Owners at Work

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Sep 19, 2025

We hope you had a great week. Read below about all the moves happening in the employee and shared ownership universe; but first,

One big thing (for us): Dr. Hand joined the most recent episode of the Owners at Work podcast to talk about purpose & employee ownership trusts with Zoe Schlag from Common Trust. Listen in!

🚨 Sep 30 is the deadline for submissions to present at the Rutgers Institute’s 2026 Kelso Workshop
The Retire Through Ownership Act passed unanimously through the House Education & Workforce Committee
Daniel Aronowitz has been confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Labor for EBSA. Congrats, Secretary Aronowitz!
3LS, an employee-owned family of companies, acquired 40 Million Owners, which will join its Professional Services division
Detroit launched a new initiative to expand homeownership through a shared appreciation mortgage

Events in next two weeks + events we just learned about. If you’re attending, please report back!

September 23-24: Ohio State’s Virtual Cooperative Law Conference
September 23-25: Common Trust’s second Steward’s Circle in Indianapolis
September 24: The Employee Ownership Expansion (EOX) Network’s Legacy, Loyalty, and Local Impact: Bloomsdale Excavating Company’s Journey to Employee Ownership (virtual)
🆕 | September 24: The Executive Director of the Michigan Center for Employee Ownership hosts John Abrams to discuss how to create a mission-driven business
🆕 | October 2: TXECO and The Texas/Oklahoma Chapter of the ESOP Association celebrate Employee Ownership Month at Chicken N Pickle
October 4: The 2025 NY Cooperative Summit in, Albany, NY
October 6-7: Lafayette Square Institute’s Working Class Insights Forum in Middleburg, VA
October 6-7: Employee-Owned S Corporations of America’s 2025 Pacific Regional Policy Seminar in Marina del Rey, CA
October 7: Ownership Economy’s Reinventing Corporate Governance for Good

For a full list of upcoming ownership economy events, see our Events page.

In an interview with Expanding ESOPs, consultant Matt Hancock shares the story of an Italian region where employee ownership has boosted economic results
CSG Partners hired new directors in Phoenix and Fort Lauderdale to meet rising demand for middle-market ESOP transitions
Tom Strong sat down with SRC executive Krisi Schell to discuss the firm’s long history of employee ownership and the benefits of open book management
Representative Lisa McClain (MI) spoke on the proposed EBSA Investigations Transparency Act which would require annual reports to Congress on all open investigations by the EBSA

The 21 Hats podcast hosted a lively debate between John Abrams and Jay Goltz on worker cooperatives
The Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council Working Group met last week at the University of Oxford
Tom Ley reflects on five years of Defector’s journey as a worker cooperative in the media space, in this Columbia Journalism Review interview
The International Cooperative Alliance published a policy brief exploring the role of cooperatives in achieving social goals

Zolidar explains its vision for The Grid, a stakeholder-owned platform using AI to connect 60k+ organizations while creating shared value, wealth, and impact
- In another piece, Ashish Agrawal argues that the reason employee ownership isn’t taking off isn’t a lack of awareness, but rather low conversion rates among the informed
In a recent piece, Corey Rosen implores business owners to consider employee ownership when thinking about the story they want to tell of their business
Manufacturers are increasingly turning to employee ownership models to gain a competitive edge
Kavi Waddell shares her takeaways from Ownership Capital Lab’s employee ownership course
Steve Storkan spread the message of employee ownership at last week’s Great Game of Business conference
In his piece for SmallCapital, Turner Wyatt makes the case for employee ownership investors working alongside and within the Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA) market
Project Equity breaks down the differences between Management Buyout Options (MBO) and employee ownership for business succession

Accelerator for Systemic Risk Assessment’s new blog post highlights the role of multi-stakeholder governance in identifying operational risks
Almost 30 years ago the residents of Isle of Eigg came together to by their island, and continue to offer a unique example of community ownership
Writing for ProgrammingInsider, Marc Berman explores the practice of “reverse franchising,” where employees become micro-owners in franchise businesses
Economist Gbenga Ajilore calls for place-based economic policy in order to foster growth in rural communities

Derek C. Jones published a draft of The Nature and Scope of Support Organizations for Employee Ownership in the U.S.: an Assessment
🚨 Sep 30 is the deadline for submissions to present at the Rutgers Institute’s 2026 Kelso Workshop
- Submissions to TXCEO/PTON’s Purpose Trust Ownership Conference in Austin in Feb 2026 are due Oct 17

Members of Employee-Owned S Corporations of America gathered last week in Washington, D.C. for a Federal Policy Conference & Lobby Day
Perpetual purpose trust leader Miren Oca shares her employee ownership journey on the Because People Matter podcast
Dr. Hand was a guest on the most recent episode of the Owners at Work podcast, talking about purpose & employee ownership trusts with Zoe Schlag from Common Trust. Listen in:

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