A Flurry of Media Coverage for the Main Street Employee Ownership Act

The Main Street Employee Ownership Act became law as part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act, signed by President Trump on August 13. The bill has been covered by a number of news organizations, including the following:

The Washington Post: The August 30 article by Jena McGregor quotes Joseph Blasi of the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, who called the provision "the most significant policy change on employee share ownership in over two decades." About the bipartisan nature of the support for the policy change, the NCEO's Corey Rosen observed, "We're grasping for ways to deal with economic inequality and pretty much the two sides can't agree on anything—except this."

CNN Money journalist Lynda DePillis reported on the Main Street Employee Ownership Act, noting that employee ownership "has been gaining traction as a way to shrink the gap between people who make money on investments and those who work for a living." She notes that the bill encourages the creation of ESOPs and worker cooperatives, and quotes representatives of regional employee ownership organizations in Pennsylvania and the Rocky Mountains.

The Philadelphia Inquirer ran an op-ed by Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse on August 15 in which they announced, "The federal government just made it a lot easier to form an employee-owned business." Blasi and Kruse expect the legislation could "double or even triple the growth of employee-owned companies."

The television station WENY of upstate New York reported on August 30 that SBA Administrator Linda McMahon supports the legislation: "I think any time that employees have the opportunity to participate in those programs, they feel like they have some skin in the game."

The new law updates the process by which SBA can support loans for employee ownership transitions and encourages outreach about employee ownership. The specific provisions are in our article on the subject.