It's no secret that workplace attitudes are changing. Many workers in all sectors and at all stages of their careers are learning that many parts of their jobs can be done from home. Others are beginning to feel there’s a disconnect between the value of their work and the amount of respect or compensation they receive. All of this points to somewhat of a cultural shift, not only in the nature of work itself, but in the way workers are treated.
One of my favorite things about the employee ownership world is that it's always growing and moving. In addition to being a net positive for workers, businesses, and the economy in general, EO is also an exciting environment to work in, with lots of opportunities to get involved. And these opportunities aren't rigid or cookie-cutter—you can work at a national organization or local one, you can get involved in policy and advocacy, or you can work directly with companies. Whether you work full- or part-time or are a volunteer, the sphere around employee ownership is as flexible as employee ownership itself is for owners and companies.
ESOPs at their best do a lot more than provide working people with livable retirement income. Sure, this is perhaps the most important or compelling aspect of ESOPs, and one needn't look far to see reasons why this sort of wealth inequality solution is so vital in 2021.
Our friends across the pond have just celebrated their own employee ownership day (EO Day 2021), releasing some very promising facts and figures along with it to highlight the state of employee ownership in the UK.
Thank you to all of the sponsors, speakers, attendees, and staff who helped make our 2021 annual conference a rousing success! It not only was the largest virtual gathering in NCEO history but with 1,940 attendees was the second-largest event we’ve ever hosted, placing it just behind our last in-person annual conference in Pittsburgh, PA.
As my colleague Jaymie Oviedo wrote earlier this week, this year we're celebrating the NCEO's 40th birthday! All year long we'll be releasing new and special materials to mark the occasion. This month we'll preview the new 2021 Annual Conference tracks by providing a free lookback at some of the highlights from last year's virtual conference.
This Thursday I'll be presenting to our friends in the Netherlands about how American ESOP and other employee-owned companies have fared during this pandemic. And though I usually wouldn't be fully awake until the second football game of the day, I'm actually excited at the prospect of waking up at 6:30 am on a holiday.
Employee ownership provides a lot of benefits to employees, communities, and companies, but one of the less discussed but most important features of employee ownership is that it allows companies to focus on long-term goals and values, not the short-term goals of public company shareholders or private equity firm buyers. Black & Veatch is the 10th-largest majority ESOP-owned company and the 12th-largest engineering company (in fact, 7 of the top 20 are employee-owned, and 6 are NCEO members). Recently, it made a major decision to focus on sustainable energy products and move away from any coal-related projects.
At this year's Fall ESOP Forum, we wanted to highlight the member companies that are going above and beyond the call of duty in making their ESOP, their employee-owners, and their communities thrive. For this reason, we awarded the first annual Achievement Award to NCEO member Litehouse, Inc.
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