The second bill (S.2914) is called the U.S. Employee Ownership Bank Act and would provide loans and loan guarantees to employees to purchase a business through an ESOP or a worker-owned cooperative. The federal government currently provides a wide variety of federal loans, loan guarantees and other technical assistance to American companies as a way to increase U.S. jobs through exports. Providing federal loans and loan guarantees for the expansion of employee ownership would increase and retain jobs in the U.S. and strengthen the U.S. economy. The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Leahy of Vermont, Sen. Brown of Ohio, and Sen. Menendez of New Jersey.

Why these bills are important

These bills deserve your support because they will help create more employee-owned businesses in this country. Why would this be good? Employee ownership is a proven way to:

1. Preserve jobs and local ownership. Rather than closing up shop or selling to a competitor, small business owners can sell to their employees. This roots the business and its jobs in the community, and provides a way for employees to share in the wealth created by the business.
2. Provide an exit strategy for owners that preserves continuity in the business. Most owners eventually want to leave the business. Selling to the employees is a way for an owner to exit gracefully, handing off responsibility to managers and ownership to employees at a pace that makes sense for all involved.
3. Improve company performance. When employee ownership is combined with participation in decision-making, businesses often see significant increases in performance. See a summary of research on this subject on the website of the National Center for Employee Ownership’s website.

Click here to see what you can do to help support this effort.

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