Employee Ownership Plays the Great Game of Business

We at the NCEO have long thought (hoped?) that employee ownership would be a bigger part of being a successful business. Beyond its potential as a succession planning option for business owners (which shouldn't be overlooked), employee ownership has time and again demonstrated that it can serve as a robust employee benefit by itself, providing companies with a meaningful way to reward and engage employees. The impact of this engagement on company resiliency has been shown repeatedly in the last few years.

I'm delighted that, over the past year, we've seen an increased interest in employee ownership. We've been lucky enough to bring the message far and wide this year, from the Enterprising Women conference alongside our friends at the EOX and ESOP-owned Panagora Group, to Boulder Startup Week, to Harvard Business School and beyond. Far from being an anomaly, this builds on years of persistence not only from the NCEO but from the community as a whole. One need only glance at the NCEO blog over the past two months to see that the general public and policy-makers alike are taking notice.

It is in that spirit that I'm excited and honored to be presenting an introduction to employee ownership at the upcoming Great Game of Business conference in Arlington, Texas, next week. As we race to the final quarter of the year, this is yet another example that momentum is well and truly building for the employee ownership movement.