Welcome Back
We’re testing three spinoff newsletters this week: Ownership on Purpose, Ownership at Work, and The Ownership Economy. Links in the main news section below, and feedback appreciated!
🥃 Top Shelf News
Bloomberg reports on US House’s passage of the Retire Through Ownership Act, a bill which gives ESOP trustees a clearer path to determining fair market value
See analysis from NCEO, TEA, and Menke, which calls it “the most consequential ESOP legislation in a generation”
Striking to us is just how bipartisan this legislation is—during an election year in a historically polarized country. This bill pulled in the bootleggers, the Baptists and everyone in between
Rutgers Institute researchers find that full-time workers without 4-year degrees but in ESOP jobs earn 15% more each year than their counterparts in non-ESOP jobs (ht Adria Scharf)
🇬🇧 John Lewis, the UK’s largest employee ownership trust, detailed the next phase of its multi-year turnaround plan, focusing on retail investments and cost discipline
👉 In This Issue
If you’re new here, friend, welcome! You may want to start with Stories & Dealflow.
Events and Opportunities
News
Stories & Dealflow
Research and Insights
🏙️ Events and Opportunities
For events more than a week away, see our main Events page.
Sep 22 | Common Trust interviews P. Terry’s Co-Founder Kathy Terry on scaling a people-first business // The Great Game of Business Conference in St. Louis // The ESOP Association’s Midwest Regional Conference in Des Moines
Sep 23 | UWFWC’s Union Co-Ops Council meeting // ESCA’s Federal Policy Conference & Lobby Day in DC // eoa online panel, How to Become Employee Owned // Movement Politics Accelerator’s Public Dollars, Private Capture: How Co-ops Might Change the Landscape of Childcare
Sep 24 | Kent State’s Ohio Employee Ownership Center’s ESOP Contribution and Allocation Mechanics // Project Equity and Silicon Valley SBDC’s Succession Planning Through Employee Ownership for Silicon Valley Businesses
Sep 25 | USFWC and DAWI’s Worker Cooperative Conference in Boston (y en español también)
Sep 26 | Center for Community Wealth’s satellite USFWC conference in Denver
Sep 28 | Platform Coops’ Worker Co-ops & The Long History of Labour // 2026 Working Class Insights Forum in Middleburg, VA // The EO Capital Roadmap Roadshow hits Seattle
Opportunities
For more (including for jobs *at* employee-owned companies, visit our Jobs page.
Vermont Employee Ownership Center is hiring a Communications and Program Coordinator
ESOP Partners is hiring three new Assistant Administrators (ht Matt Licina)
Texas Impact Capital Alliance is hiring a founding Executive Director
🗞️ Ownership News
Employee Ownership
For even more employee ownership news, see Ownership at Work, a spinoff newsletter we’re testing.
Expanding ESOPs and pollster Echelon Insights released a new survey on Americans’ perceptions of employee ownership
“Amidst all the negative headlines about young people and the economy, employee ownership offers a path to rebuilding their faith in our system,” said Echelon’s Kristen Soltis Anderson
Two national organizations rebrand to clearer, simpler names: NCBA CLUSA will be U.S. Co-ops and Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada is now Canada Co-op
Ownership Capital Lab announces inaugural cohort of their Employee Ownership Fund Accelerator
Ownership on Purpose
For even more news on organizational purpose, see Ownership on Purpose, a spinoff newsletter we’re testing.
HBS updates the agenda and speakers for TOP26: Steward Ownership Conference
🇳🇱 Netherlands bookseller BoekenBalie becomes steward-owned
The Ownership Economy
For even more ownership economy news, see The Ownership Economy, a spinoff newsletter we’re testing.
Newly launched Thriving Communities Fund went live with their website this week
David Cobb, whose work ranged from cooperatives to tribally-owned community land trusts to workplace democracy, passed away on Labor Day
Next City analyzes why this fall is critical for mission-driven lenders, from pending distribution of CDFI funds to the impact of proposed CRA changes; Shelterforce has more helpful context
Ownership Stories & Dealflow
🍻 Unions + employee ownership = ? Cambridge, MA brewery Lamplighter founders surprised employees with a transition to employee ownership trust after labor voted to unionize earlier this year
OEOC’s Michael Palmieri publishes new case study for Rutgers on Web Industries
A pastor recounts why their church in Georgia worked with Urban Recipe to set up food co-ops for its food-insecure neighbors
📺 Rachel Eva Merfalen and Shawn Saint Michael debut their first Good Future film, featuring John Hannah of Tennessee’s Inline Electric & Lighting:
Dealflow | Kentucky’s Lark Electric merged with American Gridwork Partners as it builds out an employee ownership program to attract and retain more workers // Tropical Foods sells to its employees in an ESOP deal backed by Apis & Heritage (paywalled) // Netherlands bookseller BoekenBalie became steward-owned // Headwaters Community Trust in Vermont purchased one of Sterling College’s campuses last month
ICYMI: According to EOT Advisors, recently converted employee ownership trusts include environmental services firm Heumann Environmental (IN), software company Katapult Engineering (PA), Allied Foundation Repair (TX), DCW Cost Management (WA), logistics firm Marshall Fine Arts (NY) , and consulting firm SEI (NV)
For more, check out our Dealflow page.
Research & Insights
The latest arguments, analysis, and academic research (📚). Go deeper with our other topic-specific newsletters.
Employee Ownership | Rutgers’ Employee Ownership Hub compiles their latest research and action briefs // Fellowship applications open for dissertation-stage PhD students at the Center for Engaged Scholarship (ht Melissa H) // 📚 Albanese et al. examine the relationship between employee ownership and sustainability (paywalled)
ESOPs | Stout reports ESOPs generated an 18.1% return in 2025, compared with 16.4% for the S&P 500—and that performance gap widens over a 5-year time horizon
Worker Cooperatives | Movement Politics Accelerator posts The Mondragon Playbook (ht Just Economy Institute) // Nonkululeko Tabata of Nexus Community Partners considers the importance of education to co-op success
Workplace Democracy | HBS’s Karasik, Rouen and Whillans argue that clearly communicating behavioral norms increases retention and sense of belonging for employee-owners // College presidents are pushing to redesign university governance
The Ownership Economy | The UN released their 2026 Report on the Social and Solidarity Economy
See you next week!
One final thanks to 100% for Purpose, Zoe Schlag, IA-CEO, Cool Hardware Company, OEOC, and new Stakehold Advisory Board member Tim Garbinsky for the LinkedIn shoutouts this week.
My feedback is too many spinoffs. It's a little confusing. I would think about how you can consolidate/simplify.