Platform Cooperativism Consortium
Platform cooperatives make possible a more democratic digital economy. They offer an alternative to extractive “platform capitalism,” one based on cooperative principles such as democratic ownership and governance.
More Than a Company: Leading in a Values-Based Ecosystem
Studies show that when people are intrinsically motivated and engaged in a healthy environment, innovation and productivity thrive―yet many business leaders stick with “command and control” organizational structures, using extrinsic reward frameworks that fail to inspire others. How can we do better? We believe the solution starts with values-based individuals dedicated to improving the lives … Read More
Own It: A Colorado Story
The Colorado Employee Ownership Office (EOO) in collaboration with the Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media (COFTM) has developed a documentary following the employee ownership journeys of five Colorado companies. “Own It: A Colorado Story” follows five Colorado-based companies that have transformed the fabric of their communities – and the lives of their workers … Read More
A Detailed Overview of Employee Ownership Plan Alternatives
There are now over 25 million employees who own stock in their companies through employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), broadly granted stock options, or 401(k) plans with heavy concentrations of employer stock.
The Big Benefits of Employee Ownership
Inequality in the U.S. has been getting worse for decades: The richest 1% own a majority of all business wealth, and the top 10% own more than 90%. It has become clear that companies need to address the problem. One place to start is by expanding employees’ ownership stakes in companies, giving workers a path … Read More
Introducing CLEO—the Rutgers Online Employee Ownership Library: What Business Owners Can Learn
The redesigned Curriculum Library for Employee Ownership (CLEO), the online library dedicated to employee share ownership, features more than 600 resources—including company case studies, links to scholarly research articles, informative videos, and policy reports. This webinar introduces this free online library and highlights resources of interest to business owners who are considering employee ownership. Research … Read More
Create Amazing: Turning Your Employees into Owners for Explosive Growth
Are you considering starting an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) or converting your company to an ESOP? Or maybe making the big leap to a 100% employee-owned company? If you want your company to perform at its absolute peak and you want the people who make that happen (you included) to receive the ultimate financial … Read More
Common Wealth Dividends: History and Theory
Common wealth dividends are universal cash payments funded by fees on the private use of common resources like land, minerals, and the atmosphere as a carbon sink. Thomas Paine’s 1797 pamphlet Agrarian Justice and Alaska’s Permanent Fund Dividend are staples in the literature on Basic Income, but there is much more to common wealth dividends … Read More
Race and Gender Wealth Equity and the Role of Employee Share Ownership
Even before the pandemic, many workers struggled to build wealth. Divisions between men and women, and between white households and households of color, are particularly striking. The pandemic has exacerbated and heightened awareness of these inequities, and there is a mounting sense of urgency to find practical solutions. Increasing participation in business ownership can help … Read More
Organizational Imaginaries: Tempering Capitalism and Tending to Communities through Cooperatives and Collectivist Democracy
This volume explores an expansive array of organizational imaginaries, or conceptions of organizational possibilities, with a focus on collectivist-democratic organizations that operate in capitalist markets but place more authority and ownership in the hands of stakeholders other than shareholders. These include worker and consumer cooperatives and other enterprises that, to varying degrees: Emphasize social values … Read More
Becoming Employee Owned: A Small Business Toolkit Website
Becoming Employee Owned is an initiative of the Democracy at Work Institute, a movement-based think-and-do tank supporting worker cooperatives to grow to a scale that creates meaningful change in the economy. The website includes resources for small businesses and company profiles.
The 7 Cooperative Principles: An Interactive Course for Cooperative Members
This interactive course introduces the seven cooperative principles: voluntary and open membership; democratic member control; member economic participation; autonomy and independence; education, training and information; cooperation among cooperatives; and concern for community.
A Visual Guide to Employee Ownership
The “A Visual Guide to Employee Ownership” website is an initiative of the National Center for Employee Ownership. It includes infographics, videos, a map of ESOPs in the United States, and other accessible but impactful visual guides.
