Company Background

Travel Square One, founded in association with Colorado School of Travel in 1982 by Paula Wagner, was re-formed by Paula and Bill O'Connor in 2007 into a new enterprise, owned and operated by a collaborative of true travel professionals.  

This restructuring and recapitalization created an opportunity for committed travel specialists to focus on the narrow but more profitable segment of travel distribution - personal, high-end leisure, while sharing in marketing, technology and operating costs. Their clientele is typically served by a select group of individual travel counselors, and the travelers are both quite loyal and largely unapproachable through the usual conventions of advertising, direct mail or vendor/supplier offers. 

This innovation in agency structure affords each of these travel professionals shared ownership in the company, a uniquely motivating opportunity in our industry.

Travel Trends

Between discriminating travelers and comitted travel professionals there exists a bond that is reistant to mass marketing, discounts, pricing appeals, vendor 'direct' strategies or electronic disintermediation. 

For these travel professionals however there are limited working alternatives: Commission-Split Independent Contractor with a Host Agency - Membership in Networked Independents - or an employment relationship in that rare agency that is focused on their client's segment - which is defined by high-end discretionary leisure travel.

In most cases, these professionals have limited earning opportunity, no access to employee benefits (health care, retirement plans etc) and no share in the company's profitability or growth in asset value, most of which is driven by their sales, production and clientele.

The Innovation

In late 2006, Travel Square One was restructured and recapitalized to respond to this trend. The Company is wholly owned by stakeholder employees and contractors, all of whom may own one share of equity in the 'cooperative'. 

No one individual may own more than one share, and no one outside of the Company may own equity. There is also a limit on the number of members. 

There are specific provisions for liquidation of the Stakeholder's equity should they leave the Company, or are unable to continue to work due to disability, death or other circumstance. 

Stakeholders commit to two years prior to exercising an equity buyout, and the value is based on third party valuation of the Company. Annual profits or losses are shared pro rata. 

A Managing Member is responsible for the ongoing management of the LLC, until such time as all capital investments have been repaid. Thereafter, three Managing Members are charged with management responsibilities.

AIn 2008, in response to demand, additional Independent Contractor opportunites were created for non-shareholder travel professionals which resulted in rapid expansion to more than two dozen agents.