New online platform launched to create B2B partnerships between ESOP companies

Employee-owned companies, with their unique cultures of shared ownership and responsibility, often possess a distinct advantage in building strong, lasting business-to-business, or B2B, relationships. Shared ownership fosters a sense of collective purpose, driving a commitment to quality and long-term sustainability. When companies have these values in common, they naturally translate into stronger, more productive partnerships. Building a network of like-minded businesses can create a powerful ecosystem that fosters innovation, collaboration, and mutual support that strengthens the overall competitiveness of employee-owned businesses.

NCEO members love meeting fellow employee-owners at our educational events, but opportunities for B2B collaboration can be missed simply due to the likelihood of organically meeting someone in the correct industry at an event that brings together hundreds or thousands of employee-owners. This problem carries over into smaller events as well. You can learn a lot from fellow participants in an NCEO member peer group (such as our Innovative Communications Coalition, Finance Working Group, or Large Workforce ESOP Group), but the offerings of your companies must strategically match for there to even be a chance at a B2B partnership.

In order to increase B2B collaboration within the employee ownership community, two 100% employee-owned companies, GO2 Partners and Guttman Holdings, joined forces to create EO-Connection, a free and interactive online platform that helps employee-owners identify and contact other ESOPs for B2B opportunities.

How EO-Connection works: 

• EO-Connection uses the publicly available 5500 data to validate that a user is part of an ESOP-owned company. This means you should be sure to use your official work email address when you create your account.
• Once validated, EO-Connection users can search for specific companies, services, products, and/or locations as well as create a detailed profile of their own company’s offerings.
• EO-Connection is only available to employee-owned companies and gives users the chance to contact and be contacted only by fellow employee-owned companies for partnership.
• The more ESOP companies use this platform, the more powerful of a tool it becomes for your company and for the employee ownership community.

ESOP companies having access to more high-quality business opportunities can strengthen both individual companies and the employee ownership movement. Check out the EO-Connection platform for yourself at www.EO-Connection.com. If you have questions about EO-Connection, log in and use their support features or simply email info@eo-connection.com.

EO-Connection will be showcasing their platform in Salt Lake City in April at the NCEO’s Annual Employee Ownership Conference. If you are attending, stop by the demo stage on Wednesday, April 16, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. to see the platform in action.