Right Back To It

Jul 10, 2026

This week is a lot. Let’s get right back to it!

In The Atlantic, Rogé Karma asks why everyone (including us) is talking about universal basic capital as a way to curb economic inequality amid the rise of AI
- Employee ownership advocates will recognize this as an update of Louis Kelso’s General Stock Ownership Plan (GSOP)
🍭 Sweeties, North America’s largest candy store, is now employee-owned. Congrats!
- 🐝 Local buzz: A half dozen of Dr. Hand’s neighbors in Oak Cliff, Texas, are employee owners of Pariveda, a Dallas software company founded by Bruce Ballengee that became majority employee-owned this week (h/t Jeff M.)
New Jersey passed what Corey Rosen calls a major bill providing grants to businesses to cover the costs of exploring employee ownership
- Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer also celebrated a pilot program that has led to seven businesses committed to transition to employee ownership
The Purpose Trust Ownership Network (PTON) is expanding it Board of Directors; apply today

To see a comprehensive list of events, go to our main Events page.

July 10: The Center for Community Wealth’s webinar Employee Ownership Skills: Open Book Management
🆕 July 14: NCEO’s succession planning webinar, Who Comes Next and How
July 15: Shelterforce’s webinar “What does a good housing “impact investment” look like?”
July 16: Startup Colorado’s info session with the head of the Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center
- 🆕 Also, researchers from the University of Minnesota present their findings on business succession

Ebony Gustave recaps her learnings from a tour of New York City’s co-op scene
Lolita Nunn reflects on her takeaways from the Aspen Institute Employee Ideas Forum
The US Federation of Worker Co-ops published the notes from the first-ever South Central U.S. Cooperative Support Ecosystem Convening
The Walker Group published a recording of their recent webinar, Beyond the Traditional Sale

The US Federation of Worker Co-ops is urging people to make their local policymakers aware of the new WORK Act
NCEO is hiring a remote Marketing Director
Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation is hiring an in-person Small Business Solutions and Transitions Manager

July 14: Prices increase for NCEO’s annual Forum
July 17: Registration due for the ESOP Employee Accelerator in Houston
July 19: Applications due for Ownership Capital Labs’ Employee Ownership Fund Accelerator
July 30: Applications due for start.coop’s Media Accelerator Program
July 31: Deadline to contribute to the Cooperative Identity Advisory Groups’ draft of its Revised Cooperative Identity Statement

🇬🇧 At the close of Pride Month, eoa argued that employee-owned businesses are more likely to be diverse and inclusive workplaces
Corey Rosen shares a new survey showing that 70% of consumers would prefer to support employee-owned businesses
HBS posted a recording of the opening panel from its TOP25 Worker Ownership Conference
ABAB News writes about the history and inner workings of the employee-owned private equity firm Neuberger Berman
The Tandem Center for Shared Business Success published a book, Direct Employee Ownership: Building a Culture and Legacy of Shared Success
Gerard McGeary makes the case for employee ownership in nine LinkedIn posts

Praxis’ co-founder and industry heavyweight Ginny Vanderslice announced her retirement. Congrats Ginny!
Congrats to the businesses that announced ESOP transitions this week: EPS Group (AZ, CO); Organic Remedies (PA); Taylor Automotive Family (OH); Miller-Valentine Group (OH, paywalled); Memorials by Michael (IA, via acquisition); and North Arrow ABA (MI, utilizing a new pilot grant program). Congrats all!
A CEO explains how his ESOP beat private equity consolidation
The Rutgers Institute launched a free online ESOP education program for business advisors
For NCEO, Francesca Santos writes about how ESOPs recruit and retain employees, and Corey Rosen highlights a study showing that ESOPs have lower employee turnover rates
🎙️ Journey to an ESOP and Beyond highlights the importance of financial fluency and clarity; ESOP Radio discusses the recent legislative strides

ROST Inc. of Missouri transitioned to an employee ownership trust to preserve the ‘family-built’ culture of the company. Congrats!
🇬🇧 Across the pond, Costello Medical, a global healthcare consultancy firm, and Dalziel & Pow, a design firm, are now employee-owned.
🇨🇦 In the second installment of his Employee Ownership Around the World series, Robert Postlethwaite covers Canada
🎙️ The David McWilliams Podcast hosts Alan Coleman on employee ownership as a potential solution to the rise in Irish businesses being sold to foreign investors:

In New York, psychotherapy firm MCM Collaborative became worker-owned (paywalled)
The International Cooperative Alliance posted its July update and the Cooperative Development Foundation its quarterly roundup
🎙️ In Ethical Exits, Matthew Epperson tells the story of True Value Hardware’s acquisition by Do It Best, a cooperative

Transform Finance updated its database of funds investing in alternative ownership enterprises
Mercè Bayén outlines the case for platform cooperativism while looking at venture capital funding
- Other platform cooperativism news (we think?): MintStars created a 20% co-ownership pool for its adult content creators

Kensington Food Company, part of the Kensington Corridor Trust, opened its doors last week
In Washington state, Upper Valley MEND cut the ribbon on two affordable homes
The NCBA released a revised edition of its 2006 book on housing cooperatives, Home Base: The Playbook for Cooperative Development
🇰🇪 In a landmark ruling, a court in Kenya ruled in favor of a local indigenous land trust
🇬🇧 In the UK, residents of East London have been waiting eight years for a promised community housing will be completed; Streamline explains how community land trusts are aiding Liverpool’s housing crisis
🇪🇺 European Ownership proposes that steward ownership and broad-based employee ownership be included in the European Commission’s proposed 28th regime

Elle Griffin updated the title of her reader-owned book and announced plans to convert her entire media platform to reader-ownership
Libbey Hanson asks why it has taken residents of San Luis Obispo over a decade to open a cooperative grocery store
- Also in California: Muskoka Good Food Group announces its closing
But it’s not all sad news! Caledonia Food Co-op opened its doors in Vermont (paywalled)

(This week’s title was inspired by this song, courtesy of Ben Mayer)

In JPEO, David Ellerman asks whether employee ownership can learn from experience
Marc Thompson’s book Spark: Igniting Organizational Change through a Planetary Mindset includes a chapter on the role of purposing (?) in organizational change
K.D. Yenisey views cross-border telework as a direct threat to workplace democracy
🇮🇩 Risman Setiawan makes the case for village cooperatives (PDF) in Indonesia

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