Summary
We the Owners: Employees Expanding the American Dream, is a 2012 documentary film about three American businesses that have embraced various forms of employee ownership. This case study offers a closer look at Namaste Solar, one of the three featured companies, and was published in January 2025 by the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing with support from the Beyster Foundation for Enterprise Development, to coincide with the release of an updated second edition of the film. Namaste Solar is a worker-owned cooperative based in Boulder and Denver, Colorado that specializes in the design, installation, and operation of photovoltaic systems and related electrification technologies. In this case study, the author explores developments at Namaste since the original release of We the Owners in 2012, which include its designation as a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) in the State of Colorado, the founding of an “ecosystem” of supportive partner cooperatives, and significant growth in its workforce.
Find discussion questions in the “We the Owners Discussion Guide”
View “We the Owners” here: https://smlr.rutgers.edu/we-the-owners.