Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

Worker Co-op New Era Windows Opens For Business

May 14th, 2013
From sit-down strikes to state subsidies
Photo courtesy of Brendan Martin/The Working World

Last week, the New Era Windows cooperative celebrated its opening in a former Campbell’s Soup building in Chicago, the culmination of a hard-fought struggle by workers to save their livelihoods. Their well-documented struggle began in 2008 when the workers of Republic Windows and Doors occupied the factory to keep it from closing, attracting national attention. Read more about Worker Co-op New Era Windows Opens For Business...

Applied Research Associates, Inc.

http://www.ara.com/

Headquartered in Albuquerque, Applies Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) is an employee-owned international scientific research and engineering company, focusing on national security, infrastructure, energy and the environment, and health solutions.  With over 1,400 employees, ARA boasts that one of their greatest strengths is to recruit and retain high caliber employees from diverse technical backgrounds.  Through their ESOP, ARA buys stocks on behalf of employees, which allows them to share directly in the success of the business. 

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Done Right, Eliminating Food Deserts Result in Community Oases

May 1st, 2013
Building community wealth every step of the way
Pogue’s Run Grocer Mural, an initiative of the Indy Food Co-op. © Indy Food Co-op
Building healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities requires more than “bottom up” solutions. The importance of community ownership to ensure that projects that start at the bottom result in lasting community wealth for the people involved is often missing from the discussion. The local foods movement provides examples that illustrate the importance of this ownership principle in practice.
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Democracy Collaborative Presents to Illinois Governor's Task Force

Apr 19th, 2013
Public session April 24 on community wealth building
Next week in Chicago, Democracy Collaborative executive director Ted Howard will present testimony before the Governor's Task Force on Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise. The presentation will focus on a set of actionable policy recommendations to help position Illinois as the nation’s leader in community wealth building. The meeting will take place in room 314 at Roosevelt University’s Walter E. Heller College of Business, 430 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, 2013.
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The Impact of Employee Ownership and ESOPs on Layoffs and the Costs of Unemployment to the Federal Government

Corey Rosen

In a recent paper for the National Center for Employee Ownership, Corey Rosen finds that people who work for employee-owned companies are much less likely to be laid off than those who do not. Analyzing data from the 2010 General Social Survey, Rosen shows that 12.1 percent of all working adults in the private sector reported being laid off in the last year compared to just 2.6 percent of those respondents who says they own stock in their company through some kind of employee ownership plan. Rosen estimates that during that year the implied federal savings from the lower layoff rates of employee owners is $23.3 billion and that the implied savings for ESOPs and stock bonus plans alone is $13.7 billion.

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Haskell

http://www.haskell.com

Headquartered in Jacksonville, Haskell is an integrated design-build firm founded in 1965 with four locations. In 2008, the company became employee-owned and currently has 601 ESOP participants. To further communication between employees and senior management following the ESOP transition, the ESOP Communication Committee was formed to liaise for both parties. The firm currently has more than 690 employees, generates revenue of over $590 million, and has completed 1,500 projects to date.

Read more about Haskell...

New Belgium Brewing

http://www.newbelgium.com

100 percent of the New Belgium Brewing company is owned by the coworkers through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  The company also offers financial training and book management so all employees are educated on the business of doing business. Read more about New Belgium Brewing...

New Belgium Brewing

http://www.newbelgium.com

Over 40 percent of the New Belgium Brewing company is owned by the coworkers through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  The company also offers financial training and book management so all employees are educated on the business of doing business.

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Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center

http://rmeoc.org

The Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center is a non-profit organization that promotes employee ownership through educational literature, consultation, and support services to firms interested in developing employee-owned companies. Read more about Rocky Mountain Employee Ownership Center...

Gripnail Corporation

http://gripnail.com

In business since 1966, Gripnail became a 100 percent employee-owned company in 2004. The corporation specializes in the manufacturing of specialty fasteners and fastener application equipment, especially to the surface of metal.  All products are produced in East Providence and distributed both domestically and internationally.

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Employee ownership legislation in the Senate

Aug 8th, 2012
Bills would help expand worker-owned business

On July 23rd, 2012, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced two bills to support the expansion of employee owned businesses in the US.  The underlying rationale behind the legislation focuses on the increased productivity and stability of businesses in which employees are also owners.  By helping employee ownership and participation in businesses to become more widespread across the United States, the two bills would help preserve jobs and build a stronger economy.

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Austin Industries

http://www.austin-ind.com

Austin Industries is a construction company that provides nearly every type of civil, commercial and industrial construction service to a variety of industries and is 100% employee owned. Read more about Austin Industries...