Congress has taken important steps in the last couple of years to support the growth of employee ownership in the US. Bipartisan legislation such as the Main Street Employee Ownership Act and the WORK Act have recently passed and hold great potential for helping more businesses to become employee-owned through ESOPs and worker-owned cooperatives.
In this conversation, speakers discuss the implications of recent legislation and what more needs to be done to help more workers become owners. It features a panel discussion with James Bonham (President, The ESOP Association), Ken Baker (CEO, NewAge Industries), Ike Brannon (President, Capitol Policy Analytics; Senior Fellow, Jack Kemp Foundation), Haydee Caldero (Senior Vice President / Finance & Strategy, Crêpes à Latte), and moderator Eleanor Mueller (Economics Reporter, Politico). For more information about this event — including video, audio, transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources — visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/videos/ownership-on-the-march-recent-progress-in-supporting-employee-ownership/
The discussion was held on June 14, 2023, as part of the Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, co-hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University. This two-day convening brought together leading policymakers, practitioners, experts, and the media for a robust discussion on how we can grow employee ownership for the shared benefit of American workers and businesses. Learn more: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events/employee-ownership-ideas-forum/