This tool provides step-by-step guidance for economic and workforce development agencies to think through implementing an employee ownership strategy. It details the different forms of employee ownership, linking out to resources that allow readers to deepen their understanding. It also contains a repository of resources and case studies for interventions to support employee ownership that economic and workforce development agencies are uniquely positioned to make.

This guide can help managers and employee-owners at cooperatives, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and firms seeking to improve democratic practices. Users may focus on specific topics within the guide, or they may follow it from beginning to end. It is divided into themes, with each section including activities, meeting tips, an assessment, checkpoints, and case studies.

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.

This free educational program is intended to help minority and female business owners understand the role transitioning to employer ownership may play in succession planning. Course modules cover employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and worker cooperatives. Registrants will gain a broad understanding of employee ownership, including transition financing and facilitating an ownership culture that maximizes employees’ capabilities.

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.

The 2024 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum brought together members of Congress and their staff, government officials, practitioners, researchers, think tanks, philanthropy, investors, and the leaders of employee-owned companies to learn about and discuss the latest in policy, research, finance, and practice. The theme was “Employee Ownership on the Ground,” which brought innovative employee share ownership initiatives and speakers from around the country to DC to highlight how this bipartisan approach to improving jobs, wealth creation, and business performance is helping create more equitable economies in states, cities, and rural communities.

It takes intention to design a workplace culture that fully leverages the strengths of employee ownership. In this event, panelists discuss the diverse ways that employee ownership can be realized for a business, including employee stock ownership plans, employee ownership trusts, worker-owned cooperatives, and equity compensation programs. Each holds different advantages and disadvantages, and they can differ in their profit sharing, costs, flexibility, and how workers are involved in decision making.

Drawing on recent research, this issue brief – co-authored by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program, the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, and the Democracy at Work Institute – makes a case for why policymakers, funders, and investors who care about racial and gender wealth equity should support employee share ownership. Informed by a roundtable discussion which brought together researchers, philanthropic leaders, investors, policy experts, and advocates, the paper provides a set of concrete policy and practice ideas to expand employee ownership and advance equity and economic justice. We hope this paper contributes to a broader collaborative effort to spread employee share ownership policies and practices that support economic recovery and lay the foundation for a more equitable and resilient economy.

This resource from the National Center for Employee Ownership offers a quick overview of four forms of employee ownership: Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs), Equity Grants, Employee Owned Trusts, and Worker Cooperatives. The resource gives an introduction to which types of companies these forms of employee ownership are best suited to, the tax implications, how equity works within each model, and more questions on governance and execution.

This is a framework for helping business owners understand three main ways to transition a business to employee ownership: worker cooperatives, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and management buy-outs. This tool may also be used by practitioners who work with businesses — especially small businesses — to increase awareness of employee ownership as a tool for transitioning businesses as owners retire. It can also help inform employees seeking to join or push for values-based workplaces.