Book Travels in the U.S.A.

November 11, 2025 – John Abrams

It’s November 5th, 2025, the morning after a heartening slam-dunk election night across the nation. Basking in that glow, it feels like a good moment to reflect on a recent journey, having recovered from the Covid I managed to catch somewhere along the way.

During the last three weeks of October, I traveled to New York City, Portland OR, Ann Arbor, Cincinnati, Asheville, Boulder, Denver, Jackson Hole, Brunswick ME, and Boston.

Ten towns in 23 days. The trip was built around a variety of events and interviews to spread the message of my new book From Founder to Future. But it was way more than a book tour. I saw old friends and made new ones, toured amazing projects, and met with great companies.

The result: I learned more than I taught, and I was inspired by others more than I inspired them. No false modesty here, just the plain truth. I was lucky to engage with some of the best of today’s America. I’ll tell just a few of the highlights and try not to make this a travelogue.

The trip began in New York City where I saw dear old friends, ate way too much, walked it off traipsing for miles around lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, saw an extraordinary off-Broadway play produced by my cousin Rick Lazes, and spoke at The Ownership Economy Summit. In her article about that gathering, new friend Rachel Merfalen said, “I spent two days with people redesigning capitalism from inside out.” The scope of the conversations was breathtaking. I left fully jazzed (and ready for the road).

In Portland, my friends at New Energy Works produced a fine event, and interviewer Peter Koehler of Stronghold Ownership asked me compelling questions. The next day, I met for the first time with the full staff of an Oregon design/build firm for whom I am guiding a worker co-op conversion.

In Ann Arbor, two radically different events in one day: at 8:00 in the morning, 100 members of Rob Pasik’s Leadership Circle gathered at Zingerman’s Roadhouse restaurant, where Zingerman’s co-founder Ari Weinzweig interviewed me. Later in the day, at the University of Michigan’s Center for Entrepreneurship, I spoke to 70 engaged grad students in Brian Hayden’s “Finding Your Venture” class.

In Cincinnati, Co-op Cincy produced the high-energy Union Co-op Symposium, which synergistically merges unions and worker co-ops. On No Kings day, I stopped and marched in Florence KY on the way to meet my partner Kim in Asheville. Along with enjoying that great city together and a speaking event sponsored by the North Carolina Employee Ownership Center, we were treated to two unforgettable tours.

Tour Number One was The Industrial Commons (TIC). I wrote about TIC in my book, after interviewing its founders, Molly Hemstreet and Sara Chester, and former employee Aaron Dawson (an old pal who was my interviewer in Asheville). Since then, I’ve been craving a visit.  Got one.

Before industrial offshoring began savaging U.S. manufacturing in the 1990s, the small city  of Morganton, an hour east of Asheville, was at the heart of the North Carolina textile and furniture industries. After growing up in town and leaving to pursue other interests, Molly and Sarah returned independently and resolved to do something constructive for local people and the local economy. TIC is reinventing industry by making an ecosystem of worker co-op manufacturing companies and support co-ops. Although just 10 years old, this impactful experiment is already providing a compelling model for the whole country.

Molly and Sara were both away when we were there, but Jenna Rae Grayson took us on an inspirational tour followed by a great lunch at a local restaurant called Little Guatemala. Jenna loves her work, and she introduced us to exceptional people at TIC. It was easy to feel their deep devotion to the cause. What a thrill to have the opportunity to examine the internal workings of this remarkable experiment that springs from and cultivates partnerships with local people, local business, and local government.

Tour Number Two was Poder Emma (PE). A sister organization to TIC, PE is turning a neighborhood right side up. The Emma area of Asheville is made up mostly of mobile home parks occupied by Latinx people. PE’s mission is to prevent displacement in Emma by promoting community ownership and preserving mobile home parks as affordable housing.

But that’s not all. Like TIC, they are creating an infrastructure of co-ops to provide essential community development services to the residents and to build a vibrant social ecosystem where the residents and future generations can thrive. The enterprises are owned and run by the residents themselves.

Poder Emma’s founder, Andrea Golden, is a true force of nature—a passionate advocate and leader who infected us with her enthusiasm. Everyone we met seemed to share Andrea’s calm and good-natured fire and fervor.

After looking under the hoods of these two unique community-owned ecosystems, we headed for Colorado. (Oh, well, this is getting to be like a travelogue.)

In Boulder, Nathan Schneider and Julia Rodriquez produced an event with Andrea Steffes-Tuttle, who interviewed me at the University of Colorado business school. These three long-time employee ownership advocates and scholars are excited about creating an employee ownership institute within the university.

In Denver, Executive Director Jinsun Mi invited me to join and speak at the annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center. Multiple members of both Driver’s Cooperative Colorado (2,000 drivers own it, and are showing Uber and Lyft how it should be done) and a new home health care cooperative (with branches all over the state) told how these two co-ops  are changing lives. I was bowled over by the heart and soul of these people; it was another inspiring exposure to community ownership and activism at its best.

After a sweet time in Jackson Hole, visiting Kim’s son Nik and girlfriend Meg (Nik got us up before dawn for the drive to Yellowstone to see the awesome sunrise above), Kim headed home and I turned north to Brunswick, Maine for two days of all-on-the-table hunkering down with the Building Energy Bottom Lines group of companies I’ve been working with for more than a decade. Then, down the Maine Turnpike to Boston for the enlivening Authors and Innovators Book Festival.

Fully worn out, I drove to Woods Hole, got on the boat, arrived home, and promptly got sick with Covid. I felt a bit like I was “rode hard and put away wet.” But I was tremendously gratified as well.

In three short weeks, I experienced glimpses of all the good that is happening in this country during a time that sometimes appears to be consumed with all the bad. The good works endure; ultimately, we are bound to transform government to uplift and support these activities rather than corrupt and destroy.

Starting with New York City, where I began my trip. We watched with wonder from home as Zohran Mamdani was elected. The promise is palpable.