What We Know about Employee Ownership
And why we're sharing it with the next generation
Earlier this year, we received an unexpected ping in our inbox. After years of off and on chats with a business owner who had never felt that the timing was right for an employee ownership conversion, the stars had finally aligned: they wanted to schedule a call to talk next steps in order to sell their business to the employees. We gave our customary woohoo! in the office in celebration and continued about our business, as these small steps, while seemingly slow and relatively insignificant in the face of the vast economic challenges we’re facing, are in reality par for the course in the game of successful employee ownership transitions. Companies may hang out in the early stages of our “pipeline” for years, in some cases even decades, before feeling ready to take action. And for some businesses, this is simply the time it takes to get the company and the employees ready for the journey ahead.
This is not to say that nothing could speed this work up; most conversions could be helped along with more favorable financing opportunities, for example, or assistance accessing and paying for feasibility studies, business plans, or legal services (a good moment to plug our Vermont Employee Ownership Loan Fund as well as our Technical Assistance Grant Program funds).
Even so, as we were yet again reminded when that email hit our inbox, the mission of building a democratic economy comprised of thriving employee-owned businesses is work that will continue to unfold over the years, decades, and generations to come. Realizing our vision where broad employee ownership with deep participation is a mainstream and widely celebrated business model in the state of Vermont thus requires us to keep both the near- and long-term pictures top of mind.
The VEOC’s logo of a grove of trees brings to mind the old wisdom about reasons for planting trees. That is, whatever the reason for the tree, whoever plants the seed should be comfortable with the possibility that they may never personally benefit from its shade. So it is with the work of transforming an economy.
This is why we dedicate time each semester to meet and present to students at colleges around Vermont, and it’s also what has prompted us to create an event specifically (though not exclusively) for educators and students to learn about research on the subject of employee ownership. These professors hold the power to share this knowledge with the next generation of entrepreneurs, accountants, lawyers, lenders, and policymakers. Helping them understand the power of employee ownership is a seed we plant today not for our own benefit but for those who come after us.
What We Know about Employee Ownership: A Conversation with Adria Scharf and Joseph Blasi
What: Workers with an ownership stake in their workplace benefit from greater economic security and higher returns on their labor. They are more invested in their work and therefore contribute to the performance and innovation boosts employee-owned companies often experience. In this conversation, directors from Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations’ Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing will provide an overview of the latest research on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and worker cooperatives and point to resources for further investigation and for use in the classroom. This event is presented by the Vermont Employee Ownership Center, a Burlington-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and foster employee ownership in the state of Vermont.
When: Monday, December 11, 2023
Who: Vermont Employee Ownership Center and the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing
