Employee Owned Businesses

Employee Owned Businesses

For us, a wellbeing economy is not only about tackling inequality, but improving overall quality of life for everyone.  Higher wages and better benefits are important tools as we work towards this.

We can aim higher.

There are several movements to shift ownership of businesses into more just and rewarding models.   The opportunity to own a business provides an individual greater participation in decision making, building long term equity in the business and more pride in business successes.  There are community effects – more equitable wages translate into more community spending.

The most common structures are Coops, Employee Owned Business and ESOPs.

  • Co-ops employ over two million people in the US. They include major companies such as REI, Sunkist, Ocean Spray and Land O’Lakes.
  • There are over 6,000 ESOPs in the US. 
  • John Lewis Partnership in the UK is over 100 years old and has 85,000 employees  

Local Wellbeing Economies can promote the creation of new employee owned businesses or find businesses that might be willing to convert.  Many business people are looking for an exit from their business and an ESOP or direct sale to their employees might be an attractive alternative.

Our alliance wants to partner with communities looking to form more Employee Owned Businesses to lift up their communities.  We can provide resources to help you make this a reality.