🍑 Destination: Georgia
Welcome back!
Hang in there, folks. Winter is coming.
What We’ve Been Writing
Dr. Hand published a short piece in The Conversation on his students’ participation in this fall’s election.
In advance of the Georgia Shared Ownership Convening, Tiffany and Dr. Hand put together a primer on shared ownership, which we adapted for non-Georgians here.
One Fun Thing
Jon Stewart and Pete Buttigieg got this 🤏 close 🤏 to plugging employee ownership on The Daily Show last night. Check it out 15 minutes in (h/t Kristofer W.):
Investment and Ownership Transition News
Gratitude Railroad has announced their investment in Common Trust’s Groundwork Fund
EOX Network shares the story of Local Ocean Seafoods, now an employee ownership trust, here
KKR has acquired Marmic Fire & Safety and will implement an employee ownership program there. Ohio-based Siffron announces a similar employee equity ownership program through Ownership Works
OwnersEdge is a step closer to its goal of operating 10 ESOP-owned companies with the acquisition of Communications Direct. Rovers North, Inc. is now employee owned via an ESOP. Shanghai Realway has introduced an ESOP for its subsidiary’s growth
Analysis
The Aspen Economic Opportunities Program’s latest monthly digest is chockablock with worker-focused news and analysis
Illinois Center for Employee Ownership features an interview on employee ownership with Ann Kim, financial advisor at the ESOP Group at Morgan Stanley
Jon Shell includes new resources about Canada’s new employee ownership trusts on the Canadian Employee Ownership Coalition’s website. His newest podcast interview revisits (Canadian) employee ownership trusts (h/t EOX)
Employee owned ACT is among the top 100 in best employers for women in 2024 (Forbes)
How recent S-Corp law changes might benefit ESOPs (JD Supra)
Events—So Many Events
August 6-9: The Employee Ownership Foundation’s second annual Oxford Symposium
New- August 7: Marie Davis of the Georgia Center for Employee Ownership (GACEO) hosts “Employee Engagement in Family Businesses”
August 8, 15, 22, & 29: MNCEO hosts the Employee Ownership Ambassador Program for people who want a deep understanding of employee ownership. Register here
August 12: Can Co-ops help us survive climate change? Learn how cooperative business models contribute to sustainability efforts. Register here
August 14: The Texas/Oklahoma Chapter of the ESOP Association announces upcoming programming focused on employee ownership advocacy and education. Register here
August 20: The North Carolina Small Business Center and NCEOC webinar on succession planning and employee ownership (h/t EOX)
New - August 20: Transform Finance hosts How to Invest in Employee Ownership for investors looking to join the employee ownership movement
August 30: Dr. Hand will be presenting at the second annual Rutgers-Oxford Research Symposium
September 4: Aspen EOP and Workshop’s webinar, Seizing the Moment on Worker Rights: A Toolkit for Organizers and Practitioners
September 10-12: The Great Game of Business Conference 2024 for individuals and companies looking to build ownership culture hits Arlington, TX. Register here
September 12: NCEO hosts a Community Conversation celebrating Employee Ownership Month. Register here
New - September 12-13: The Worker Co-Op Conference in Chicago (h/t EOX)
September 18-20: NCEO hosts its Fall Forum in Indianapolis, including a day on employee ownership trusts
October 21-22: NCEO hosts Is An ESOP Right For You? in Phoenix, AZ
New - December 4: The 2nd Annual Ownership Economy Summit in New York City. Register here
February 20, 2025: Attend “The Employee Ownership Transition: A Deep Dive” a workshop for insights on the process of selling to an employee ownership trust (in Scotland)
ICYMI
If you’re not already signed up for the monthly EOX newsletter, do that here! It’s great.
One of our readers suggested you all might want to check out Robert Reich’s documentary Saving Capitalism (thx Joyce!)
We just learned Thankyou Payroll, a steward-owned company in New Zealand. Field trip, anybody?