Pizza shop owner turned his business into a worker-owned co-op

SAN JOSE, California –

There is one thing totally different about A Slice of New York Pizza in San Jose. And it goes past their award-winning pies.

It’s in regards to the individuals. In truth, everybody within the kitchen owns an equal slice of the business.

“We’re a worker co-op, which means all the members and owners of the business work in the business,” stated the restaurant’s founder Kirk Vartan. He began the business 17 years in the past.

Six years in the past, he turned it right into a co-op by promoting the business to his workers as a leveraged buyout. The employee-owners at the moment are paying again a business mortgage with the income generated by the corporate. And all of them run the store as a board of administrators.

“We have 13 members right now, and every member has an equal vote in the governance and strategic decisions of our business,” Vartan stated.

“It’s not just a job. It’s our baby!” stated Colin Webster. This was his first job when he turned 18 ten years in the past. He now chairs the board.

“There’s a stigma to working in the service industry, but I tell people, ‘No! I’m a small business owner.’ I make more money than some of my friends who went to college,” Webster stated.

It’s not a brand new business mannequin, however it’s getting much more consideration after the pandemic worn out many small companies.

A invoice to create a co-op hub and assist heart within the Governor’s workplace handed unanimously and have become legislation in California this yr.

“It creates stability in your community. The businesses are owned and operated by the people living in there,” Vartan stated.

Co-ops may also be a great possibility for the tens of hundreds of business homeowners who wish to retire.

“It takes care of the business owner. It pays them. It takes care of the employees. It gives them a wealth building opportunity. And it takes care of the community, because the community gets to keep that gem of a business, whatever that is,” Vartan stated.

Local buyer Heather David known as consuming at A Slice of New York Pizza a “better experience.”

“This model works. It works from a customer service standpoint in terms of employee retention, happier employees,” she stated.

But it would not work except the product is sweet.

“The proof it in the pizza,” David stated.

And the lengthy line at dinnertime means the customers and the employees are each getting what they need.