The Innovative Finance Playbook provides an overview of the financial fundamentals of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) conversion. Users can access case studies of capital funders and companies that underwent transition. The playbook also lays out what criteria a company should meet to be viable for employee ownership.

In late 2023, Lee Health, one of the largest public health systems in Florida, began a virtual nursing pilot designed to understand the opportunities and implications of shifting this vital role into a virtual environment. I sat down with three Lee Health leaders responsible for the design and implementation of the virtual nursing pilot — Kim Gault, MSN, RN, business system analyst for virtual health and telemedicine; Max Rousseau, supervisor of virtual health and telemedicine; and Jonathan Witenko, system director, virtual health and telemedicine — to learn more about why this was a priority for the organization, the considerations they made, and the outcomes they’re seeking. This conversation took place over two interviews and has been edited for clarity.

This profile of the North Carolina Employee Ownership Center and the Employee Ownership Expansion Network provides an overview of ongoing efforts to build infrastructure supporting the adoption of employee ownership. Focus is given to the strength of the North Carolina approach in centering racial equity, which may provide guidance for employee ownership work in other states, and on the role of state centers for employee ownership linking local actors and efforts with the national employee ownership movement. Philanthropic investors and others interested in addressing the racial wealth gap may also gain insights about how employee ownership can advance their goals.

For more than two decades, the Vermont Employee Ownership Center (VEOC) has worked to raise awareness and grow employee ownership in the state, including by providing technical and financial assistance to firms looking to transfer ownership to their workers. Vermont is home to several notable employee-owned companies, like Gardener’s Supply Company and King Arthur Flour, boasting one of the highest rates of employee ownership in the country, and the benefits of this shared prosperity are measurable. The state’s 55 employee-owned companies tend to have higher employee retention rates and narrower pay gaps between leadership and workers when compared to conventionally owned companies. And Vermont’s employee-owned companies report that employee ownership has improved their resiliency. The history of employee ownership in Vermont and the work of VEOC provide useful guidance and insight to those seeking to grow employee ownership and develop new state centers.

State centers of employee ownership work to promote employee ownership and educate business owners and workers about the different avenues of employee ownership available. In this brief, the Aspen Institute Economic Program discusses the strategies and practices implemented by Colorado’s Employee Ownership Office to better understand how employee ownership can be supported and grown at the state level. This profile is a useful resource to inform other state centers’ practices and the government’s role in supporting state centers, particularly as more centers emerge through funding provided by the recently passed Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act.

Aon’s apprenticeship program has drawn widespread attention for a reason. It works. Since its inception in the US in 2017, the firm has supported nearly 300 apprentices. Within the Chicagoland cohorts, Aon reports an apprenticeship completion rate of more than 80%. Successful completion requires that students meet performance standards for both work-based learning and academic program requirements. The program is intentionally inclusive, supporting apprentices of color, women, and first-generation students as they move into good jobs. Students graduate from their programs debt-free, as Aon covers all costs of attendance at partner colleges. Aon also pays salary and benefits for apprentices, with starting salaries of $42,000-46,000 depending on location. Upon completion of the program, apprentice graduates are offered full-time employment and work in many departments, including insurance, IT, and human resources, and enter those roles as experienced, valued colleagues who earn competitive wages with exceptional benefits packages.

LeeHealth is the largest public health system in the state of Florida, serving Lee County and the surrounding areas. With over 14,000 employees and 1,800 beds, the nonprofit system engages with more than 2 million patients each year through its four acute care hospitals, two specialty hospitals, multiple skilled nursing facilities, outpatient centers, and walk-in clinics. Like many health care systems, Lee Health has persistent and acute challenges within its talent pipeline, especially among frontline staff. In nearly all hospitals, some patients require more monitoring and support than clinical staff can provide. These patients may be at risk of falling, struggle with confusion or agitation, or be at risk of harming themselves or others. The system had been exploring moving to virtual monitoring and observation for years, shifting the “safety tech” role from in-person to virtual. Lee Health needed a unified system that could enable quick decisions, comprehensive information, and, especially, clear communications between safety techs and clinical staff. After safely piloting the virtual safety tech role, employees are now observing patients in all four acute care facilities. The program has resulted in improved job quality for techs and cost savings for the system. Supported by effective upskilling and thoughtful implementation, Lee Health realized financial benefits and created new capacity to support patients and clinical staff.

The Hartford has a large workers’ compensation business, ranked 2nd in the nation based on direct written premiums. Workers’ compensation is insurance that provides coverage in the form of cash payments or medical care for workers who are injured on the job. Recently, the company discovered that a significant proportion of claims that were made through the workers’ compensation department were relatively simple claims, referred to as “medical only,” that required only coverage for medications or medical care and not more complex areas such as lost wages or time off work. Medical-only also includes claims that do not require any significant medical intervention or service, as well as claims where the treatment was completed before the claim was filed. This area represented a prime opportunity for automation, where work previously done by a claim administrator would instead be automated using custom-built computer algorithms, freeing up staff members to do more complex work. They determined that some medical-only claims processes could be automated, eliminating multiple human touchpoints without sacrificing compliance or customer outcomes. As with other automation efforts, AI often creates significant financial returns and efficiency gains, giving work previously done by humans to a machine. Unlike many automation efforts, though, The Hartford did not find savings through eliminating workforce. Rather, they took the opportunity created by the automation and reformed roles to fill different business needs, enabling the entire workers’ compensation department to handle more, more efficiently.

The profile features an interview with A Few Cool Hardware Stores founder and CEO, Gina Schaefer, who explains her decision to convert to an ESOP, the process of transitioning to employee ownership, and the challenges and successes she and the new employee owners have encountered along the way. Gina recently published a book, Recovery Hardware, about the business’s journey in helping revitalize neighborhoods and in supporting employees to improve their lives.

An interview with Kevin Oxley, owner of Carpet One Floor and Home and a regional business coordinator with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE). Carpet One Floor and Home was part of a pilot, a collaboration between the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, Pacific Community Ventures (PCV), and the CDLE, focused on advancing job quality among small businesses. A part of EOP’s Reimagine Retail Initiative, with the support of Walmart, the pilot deepened relationships between small businesses and workforce organizations in the pursuit of improving jobs and boosting businesses’ bottom lines. The pilot paired small businesses recruited by CDLE’s business services team with good jobs advisors from PCV’s business advising network to implement strategies from their new Good Jobs Good Businesses Toolkit. Businesses also received specialized state and regional support and resources from the CDLE business services team. Kevin and Carolyn share experiences with this pilot, the impact of the pandemic on businesses like Carpet One, and how collaborative and creative partnerships that improve job quality can benefit workers and businesses across the country.