Employee Ownership Blog
Corey Rosen

Corey Rosen

New NCEO Guides to State and Federal Legislation Available

The NCEO now has comprehensive guides to active and pending state and federal legislation on our website. The articles will be updated as needed. The state guide summarizes all the state bills that have become law, including creating state employee ownership centers, tax incentives for a sale to an ESOP, and allowing certain professional firms to organize as ESOP companies. The document also summarizes significant active legislative efforts. Links to the bills are provided where available.

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Corey Rosen

California California Employee Ownership Act Becomes Law

Governor Newsom has signed the California Employee Ownership Act. Both houses approved the bill unanimously. A broader version of the bill previously passed the Senate, but the bill was pared down in the Assembly. The Senate agreed to a pared down version with the understanding that an effort will be made to add the deleted features in the governor's next budget proposal.

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Corey Rosen

CHIPS Act Adds Employee Ownership to Manufacturing and Innovation Training Programs

Congress has passed HR 4346, the CHIPS Act (previously called the America Competes Act), which now heads to Presdient Biden for signature. The bipartisan bill is primarily designed to make it easier for American chip and other technology manufacturers to compete worldwide, but it also contains a pilot provision (Section 25B) that directs Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs) to provide awards for a variety of worker education and training programs, including employee ownership.

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Corey Rosen

House Committee Urges SBA to Fully Implement Main Street EO Act

On June 28, 2022, the House introduced HR 8254, which provides funding for a variety of government agencies, including the Small Business Administration (SBA). In a report accompanying the bill, the House Appropriations Committee urged the SBA to fully implement the Main Street Employee Ownership Act (MSEOA), which was passed in 2018 but has seen only limited use because the SBA-issued standard operating procedures directly undermine the intent of the Act. The report does not have legislative force, but such reports, coming from the committee that appropriates funds for the agency, are usually taken seriously. The report states:

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Corey Rosen

Using Skill Assessments to Improve Ownership Culture

At an NCEO Innovative Communication Coalition network meeting on July 18, communication team leaders from a number of NCEO member companies discussed how they use skill assessments. Lori Atone of TVF said they use the CliftonStrengths assessment (formerly StrengthsFinder) to increase self-awareness and understand their fellow employee-owners better. They create a grid that lists the top 10 strengths of each employee by name. The idea is to focus only on the positives, to help identify potential talents, and to make it easier to assemble well-balanced teams. They feel helping employee-owners contribute in a way that’s aligned with their natural strengths amplifies the employee ownership mindset and will increase engagement in a fun and meaningful way. Managers can use the results to help get people engaged in ways that “feel right to them” and find new paths for participation. Employees have responded to the idea very favorably.

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Corey Rosen

Massachusetts House Passes Bill to Establish State Employee Ownership Center

Massachusetts House Bill 5007, “An Act relating to economic growth and relief for the Commonwealth,” has passed the Massachusetts House without dissent. Among its many provisions, it would establish the Massachusetts Employee Ownership Center within the state government. In 2019, the state agreed to fund the Center as a separate entity operated by the ICA Group, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that provides employee ownership consulting.

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Corey Rosen

Can ESOPs Help Recreate Social Trust in America?

America is facing a crisis of social trust. Measure after measure confirms we increasingly don’t trust our institutions or each other. There are a lot of reasons for this, including people being less involved in group activities, the rise of the internet, cable news, and growing economic insecurity. This is all made worse by the fact that a tiny percentage of the population owns most of America, creating a sense among all sides that the system is just unfair.  

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