Last week the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, an outreach center based in the College of Arts and Sciences, published a new report, Building Legacies: Retaining Jobs and Building Wealth Through Employee Ownership, that outlines three major challenges faced by Ohio today:
1. Baby-Boomer Business-Owners Set to Retire in Massive Numbers
In Ohio, baby boomers own 54 percent of businesses, representing 94,000 firms employing 2.6 million workers. Though more than half of these business owners plan to retire in the next decade, 80 percent do not have a formal succession plan. And, when put on the market, only 1 in 5 businesses actually sell.
2. Workers Face Low Wages and Instability
Today half of workers aged 18-64 earn a median annual income of only $17,950. Poorly paid, insecure employment is growing, and women and people of color are disproportionately represented in low-wage industries.
3. Wealth Inequality is at Historic Highs
Since 1980, the share of income going to the bottom 50 percent of earners has halved, while the share going to the top 1 percent has doubled. The report emphasizes that the need for economic development strategies that treat business retention, work precarity, and economic inequality as inextricably linked has never been greater and sees the expansion of the number of employee-owned companies as a proven pathway to create a more equitable economy. Drawing on decades of research, Building Legacies demonstrates that worker ownership has advantages for multiple stakeholders.
- Employee advantage: Employees at worker-owned businesses have higher wages and better benefits.
- Selling Owners: can take advantage of a flexible succession strategy that ensures their legacy continues.
- Company advantage: Worker-owned companies are more profitable and productive.
- Community advantage: Worker-owned businesses are less likely to close, relocate, or lay off workers during downturns.
NEW NONPROFIT NETWORK LAUNCHES
To expand the number of employee-owned companies the Ohio Employee Ownership Center has also co-launched Ohio's Worker Ownership Network (OWoN) a network of nonprofits committed to expanding the prevalence of worker ownership in Ohio. The network includes 10 member organizations in every region and major metropolitan area of Ohio. Members are excited to begin working together to expand the worker ownership network by pooling resources and working cooperatively to achieve the common goal of creating an economy that works for all.
Recent press coverage about the report is available on WCPO, an ABC TV affiliate in Cincinnati, as well as a Cincinnati Public Radio station.
For more information, contact Michael Palmieri at 973-951-9831, or email mpalmie2@kent.edu.