PODCAST · business
Owners at Work
by Ohio Employee Ownership Center
Interviews leading experts on issues pertaining to employee ownership including building an ownership culture, management practices, succession planning, economic development, and so much more.
Episodes
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Worker Coops, ESOPs, and Unions: New Research on Worker Ownership with William Foley
SUMMARY: In this episode, we sit down with William Foley, a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University and fellow at the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. We explore two of his research projects: one using a first-of-its-kind dataset to uncover what drives worker...
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Inside CoRise Capital: A New Investment Model for Employee Ownership
SUMMARY: Drew Larson and Brittany Brown of CoRise Capital join the Owners at Work podcast to break down their new investment fund's innovative approach to employee ownership: acquiring promising companies through traditional purchase deals, then transitioning them to ESOPs within three to five...
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Where Employee Ownership Meets Economic Development: A Conversation with Michael Darger
SUMMARY: In this episode of Owners at Work, we talk with Michael Darger, an economic development specialist with the University of Minnesota Extension, about business succession planning, ownership transition, and the growing importance of preserving locally owned businesses as Baby Boomer owners...
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40 Million Owners: Expanding Employee Ownership Through Acquisitions
SUMMARY: In this episode of Owners at Work, we talk with Mike Brady of 40 Million Owners about how the firm helps ESOP companies grow through strategic, values-aligned acquisitions. Mike explains how their three-phase framework—design, execution, and integration—guides employee-owned firms…
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Purpose Trusts and EOTs: Expanding the Ownership Conversation
SUMMARY: In this episode of Owners at Work, we sit down with Zoe Schlag of Common Trust and Mark Hand of the Purpose Trust Ownership Network (PTON) to explore the growing momentum behind Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) in the U.S. Zoe shares her journey from early-stage and impact investing to...
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Making It Work: How Apis & Heritage Is Closing the Capital Gap in EO Transitions
SUMMARY: In this episode of Owners at Work, we sit down with Todd Leverette and Kyle Chin-How of Apis & Heritage Capital Partners (A&H)—the 2025 recipient of the John Logue Award in Employee Ownership, which we present annually to organizations making a lasting and transformative impact in the...
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How Expanding ESOPs Plans to Unlock Trillions in Wealth for Workers
Guests: Danny Massey, Head of Strategy and Communications at Expanding ESOPs SUMMARY: In this episode of the Owners at Work podcast, we speak with Danny from Expanding ESOPs, a new national initiative focused on dramatically scaling employee ownership through policy change and public advocacy....
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Building Employee Ownership Collaboration
SUMMARY: In this episode Chris Cooper sits down with Jim O'Brien founder and current President of Go2Partners, a 100% ESOP Company. We talk about the interesting way in which Go2Partners was founded and funded by the employees themselves, why employee ownership was an attractive choice for him…
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How Direct Employee Ownership Created the Right Succession Plan, and Company Culture, at Cargas
SUMMARY: One of the exciting happenings in the world of employee ownership today is the proliferation of different models and methods for bringing employees into the ownership of a company. In this episode we discuss the Direct Stock Ownership model that Chip Cargas, Founder of Cargas Systems,...
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The State of Sector: Worker Cooperatives
Guests: Olga Prushinskaya and Jamie Pockrandt, Democracy at Work Institute Summary: The second most common form of employee ownership in the United States is the worker cooperative where workers participate in both the financial success and governance of the firms. Today there are over 750 worker...
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Measuring the Impact of Employee Ownership in the United Kingdom
Guest: Campbell McDonald, Ownership Works SUMMARY: Much of the work for raising awareness and advocating for supportive policies for further expansion relies on data collection. When making the case for employee ownership, it is one thing to say that, in theory, employee ownership can benefit...
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Gina Schaefer on The Power of Telling Your Story
Guest: Gina Schaefer SUMMARY: For 38 years, the OEOC has gathered hundreds of people from across the employee ownership community at our Annual Conference and every year, we invite a keynote speaker to address those in attendance. This year, we invited Gina Schaefer, the founder, CEO, and selling...
