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Employee Ownership Blog
Timothy Garbinsky

Timothy Garbinsky

Illinois Opens Employee Ownership Center, a Milestone for State Outreach

Our friends at the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX) have announced the launch of a state center for employee ownership in Illinois. Much like the other state centers launched by the EOX in Minnesota, North Carolina, Missouri, and elsewhere, the Illinois Center for Employee Ownership focuses on providing resources on employee ownership as a succession option for businesses across their communities. By partnering with local universities (as in Pennsylvania) and government entities, as well as employee-owned businesses and service providers, state centers are able to serve as "boots on the ground" in the effort to spread the word about employee ownership. The hope is that state centers, through their unbiased, solutions-oriented outreach, will lead to a real sea change, building momentum for all forms of broad-based employee ownership.


Timothy Garbinsky

Project Equity Receives Prestigious Heinz Award

Hilary Abell and Alison Lingane, cofounders of employee ownership advocates Project Equity, have been named co-recipients of the Heinz Award. The program was launched in 1993 to honor late U.S. Senator John Heinz by awarding and recognizing achievement in areas that were important to him. This year's award sees prizes totaling $1.5 million being awarded to seven Americans in recognition of their contributions to the arts, economy, or the environment.



Timothy Garbinsky

Learning About Employee Ownership from Those Who Made the Leap

I and my colleagues at the NCEO are big proponents of learning about something from those who have gone through it. What better way to get information on what something is like than to talk to somebody with real-world experience? It's all well and good to learn in other ways but, removed from a human perspective, it can all start to seem a bit theoretical.


Timothy Garbinsky

Reflections on Our 2022 Annual Conference: By the Numbers

Now that a month has passed since our annual conference in Seattle this past April, my colleagues and I have a renewed gratitude for just what it means to host these events. As you likely know, this past April saw us reunited with our members and the employee ownership community in Seattle for our first in-person conference since April 2019.


Timothy Garbinsky

New Rutgers Program Focuses on Retiring Business Owners of Color

The Rutgers School of Labor and Management has just introduced a free online program that guides business owners through the process of selling their businesses to their employees through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or worker cooperative. The program, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is run through the New Jersey/New York Center for Employee Ownership, which created the program in conjunction with our friends at the Democracy At Work Institute, itself one of the foremost authorities on worker cooperatives.


Timothy Garbinsky

New Beyster Course for ESOP Professionals

Our friends at the Beyster Institute in the Rady School of Management at the University of California at San Diego have just opened registration for their new training program for ESOP service providers. The course, titled Understanding ESOPs: Training to be an ESOP Professional, is offered in partnership with the UC San Diego Extension program and will cover all the basics for service providers who seek to gain more expertise in the field.


Timothy Garbinsky

Calibre Wins 2021 Achievement Award at Fall Forum

As anybody who just finished attending our 2021 Fall ESOP Forum can attest, it’s a busy time of year for us all. In my case, I found myself conducting interviews, moderating discussions, and joining some of the more casual networking sessions, all to make sure members and attendees truly got the most out of our event. And this doesn’t even include the sessions I tried to attend for my own edification, since I, like all of us, still have a lot to learn.


Timothy Garbinsky

What Does It Mean to Achieve in 2021?

Every year around this time, I get excited about our Fall ESOP Forum, taking place this year from September 22 to 24 online. It serves as both a welcome reprieve from the late summer/early autumn doldrums and an augmentation of Employee Ownership Month, which falls directly on its heels. It also provides a yearly opportunity to take stock of the past year while looking forward to what the upcoming year might have in store for us.