop the OEOC's year-round education and training programs and oversees the technical operations of the center including the website. In addition he produces and edits OEOC's new podcast Owners at Work, which he co-hosts with Chris Cooper and manages student interns at the center.