Small Business Breakthroughs – Understand the why and how of planning for the future of your business

Join the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Columbus State Community College in partnership with the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center for a podcast-style discussion designed to dig into the topics that are impacting your business and keeping you up at night.

In this edition of “Small Business Breakthroughs” we will be discussing why it is essential to do succession planning for your business. Succession planning allows the business owner to control the shape and form of how their business continues when they decide to step away. It is never too early to start thinking about succession planning. Even early-stage firms should be thinking strategically about their vision for the company, which ties directly to succession planning. Chris Cooper and Michael Palmieri of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC) at Kent State University will join us to explain what you need to know when thinking about the future of your business.

Guest: Chris Cooper – Director, 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 atone 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 Mind spring website (an online resource for small business in NE Ohio), the Small Business Advocacy Blog of the Small Business Advocacy Council (Chicago), and formerly to Slate.com’s now-defunct 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 the Center’s training programs on employee ownership, developing and implementing the OEOC’s numerous training modules and programs. He has been a featured speaker at conferences and programs across the US as well as Bermuda, Canada, and the UK, and co-written numerous articles and book chapters on employee ownership and business succession planning. Prior to joining the Center, 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.

Guest: Michael Palmieri, Program Coordinator

Michael Palmieri, PhD began working at the OEOC at the in 2019 when he relocated from New Jersey to Ohio to pursue a graduate degree. He is the Program Director at the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, where he coordinates the Center’s education and training programs and leads its research and outreach efforts. His research focuses on how alternative ownership structures of private enterprises and community resources can build individual and community wealth and lessen economic and political inequality.

Michael earned his doctorate in political science in 2024 from Kent State University. His dissertation focuses on the economic benefits of employee share ownership and how those benefits shape political behaviors and attitudes. He is also a part-time faculty member at Kent State University’s Political Science Department where he teaches courses on Urban Politics, American Government, Political Parties and Interest Groups, and a special topic courses on Workplace Democracy. Michael is also a Fellow at the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing and a contributing member of the Shares Laboratory research team at Rutgers University. In addition to his research and program work he manages student interns at the center and produces the OEOC’s podcast Owners at Work, which he co-hosts with Chris Cooper.

Host: Michael Bowers, CBA – Director, Ohio SBDC at Columbus State Community College

Michael Bowers is a Business Advisor and Director for the Ohio Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Columbus State Community College. The primary focus of the SBDC is to support prospective and existing entrepreneurs as they seek to start and grow businesses in Central Ohio.

Michael holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Finance from the University of North Alabama and a Master’s in Public Administration from The Ohio State University. Michael is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree in Public Administration from Liberty University.

Michael has worked with entrepreneurs and small business owners for over 30 years, 20 of which have been in Columbus leading the SBDC. He has a diverse business skill set with experience in banking, private equity, strategic planning, leadership, and public sector management.

Michael is the lead instructor for the Basis of A Successful Enterprise (B.A.S.E) business startup training, as well as the host of the Small Business Breakthroughs YouTube series.