Public policy

With all the talk about economic recovery and building an inclusive economy, shouldn’t employee ownership be up front and center in our public programs and policies? We think so!

There has never been a better time to engage our local, state and federal governments in promoting employee ownership. We know that employee-owned companies were 4 times less likely to lay off employees during the worst days of the COVID-19 economic shutdowns, and that employee-owned companies nationwide are creating quality jobs and building wealth for workers every day. 

Project Equity is working with peer organizations in the fields of employee ownership, quality jobs, and socially responsible business to collectively leverage this unique moment in time to significantly advance employee ownership. 

A “big tent” approach that prioritizes awareness 

From a policy perspective, employee ownership has the distinct advantage of being one of the rare strategies that appeals across the political spectrum. It is also a win-win approach to business, with models appropriate for businesses of all sizes, and public policies and programs that every level of government can implement.

In our partnerships with local governments and our state and national policy work, we advance several tried-and-true ways that the public sector can support employee ownership:

• Educate agency staff who oversee economic development, business and workforce programs about the silver tsunami of retiring business owners and the employee ownership solution, including the full spectrum of broad-based employee ownership >>> read about [link to “Link to 3 flavors article”]  ESOPs, worker cooperatives and employee ownership trusts.
• Fund awareness programs about succession planning and all forms of broad-based employee ownership, aimed at business owners, their advisors, lenders and business-serving nonprofits
• Provide subsidies for employee ownership feasibility assessments to help business owners find out whether this is a good path for them, whether they are planning for retirement, trying to recruit and retain employees, or simply strengthening their business
• Remove barriers (real and perceived) to employee ownership, such as the default practice of requiring individual guarantees on loans to cooperatives

Get involved 

Governments at every level – local, state and federal – have a critical role in advancing employee ownership, through their economic development programs, through or through public policy. Whether you are a community leader, government staff or an elected official, here are some ways you can learn more and get involved. Read on to find out how Project Equity works with local governments and to learn about some of the policy efforts we are involved in at the state and federal levels (note this page is updated every few months).

Local government

City and County governments around the country are supporting employee ownership. Project Equity’s local government partnerships include the cities of Berkeley, San Francisco, Long Beach, Tucson and Los Angeles, as well as LA County and Miami-Dade County. Learn more about our city and county partnerships:

• Read about four practical steps to promote employee ownership in our City Government Toolkit
• For an in-depth discussion of how Project Equity works with local governments, view this webinar hosted by our friends at Certified Employee-Owned, or review our presentation 
• View past webinars that we have put on with various city partners on our events and webinars page
• View our national infographic and local ones (like Tucson’s) that illustrate the impact of legacy businesses on our economy, and the importance of retaining them (you can find other cities’ infographics from our website footer)
• Hear Jordan Klein from the City of Berkeley, our first local partner, talk about Berkeley’s work with Project Equity