Chris Cooper
The last two years have been a challenge for all of us, and many challenges still remain. For those of us in the employee ownership community, there are numerous bright spots lighting our way to the employee ownership future, some of which include:
Timothy Garbinsky
The Rutgers School of Labor and Management has just introduced a free online program that guides business owners through the process of selling their businesses to their employees through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or worker cooperative. The program, funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is run through the New Jersey/New York Center for Employee Ownership, which created the program in conjunction with our friends at the Democracy At Work Institute, itself one of the foremost authorities on worker cooperatives.
Timothy Garbinsky
Our friends at the Beyster Institute in the Rady School of Management at the University of California at San Diego have just opened registration for their new training program for ESOP service providers. The course, titled Understanding ESOPs: Training to be an ESOP Professional, is offered in partnership with the UC San Diego Extension program and will cover all the basics for service providers who seek to gain more expertise in the field.
Corey Rosen
This year’s NCEO Annual Employee Ownership Conference (April 26–28, with a preconference on April 25) is sure to be a special one. It's not only because it marks the first time the conference will be live and in-person in three years or because it marks our return to the West Coast, taking place in the Seattle convention center after nearly a decade in other time zones. And it's not only because we’ll have boatloads of fun new additions like the puppy lounge.
Jeff Gilbert
We owe it to our employee-owners to help them understand their business and the challenges it faces, especially as an ESOP company. We need their ideas, support, and effort. This is the essence of employee ownership.
Dallan Guzinski
The NCEO's Annual 2022 Employee Ownership Conference is finally back and in-person this year, taking place in Seattle, WA, on April 25-28, and we have all been eager to connect with the employee ownership community once again in a shared space. We have learned quite a bit about networking over the past two years, and many have managed to adjust and evolve their outreach and communications with colleagues in new and exciting ways despite the limitations of a virtual world. This year, we're excited to bring everything we've learned and build on all the great work employee-owners have done to stay connected and engaged. If you and your colleagues would like to get a head start on networking and ESOP education before the conference, join the NCEO's Communications Committee Crash Course this March, where you will join other employee-owners in a series of sessions focused on ESOP education, employee engagement, and networking with fellow employee ownership across the country!
Danielle Clarke-Newell
Join us in Charlotte, NC, for our flagship ESOP feasibility meeting: Is an ESOP Right for You? This seminar will give you the tools to devise the right strategy for financing an ESOP transaction, managing legal issues, communicating with shareholders, and more.
Loren Rodgers
The NCEO is delighted to welcome new members of its staff!
Corey Rosen
The NCEO now has a new resource page on using employee ownership to attract and retain employees. The highlight is a transcript of our January 2022 Community Conversation on the topic with ESOP companies Kwest, Johnny’s Pizza House, and Radian Research; and former ESOP company NCC Automated Systems.
