Common Purpose
The Ownership Newsletter • Vol. 125
Welcome Back
We took a week off for Thanksgiving. Now this double edition is so packed we’re pushing the Substack character limit 🙊 Enjoy! And thanks to EOX and Zarin Kresge for the newsletter and LinkedIn love.
In This Issue
🥃 Top Shelf News
Dr. Hand returned Oxford this week to moderate a panel on how organizations balance locking in purpose, expanding financial participation, and distributing decision-making power. Email us for a first look at our forthcoming white paper, A Common Purpose
The UK cut their EOT tax incentive in half; eoa outlines the response from the Home Office to their concerns: EO Sector emphasizes the need for more evidence to secure political backing
Jon Shell and Social Capital Partners are providing the capital for the founding of the Employee Ownership Research Initiative at Queen’s University in Canada
Twelve shared ownership businesses in Chicago received $2 million of grant capital
Representative LaMonica Ives spoke on the benefits of employee ownership at a House Small Businesses Committee markup
Writing for New York Times, Paula Span highlights solutions to the caregiver shortage crisis, including home care cooperatives
Ways you can help other Stakehold readers:
Ownership Economy is looking for speakers on alternative ownership models for data centers
Aspen EOP is looking for workers to take their job quality survey
Cornell Professor Todd Schmidt is looking for cooperatives interested in helping educate students about the cooperative economy
Impact Charitable is hiring a director for their national fund to support alternative and community ownership; Empowered Ventures is on the hunt for a Corporate Development Manager
🏙️ Events
For a full list of upcoming events, see our Events page. And share your conference recaps with us! Coming up:
🆕 | Dec 9: Common Future’s discussion on how to make community ownership last
Dec 9: NCEO’s webinar on direct employee ownership, an ESOP alternative
🆕 | Dec 10: Purpose LatAm’s Estudio de Casos de Propiedad Empresarial Alternativa (PEA)
Dec 10: The Industrial Common’s webinar on lessons learned from Spanish and Italian cooperatives
Dec 10: Levelup Coops’ workshop exploring different forms of capital
Dec 10: The Fidan Kurtulus Seminar on Employee Share Ownership by The Institute for Business in Global Society (BiGS) at Harvard Business School and The Ownership Project
🆕 | Dec 11: The ICA’s webinar on the home care cooperative sector
🆕 | Dec 19: Rutger’s School of Management and Labor Relations’ Private Equity and Employee Share Ownership Symposium
🆕 | Dec 19: 8th Annual Private Equity and Employee Share Ownership Symposium
Owner voices
Former ESOP CEO Bob Gelser describes the impact employee ownership can have on small communities
An Arkansas employee-owner shares his experience hiring more employee-owners
Owner Brent Hutchings shares the impact of the sale of part of his Oregon-based company to his employees
Workers at a Baltimore-based cooperative shared how their new ownership structure has made them love their work again
Working at an employee-owned company changed this single father’s life
One UK employee-owner shares how the transition transformed his outlook and management style
Employee-owner Aimee Duffy highlights the culture and sustainability impacts of ESOPs
The “Members Only” interview series sat down with a cooperative worker-owner to discuss practical advice and common pitfalls
When one Ohio-based company transitioned to an ESOP, they experienced not only a structure but a culture change as well
Common Trust released a case study on Cypress Valley Meat, an Arkansas-based employee ownership trust
Employee ownership analysis and opinion
Writing for ImpactAlpha, Julie Menter and Alison Lingane highlight the importance of catalytic capital for the growth of employee ownership
The Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce provides highlights from their recent event on employee ownership
Employee-owned companies were featured prominently on MarketBeat’s survey of the most ethical companies in the U.S.
NCEO published a list of the 5 largest employee-owned, non-ESOP US companies
A new article in EO Sector centers the employer in employee ownership
Peak Business Valuation explores why employee ownership transitions can outperform private equity sales
North Dakota's Lt. Gov. wrote a guest column for InForum on the power of employee ownership
Andrea Steinbrenner highlights new Gallup data showing that many U.S. business owners lack a clear exit plan despite intending to sell or transfer their company
ESOPs
A 100-year old Wisconsin company transitioned to an ESOP
Allivate Impact Capital financed an ESOP conversion for A-R-T & Associates
Writing for Fast Company, Mike Brady argues ESOPs present a solution to the growing wealth gap
The “Owners at Work” podcast delves into how acquisition can be used to grow ESOPs
ESOP Association CEO James Bonham shared his tips for building a high-performing ESOP; he also provided commentary on a recent hearing for legislation to end “class action abuse” against ESOPs
Worker cooperatives
A food cooperative was recognized by MarketBeat as one of the most ethical companies in the country
A new Reuters article explores the role cooperatives play in creating global security, equity, and resilience
Wisconsin residents of a manufactured housing community are exploring a cooperative model to maintain affordability
The International Cooperative Alliance and its partners highlight how cooperatives working at scale can increase democratic ownership
Matthew Epperson reflects on the growing cooperative movement in Georgia
Corporate Knights highlights how cooperatives are often left out of MBA curriculums
Purpose trusts and steward ownership
Project Equity published a breakdown of employee ownership trusts
One Philadelphia family was able to purchase their first home after living in a community owned apartment building
Lani Evans shared her reflections on SO:25
Common Trust released a recap of their most recent Owners Session with Miren Oca
Patagonia released their first Work in Progress Report on the company’s progress and impact
Graeme Nuttall OBE advocates for Australia’s passage of a bill that would support EOTs and provide tax guidelines
The ownership economy
Corporate Rebels highlights ten signs that a corporate culture may not actually be “open”
Neil Bendle explains why stakeholder preferences make sustainable businesses more profitable
An urban area in Barcelona will now be collectively managed by cooperatives
People’s Economy Lab outlines their proposal for how Seattle’s new mayor can build a more democratic economy
The Lincoln Institute of Land Study and the Center for Geospatial Solutions released a mapping report outlining corporate ownership of residential land
Jay Chaudhary makes the case for an AI dividend to share the success of artificial intelligence with society
📚 Academic updates
Jason Spicer, Nicholas Shatan, and Olivia Williams published a research paper on the differences between technocratic and transformative Community Land Trusts
Writing for the Michigan Journal of Economics, Ezra Lee outlines how companies and private equity firms can create ownership structures that benefit all
Michelle Brown & Andrew Pendleton, in Decisions to Enrol in Employee Stock Ownership Plans, find that prior EO participation shapes future enrollment
Rutger Claasen reflects on plural cooperativism
Bruno Petrušić argues for the universal destination of goods, a concept from Catholic social doctrine
Tej Gonza was recognized with the Josef Grünbeck prize for his dissertation on employee ownership. Congrats, Tej!
⏰ ICYMI
Colorado provides an example of how public policy and regulation can help scale employee ownership
These three cooperatives were featured at Start.coop’s showcase for Black-owned cooperatives on Friday
The President of The Democracy Collaborative spoke at the Global Forum for Social and Solidarity Economy earlier this year
PURPOSE released videos of several keynote speakers from their October conference
Thanks for putting this summary together