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Employee Ownership in the Americas: A Path to Shared Prosperity
SUMMARY: When we think about expanding awareness about employee ownership, we often think of the United States and how much more work we have to do. However, the movement to expand the prevalence and awareness of employee ownership goes well beyond US borders. In this episode, we highlight an...
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The European ESOP – A New Model of Employee Ownership
SUMMARY: When we look into the field of employee ownership three major models come to mind, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), worker cooperatives, and employee-owned trusts. But practitioners are always looking to improve existing models and in some rare cases develop new ones. In this…
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Project Equity's Reflections on the Kendeda Fund's Big Bet Grant
SUMMARY Back in 2018 the Kendeda Fund, a philanthropic foundation based in Atlanta, decided to make a series of big bets in areas that were both critical and timely. One of those areas was employee ownership and the investment made by Kendeda was historic. Over 5 years a total of $24 million...
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Nexus Community Partner's Reflections on the Kendeda Fund's Big Bet Grant
SUMMARY Back in 2018 the Kendeda Fund, a philanthropic foundation based in Atlanta, decided to make a series of big bets in areas that were both critical and timely. One of those areas was employee ownership and the investment made by Kendeda was historic. Over 5 years a total of $24 million...
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The Fund for Employee Ownership's Reflections on the Kendeda Fund's Big Bet Grant
SUMMARY Back in 2018 the Kendeda Fund, a philanthropic foundation based in Atlanta, decided to make a series of big bets in areas that were both critical and timely. One of those areas was employee ownership and the investment made by Kendeda was historic. Over 5 years a total of $24 million...
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ICA Group's Reflections on the Kendeda Fund's Big Bet Grant
SUMMARY Back in 2018 the Kendeda Fund, a philanthropic foundation based in Atlanta, decided to make a series of big bets in areas that were both critical and timely. One of those areas was employee ownership and the investment made by Kendeda was historic. Over 5 years a total of $24 million...
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Cooperatives at Work with George Cheney
SUMMARY: For too long, cooperatives have been cast to the margins of our economy and discussions around economic development and community building. Yet, there are numerous examples throughout the US and across the globe demonstrating how cooperatives serve as a viable organizational form…
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Unpacking the Meanings of Ownership
SUMMARY: If one thing is true, its that the word ownership has baggage – every person has a different conception of what it means. In this episode we speak with Chris Mackin, who has worked in the employee ownership community for decades, to talk about a recent article he published on the…
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Preparing to Sell Your Company – What You Need to Know
SUMMARY: In this episode Chris Cooper speaks with Eric Zaleski and Michael Rosendahl of PCE Investment Bankers, about what business owners should be thinking about, and doing, to prepare for a business succession. In many cases, business owners see succession planning as something that will take...
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Economic Outlook and What it Means for Company Valuations
Guest: Eric Flickinger and Matt Silla SUMMARY: In this episode we sit down with two valuation experts, Eric Flickinger and Matt Silla of Apple Growth Partners. The conversation is wide ranging and includes discussion of high level trends we saw in 2022 that will impact company valuations, what...
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From Family-Owned to Employee-Owned - The Hamill Manufacturing Company
Guest: Jeff Kelley, Hamill Manufacturing Company SUMMARY: In this episode we speak with Jeff Kelly, former CEO, selling owner, and current Chairman of Hamill Manufacturing, a Pennsylvania based precision and fabricating company which serves the defense, aerospace, and power generation industries....
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Lessons from the Field: Communicating Ownership
In this episode we sit down with Bina Smith who is the HR Generalist and Communication Committee chair at Palmier Donavin, a 100% employee-owned company. The interview covers a wide range of areas and draws on Bina's 8 years of experience serving on her companies communication committee. The...
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The EO State Centers (Owner to Owner Podcast Rebroadcast)
So, what exactly are state employee ownership centers? What do they do, and why do we need more of them? This episode is a re-broadcast of an interview originally aired by Owners to Owners – another podcast that focuses on employee ownership. Jesse Tyler, the host of Owners to Owners, sits down...
