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ESOP Opportunity to Address Wealth Inequality
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Suggest who benefitsESOPs, Job Quality, and Wealth Inequality: The Potential of Employee Stock Ownership Plans
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Suggest questionEconomic inequality and lack of good jobs have left many workers, particularly women and people of color, without a fair share of the US’s economic prosperity. Despite the significant rise in corporate profits, front-line workers continue to experience low wages and see little returns for their contributions. Research shows that employee ownership, such as employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), can be a valuable tool in creating better jobs, building wealth for workers, and increasing businesses’ resiliency while reducing employee turnover. ESOPs are the most prevalent form of employee ownership in the US, with nearly 14 million workers participating in them.
The growth of ESOPs has plateaued over the past decade, but the next decade presents a unique opportunity to expand ESOPs as many business owners retire and sell their companies. Low awareness of ESOPs and the benefits they offer, insufficient assistance and support to help businesses convert to ESOPs, and some regulatory policies pose potential barriers, however, to growing ESOPs. How can we take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to meaningfully grow the number of ESOPs? What impact could this have on job quality, wealth inequality, and our economy? What policies, supports, and assistance do businesses, including publicly traded companies, need to convert to an ESOP?
On April 11, 2023, the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program convened a panel of experts to discuss “ESOPs, Job Quality, and Wealth Inequality: The Potential of Employee Stock Ownership Plans.” This event features a panel discussion with Sean-Tamba Matthew (Stevens & Lee, ESOP Strategies), Noelle Montaño (ESCA), Corey Rosen (The National Center for Employee Ownership), Cindy Turcot (Gardener’s Supply Company), and moderator Talmon Smith (New York Times). For more information about this event — including audio, video, transcript, and related resources — visit our website:
About The Aspen Institute
Government has played a critical role throughout the history of the US in launching and supporting employee ownership. Today, the US Departments of Treasury, Commerce, Agriculture, and Labor and the Small Business Administration support employee ownership through financing and lending, regulatory reform, technical assistance, market development, and more, as they help business owners, workers, and local governments across red and blue states to grow worker ownership. In this conversation, speakers discuss what the executive branch is currently doing to support employee ownership and how those efforts can be improved to offer more workers a shot at the American dream through ownership. It features a panel discussion with Rajesh Nayak (Assistant Secretary for Policy, US Department of Labor), Dr. Karama Neal (Administrator, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, US Department of Agriculture), Melissa Hoover (Senior Fellow, Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing; Founder and Co-Executive Director, Democracy at Work Institute), David Hincapie (Economic Development Specialist, Veteran Business Development Officer, Washington Metropolitan Area District Office, US Small Business Administration), and moderator Maureen Conway (Vice President, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program). For more information about this event — including video, audio, transcript, speaker bios, and additional resources — visit: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/videos/unleashing-an-ownership-economy-the-role-of-government-agencies/ This 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/