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.

What's more, with the launch of the Illinois center, the 20th state center in the U.S., the EOX has now surpassed one of its founding goals, namely to "have 70% of the U.S. population live in a state with a State Center for Employee Ownership by 12/31/2025." We congratulate the EOX on its success and hope this milestone sees more success for the employee ownership community.

To learn more about the EOX and see how you can help support growing employee ownership via state centers, visit EOXnetwork.org.