(Metaphorical) Shots Fired
The Ownership Newsletter • Vol. 122
Welcome Back
Thank you for reading! And welcome, new subscribers, to your weekly newsletter on employee ownership and the ownership economy. This edition is jam-packed.
One big thing: The ESOP Association published a 30-page attack this week on Expanding ESOPs, a new lobbying coalition launched by Pete Stavros. Our still-forming thoughts are below.
👇 In This Issue
🥃 Top Shelf News
Common Trust released an Employee Ownership Trust Playbook featuring an overview of EOTs, success stories, and FAQs
Business Horizons published Dr. Hand and Peter Boumgarden’s article on the structure, motivations, and challenges of succession in family businesses
Boumgarden and his WashU colleagues also launched a new website on owner motivations and succession strategies
The Cooperative Development Foundation was awarded a $1 million Rural Cooperative Grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Employee ownership trust growth in the UK may be slowing, after tax changes passed in response to alleged abuses of the new law
🏙️ Events + Opportunities
For a full list of upcoming events, see our Events page. And share your conference recaps with us! Coming up:
Nov 9: Ken Baker speaks at the Smart Business Dealmakers’ Summit
Nov 11-14: Platform Cooperativism Consortium’s first conference on cooperative’s and AI in Istanbul, Turkey
Nov 12: The Tandem Center for Shared Business Success’s session breaking down employee ownership
November 12: Georgia Center for Employee Ownership and Merit Financial Advisors’ discussion on employee ownership as a succession plan
Nov 12-14: Morehouse College’s Vision and Victory Conference: Expanding Black Employee Ownership in Atlanta
For more on The Stakehold’s prior work in Georgia, see Building an Ecosystem Around Shared Ownership
Nov 12: Mission Investors Exchange’s Investing in Local Resilience through Community-Owned Real Estate webinar
🆕 | November 13: Common Trust’s webinar on the human impact of employee ownership
🆕 | November 13: NCEO’s webinar on New & Notable ESOP topics
November 14: Purpose Foundation’s Q&A on steward ownership
🆕 | November 20: Proximate Team and partners’ summit on participatory investing
🔍 Analysis + Opinion
On employee ownership writ large
David Ellerman launched a new company, Solastnik, to help Slovenian companies convert to employee ownership under the country’s new employee ownership law
In an interview with New Private Markets, Chavon Sutton of Cambridge Associates argues that employee ownership needs to move from niche to mainstream
The Alabama Center for Employee Ownership received a BOLD grant from the city of Birmingham
Continental Europe is making strides in increasing employee ownership
NCEO is offering an employee owned certification to businesses who are minority-owned, allowing them to preserve their government preference
A South Dakota sales manager shares how his life was changed through employee ownership
Abacus Wealth Partners explains the benefits clients enjoy when working with an employee-owned financial planning firm
One UK city is celebrating the role of worker-owned businesses in strengthening the economy and benefiting workers
Sean-Tamba Matthew reflects on two recent conferences — SOCAP25 and the 4th Annual Osborne Symposium on entrepreneurship-through-acquisition
About that ESOP Association report
On Wednesday, during its largest annual gathering, The ESOP Association, a lobbying group, published a 30-page attack on Expanding ESOPs, a lobbying coalition launched by Pete Stavros last year.
Stavros, of KKR, a private equity firm, also founded the nonprofit Ownership Works, which helps private equity investors include what TEA calls short-term equity plans, or STEPs, in their deals. The report is especially concerned with the idea of calling these short-term equity plans ESOPs.
You can read the full report here. Some still-forming thoughts:
In a half dozen conversations this week with employee ownership advocates, we have gotten a dozen different takes. But it is still not clear to us exactly what Expanding ESOPs is lobbying for—or what TEA is pushing back against.
Expanding ESOPs’ current website has little detail, and its original proposal isn’t on the Internet Archive. We can’t find the Budget Lab report TEA says analyzed Expanding ESOPs’ original proposal, either.
