John Abrams, the co-founder and CEO of South Mountain Company, a WorldBlu List 2007 awardee, recently discussed their democratic workplace with WorkplaceDemocracy.com. South Mountain is an employee-owned company located on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. They provide numerous integrated environmental building services including renewable energy.

John Abrams’ interview about South Mountain with WorkplaceDemocracy.com:

Can you talk a little about South Mountain’s history and how the workplace democracy idea began?

In the early days, we never thought of ourselves as a company.  My original partner and I were hippies looking for a way to pursue our craft.  The last thing we were interested in was business.  When we arrived on Martha’s Vineyard, we found ourselves, ironically, in business.  After a few early mishaps, I found myself interested in and wanting to learn more about business.  Once I got my bearings, and had some long-time employees who wanted to stay with the company, I was ready to return to my roots and develop a community-based business that belonged to the people who did the work. . .

To read the full interview on the South Mountain Company, click here.