The National Center for Employee Ownership YouTube Channel
The National Center for Employee Ownership YouTube Channel includes webinars and videos on a variety of topics related to employee ownership. NCEO is a nonprofit organization that has been supporting the employee ownership community since 1981. Its mission is to help employee ownership thrive.
Employee Ownership Expansion Network YouTube Channel
The Employee Ownership Expansion Network YouTube Channel includes informative short videos about employee ownership. EOX is a national nonprofit focused on significantly expanding employee ownership across the United States by establishing and supporting a network of independent nonprofit State Centers for Employee Ownership.
Why Aren’t There More? Assessing Barriers to ESOP Creation
This study by Jared Bernstein looks at why there are not more ESOPs and considers how to address potential barriers to entry. Drawing on a survey of 250 non-ESOP business owners and leaders, as well as interviews with business owners of employee-owned companies, it argues that education and awareness about the ESOP structure is key.
Who Should Own Your Business After You? A Guide for Business Owners
This booklet helps business owners evaluate employee ownership. Thousands of business owners have decided that employee ownership is the best way to preserve the job security of their workforces and protect the character of their companies while providing them and their families fair value. In “Who Should Own Your Business After You?,” several of them … Read More
Opportunity Knocking: Impact Capital as the Transformative Agent to Take Employee Ownership to Scale
This paper proposes that impact investors and other capital providers could catalyze employee ownership buyouts. Impact capital could become the lever used to redirect wealth into the hands of working Americans, creating a more just and equitable economy that is more resilient against future shocks. Investments in employee ownership buyouts could offer attractive midrange returns, … Read More
Creating Mutual Gains to Leverage a Racially Diverse Workforce: The Effects of Firm-Level Racial Diversity on Financial and Workforce Outcomes Under the Use of Broad-Based Stock Options
Despite substantial scholarly attention to workforce demographic diversity, existing research is limited in understanding whether or in what contexts firm-level racial diversity relates to performance and workforce outcomes of the firm. Drawing on social interdependence theory along with insights from social exchange and psychological ownership theories, we propose that the use of broad-based stock options … Read More
Employee-Owned Firms in the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Majority-Owned ESOP & Other Companies Have Responded to the Covid-19 Health and Economic Crises
This significant new study shows that majority employee-owned companies with Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are outperforming non-employee owned companies during the COVID-19 pandemic in the areas of job retention, pay, benefits, and workplace health safety. The study reveals that ESOPs have been more proactive about ensuring the safety of employees during the pandemic and … Read More
Policy Strategies to Build a More Inclusive Economy with Cooperatives
This report describes the role cooperatives can play in building healthy, equitable, and sustainable communities, and explains how to advance that work through federal, state, and local policy. The policy objectives presented are intended not to simply grow the field of cooperatives, but to enhance the work of cooperatives that address economic and racial disparities … Read More
How to Choose an Employee Stock Plan for a Closely Held Company
Many companies we encounter have a pretty good idea of what kind of employee ownership plan they want to use, usually based on specific needs and goals. However, sometimes they might be better served by another kind of stock plan. Others say they’d like to have an employee ownership plan, but they’re not sure what … Read More
Gardner Denver: Implementing an Employee Equity Plan
As KKR, a private equity firm, prepared to take Gardner-Denver, one of its portfolio companies, public in mid-2017, a discussion arose on the Gardner-Denver board about the implications of granting approximately $110 million in equity to its global employee base as part of its innovative “broad-based employee ownership program.” KKR (formerly known as Kohlberg Kravis … Read More
PDS: Ring-Fencing the Ranch
Pallak Seth, Group CEO of PDS Multinational Fashions, is contemplating options to bring better collaboration across his global apparel supply chain platform. PDS, a group of 50-plus subsidiary companies, each led by its own CEO and with different apparel industry specialties, has grown rapidly over the past decade, yet the industry is increasingly competitive and … Read More
How an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Works
This short web article introduces how an ESOP works, rules, and tax advantages.