Two (less controversial) sections of the report worth scrolling down to:
TEA’s take on why ESOP growth has stalled (pp.19-21)
The good clear pitch on for the American Ownership and Resilience Act (AORA), a bill presently in front of our school-skipping Congress (pp.30-32)
One small thing: in comparing ESOPs to STEPs, the TEA report highlights the benefits of employee voice and control, something ESOPs are not required to have.
Go deeper: listen to the recent Owners at Work interview with Danny Massey from Expanding ESOPs.
For a palate cleanser, check out our policy recommendations on purpose trusts, co-authored last year with Common Trust.
On employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
NCEO’s Corey Rosen reports on a new study showing stock prices of ESOPs outperform market indices; Expanding ESOPs shares a helpful graphic
A new ESCA study shows that ESOP employees are significantly more confident in their ability to retire than their non-owner counterparts
In an article for The National Observer, Mark Menshesha outlines whether an ESOP may be right for you (h/t Kristin S.)
An iconic Cincinnati ice cream shop is now partially employee-owned
A Florida ESOP transition serves as a reminder of the long-term community focused benefits of employee ownership
One ESOP CEO explains why his company’s conversion is one of the “most significant moments” of his career
On worker cooperatives
The country’s first worker-owned taxi cooperative has launched in India
Rob Brown of Cooperative Development Institute sits down with a retiring business owner to discuss his experience selling to his employees
In an op-ed for the National Cooperative Business Association, Doug O’Brien highlights the history and benefits of cooperatives within the food economy
The International Cooperative Alliance’s President will speak at the World Social Summit 2025
ICA President Ariel Guarco concluded the UN’s Year of the Cooperative roundtable with a speech on the ability of cooperatives to stop marginalization
New York’s cooperative movement came together this week at a summit in Albany
Fair Trade Los Angeles sat down with the co-founder of Burlap & Barrel, a spice supplier who works directly with worker cooperatives
Jason Wiener sits down with the co-founder of artist-owned cooperative Wild Blue Studios to discuss the benefits of cooperatives for creatives
On purpose trusts and steward ownership
EO Sector shares how one UK company is implementing direct shared ownership as it pushes towards an EOT and total employee ownership
Cypress Valley Meat Company has become the first EOT in both Arkansas and the meat processing industry. Congratulations to all!
Susan Basterfield shares her reflection on the SO:25 event in Berlin
A new graphic from eoa highlights the rapid expansion of employee ownership in the UK following the passage of tax incentives
On the ownership economy
The Main Street Journal calls on New York City mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani to create a public bank for the city
JPMorgan Chase explains the critical role of succession planning in ensuring the preservation of wealth
Jeff Siegler advocates for the growth of an ownership economy — one that places an emphasis on creating cities that residents are proud to live in
Smitha Das argues there is a way to both meet markets where they’re at while continuing to advocate for more radical change
Jay Coen Gilbert muses on whether AI company’s new fiduciary duties will be effective in policing the new firms
📚 Academic Updates
Last week, Dr. Martins Rodrigues presented at panels on democratizing ownership and legal pathways for shared ownership at The Roux Institute at Northeastern University
University of Canberra professors at the institution’s Centre for Deliberative Democracy have crafted a Guidebook for deliberative engagement among citizens (and perhaps employees?)
A new paper from Erik Stam and Anne-Sophie Halbertsma explores the role of purpose in driving firms to employee ownership
⏰ In Case You Missed It
Like Taylor Swift and Mark Cuban, Rays owner Stu Stenberg awarded bonuses to his employees following the team’s sale
EOX shared their message with members of the National Association of Development Organizations
Foley and Lardner LLP explain the benefits of ESOPs as a business succession plan
Thanks for breaking down “that report.” I feel like we need a transparent policy proposal from Expanding ESOPs so we know whether Bonham’s alarmism is justified. Right now Bonham seems to just be overthinking the ideas on the Expanding ESOP website without any concrete proof that they will do all of the things Bonham is worried they will do.