Brightspot Climate: Transitioning to Employee Ownership

Lorin Busaan, Simon Pek

Product #:W51154

Supplier:Ivey

Discipline:Entrepreneurship, General Management

Setting:Canada, 2023

Details:Case (PDF) • 10 pages • 2026-09-11

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In early 2023, Aaron Schroeder, chief executive officer (CEO) of Canadian-based Brightspot Climate Inc., was needing to decide which model of employee ownership he should choose to sell a significant portion of the company to employees. Although Schroeder was uncertain which model of employee ownership to pursue, he had already written an open letter to all employees in mid-2022 committing to transitioning his firm to employee ownership. Surprisingly, the response from employees was tepid—a reaction amplified by Schroeder’s lack of commitment to one of the models of employee ownership available in Canada: worker co-operative, direct employee share ownership, or a newly announced employee ownership trust. Almost a year after sending the letter, mindful of the need to follow through on his commitment to his employees, Schroeder needed to decide which model was most suitable.

Learning Objectives

The case can be used in any undergraduate or graduate course that focuses on one or more of the following topics: entrepreneurship, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, succession planning, employee ownership, or alternative forms of organizing.

After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to:

explain why business owners at various stages of their careers should be concerned with succession planning;
explain why there is growing interest in employee ownership and describe its main strengths and weaknesses; and
critically evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of different forms of employee ownership based on different considerations.