Welcome back!
đïž Last week we teased a new partnership with Owners at Work. The podcast is the latest incarnation of an employee ownership newsletter in operation since 1991. This weekâŠweâre on it! Donât miss it:
đ§ Calling all trolls: The fine folks of Reddit have questions for us about employee ownership. Pop over and see if you can help
Thanks to Zoe Schlag, the Predistribution Initiative, Ownership Works, the Employee Ownership Expansion Network, Margot Kane, Menke, and the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership, for all the shout-outs on LinkedIn this week đ«¶
đ„ Top Shelf News
Employee ownership education just leveled up: UC San Diegoâs Rady School of Management announced Alissa Orlando as their inaugural Beyster Executive in Residence for Innovation (ht Mary Ann Beyster)
đș Tedx drops a new Talk: North Dakota Lieutenant Governor Tammy Miller on why America needs more owners
Christmas is coming! Start shopping for your loved-and-tolerated-ones on the new Market Place of worker-owned companies
đ In This Issue
If youâre new here, friend, welcome! You may want to start with Ownership Stories.
Events and Opportunities
Does what it says on the tinNews
Dealflow, ESOPs, Co-ops, Community Ownership, and the Ownership EconomyOwnership Stories
Profiles of employees, owners, and companiesResearch and Insights
ESOPs, Co-ops, Community Ownership, Workplace Democracy, and the Ownership Economy
đïž Events and Opportunities
For events more than a week away, see our main Events page.
Sep 14
BKLYN STUDIOSâ panel on Jeffrey Hollenderâs new book about Seventh Generation, Built for a Better World
Day one of the Ohio Center for Employee Ownershipâs 2026 National Employee-Owner Summit in Chicago
Sep 15
Tompkins Bank & Trust Power Breakfast on The Power of Purpose in White Plains, NY
The Center for Inclusive Growthâs Inclusive Growth Summit in New Haven, CT
NCEOâs Busting the Benefit Level Myth
Day one of Neighborhood Economics Galveston 2026 in Texas
The International Cooperative Allianceâs General Assembly begins, in Panama
The Asset Funders Networkâs Invested in the South: CDFIs Building Assets, Strengthening Communities
Deadline to register for the Vermont Employee Ownership Centerâs next cohort of Taking Ownership, a series for new board members
Sep 16
The Follett Foundation hosts Bernadette Wesley for a conversation on sociocracy
Good Togetherâs Talking Shift: Is the answer to tough times taking back the economy?
Center for Sustainable Finance & Private Wealth hosts Integrating Philanthropy and Investing to Build Community Ownership
B Labâs BLD Southeast Conference in DC begins
Sep 17
JĂșlia Martins Rodrigues hosts Jessica Gordon Nembhard for a conversation on collective courage in Boulder, CO
Les Szabo, Executive Director of Purpose Pledge, will join CEOs from Newmanâs Own and Grace Farms Foundation at Fast Companyâs Innovation Festival
Sep 18
Asset Funders Networkâs The Shared Ownership Economy virtual learning session
Opportunities
For more, visit our Jobs page. If youâre interested in working *at* an employee-owned company, check out Deanalyticsâ job board, too!
đŹđ§ The British are hiring:
Shared Assets is hiring a new executive leader (UK-based)
Digital Commons Cooperative is hiring a Product Lead (UK-based)
Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland is hiring for Head of ProShare
Ownership News
Dealflow
For more, check out our Dealflow page.
California commercial contractor Mason Builders transfers 100% ownership to their new ESOP
Technology platform ESOP One was acquired by BPAS, a leading provider of retirement plans, employee benefits and institutional trust services in the US
Infinity Today, a New Jersey agency serving families with intellectual and developmental disabilities, partners with IPMG Holdings as they transition to 100% employee ownership
Employee Ownership
đ°đ· South Koreaâs SME Agency visits UK manufacturer PB Design to study their EOT model as a blueprint for succession planning in the same week South Korea passes new laws on âsocial solidarity financeâ
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center just graduated their Summer 2026 Cohort for Ethical AI â and Zolidar put employee ownership on a billboard in Times Square
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)
The ESOP Association reports the US House is expected to vote on Retire Through Ownership Act next week; the org also released their latest edition ESOP Report
Norm Kurland, colleague of Louis Kelso and cofounder of the Center for Economic and Social Justice, died this week. His is the latest passing of some of the earliest supporters of ESOPs.
Worker Cooperatives
đšđŠ Congratulations to Christine Clarke, CWCFâs new Co-Executive Director
đïž New Podcast Alert: CooperationWorks! launches Co-op Developer Stories
Community Ownership
đŽó §ó ąó łó Łó Žó ż Scotland names employee ownership in its new social economy investment strategy for community development
Shelterforce assesses what the ROAD to Housing Actâthe first federal housing overhaul in 30 yearsâmeans for community land trusts
The Ownership Economy
Mamdani established the first-in-class Mayorâs Office of Worker Power, naming union and community organizer Tony Perlstein as Executive Director
At the Paris Space Summit, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the shared governance of outer space as a cooperative, global commons
Before You Scroll On By
As you can see, weâre testing a new format this week. All the same content, curated by real-life humans (and Mark), streamlined.
Ownership Stories
Expanding ESOPs published a raft of new employee-owner stories, including: Pennsylvaniaâs AimĂ©e Deraco and Nick Wee; Wisconsinâs Marcease Warren; Ohioâs Rebecca Moix and Patrick Brewer; Montanaâs Eva Villasana; Californiaâs Lana Smith, andâhere on The Stakehold!âDCâs Ashley Bell.
Imagine Early Learning Centers, the first early childhood education ESOP in the US, opens a free child care center for City of NY employees and their families
A chapter from Prairie Capital Advisorsâ new book, The Journey to ESOP: Stories from Business Owners, investigates how owners use ESOPs to anchor culture, share wealth and drive growth
đšđŠ Canadian EOT Taproot Community Support Services cuts its first dividend checks
đŹđ§ eoa released a new case study on Scott Bader, a chemical manufacturing company which the owner gave away to a charitable trust structure in 1951
đźđč Sicilian agricultural co-op helps seasonal migrant workers escape exploitation
đïž Co-Op News spotlights Punchcard, a British workers.coop podcast featuring the stories of co-ops from all sectors and countries
Research & Insights
Arguments, analysis, and (đ) academic research
Employee Ownership
đ Yaun-Ling Chen argues employee ownership makes top-down training programs more effective
ICYMI: Writing for Newsweek, CCAâs Howard Brodsky positions employee ownership as a vital defense for family businesses facing corporate consolidation
Employee Stock Ownership Plans
NCEOâs Corey Rosen analyzes why higher ESOP contributions could result in lower long-term maintenance costs
Verit Advisorsâ Mary Josephs sees ESOPs as a tool to build community wealth when the bottom 50% of Americans currently only holds 1% of US equities
đïž Construction ESOP Collectiveâs latest podcast discusses building ownership culture
đ John Anderson and team examine the relationship between ESOP firms and foreign direct investment (preprint)
âȘ ICYMI: A report by Stout, an advisory firm, claims that the valuations of its ESOP clients grew 17.3% from 2021â2024, compared to 12% growth in the S&P 500 over the same period
Worker Cooperatives
Shout out to the gig workers: Aaron Ross Coleman traces worker co-ops back to Reconstruction-era abolitionist strategies for escaping wage slavery
Authority Magazine interviews NCBA CLUSAâs Doug OâBrien, who addresses information asymmetry and how to measure the impact of co-ops
The Alberta Community and Cooperative Association ponders why co-ops arenât more mainstream in Canada
đ Begoña Echaburu Mulet et al. explore the role of social management directors at MondragĂłn (preprint)
Community Ownership
Co-Op Newsâ Miles Hadfield quotes US NRECAâs Jim Matheson: The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment initiative is failing rural America
In Shelterforce, Steve Dobbs reports on housing co-ops, NORCs and what happens when long-term residents age
Using Northern Ireland as a case study, Jan Kellett links co-ops with economic resilience against conflict, arguing for co-operative coordination at scale
In AIA Architect, Patrick Sisson examines how some developers are reframing affordable housing to integrate healthcare, childcare and public infrastructure
Workplace Democracy
For Jacobin, economist Peter Dorman outlines three strategic pillars to improve job quality: autonomy, democratic participation and worker representation
Looking back at US history, C.G. Matteini pushes for worker solidarity to counter âdivide and conquer labor tacticsâ (ht Jay Coen Gilbert)
The Ownership Economy
Politicoâs Joseph Schatz examines how government equity stakes in companies are shifting from temporary bailout mechanisms to long-term governance levers
đŹđ§ British ownership stakeholders call for new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to leverage co-operatives and mutuals in place-based economic development
Tom Powdrill delves into the UKâs government consultation on corporate reporting, where attempts at modernizing raise questions around stewardship
In a recent interview, the editor of The Economist pressed Elon Musk on two of The Stakeholdâs central questions: Who should have a stake in AIâs growth? And who should have a say?
Start at the 39 minute mark but donât keep watching long after that, unless you need more evidence for why we donât want the worldâs fate decided by half a dozen coders. When the conversation shifts to politics, Musk transmogrifies from entrepreneurial savant to the cousin whose politics you avoid at Christmas
A fun connection: Minton Beddoesâ phrasing about giving people a âsense of a shareâ in the upside evokes Corey Rosenâs famous âsense of lunchâ