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Maintaining Culture Through Rapid Growth and Change
SUMMARY: In this episode we speak with Deanna Colombo of Butler/Till a women owned, 100% employee-owned, and Certified B Corporation marketing agency located in Rochester NY. We talk about all things culture and communication, and how both can be maintained through periods of rapid change and...
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Reinventing Companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What
SUMMARY: In this episode we speak with Corey Rosen, founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership about a his new book he co-authored with business reporter John Case. The interview is wide ranging and touches upon what is driving economic inequality today, how employee ownership is a...
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LLC ESOPs? The Facts, Risks, and Possibilities
It is common understanding that only C-corporations and S-corporations can sponsor Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). But is this indeed the case? In this episode we speak with Mike Sorice about how LLCs can indeed sponsor an ESOP and the reasons why some have chosen this option. We talk…
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Third Party Administrators - The Who, What, When, and Why
SUMMARY: In this episode we speak with Pete Shuler of Blue Ridge ESOP Associates and go into the mechanics of ESOP administration and talk about Third Party Administrators (TPAs) – what they are and do, why they do it, and how you as a plan administrator in your company can take steps to ensure...
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New Research: How Employee-Owned Companies Weathered Covid-19
SUMMARY: A growing body of research shows that employee-owned companies outperform traditional companies on a range of measures, especially during economic downturns – but is has this pattern continued through covid-19? On this episode we speak with Nancy Wiefek and Nathan Nicholson of the NCEO...
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Cooperative Development in Ohio: Reports from the Field
In this episode we speak with Jonathan Welle of Cleveland Owns and Ellen Vera of Co-op Cincy – two Ohio-based nonprofits that are working around cooperative development and community wealth building. We dig into how both Jonathan and Ellen began working on cooperative development, mission of…
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State of the State Centers
Owners at Work is back for season 3! In our first episode of this season we speak with Steve Storkan, Executive Director of the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX) - a national nonprofit focused on establishing and supporting a network of independent nonprofit State Centers for Employee...
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Growing Employee Ownership Through Acquisitions
SUPPORT THE SHOW: We make all episodes of Owners at Work free and never place them behind a paywall. But, they take time and money to produce. Consider making a DONATION today to help keep our work going 2022 Annual Conference -...
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Taking Stock and Looking Forward: Employee Ownership Updates
SUPPORT THE SHOW: We make all episodes of Owners at Work free and never place them behind a paywall. But, they take time and money to produce. Consider making a DONATION today to help keep our work going SUMMARY: In this episode we take stock of employee ownership developments in Ohio and discuss...
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How Wise Consulting Maintained its Ownership Culture Through Covid
SUPPORT THE SHOW: We make all episodes of Owners at Work free and never place them behind a paywall. But, they take time and money to produce. Consider making a DONATION today to help keep our work going OEOC UPCOMING PROGRAMS Southwest Forum Communication Roundtables SUMMARY: In this episode we...
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Building Community: How A Few Cool Hardware Stores Transitioned to Employee Ownership
SUPPORT THE SHOW: We make all episodes of Owners at Work free and never place them behind a paywall. But, they take time and money to produce. Consider making a DONATION today to help keep our work going SUMMARY: Sometimes companies transition to employee ownership to help spark a transformation…
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Rethinking Your ESOP Company's Repurchase Obligations
Repurchase obligations are a major component of ESOP administration and the main way in which employee-owners benefit from owning a financial stake in the companies they worked for. Yet, these obligations are often seen as a burden, and in some cases, can lead to the freezing or termination of…
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Preserving Beacons of Hope, Reducing the Racial Wealth Gap Through Employee Ownership
In the world of employee ownership, agreement has begun to crystalize around the idea that broad-based models of employee ownership, like ESOPs, worker cooperatives, or employee-owned trusts are powerful tools in the fight to reduce the enormous racial wealth gap in the United States. But exactly...
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Preparing for and Executing a Sale to an ESOP - The Douglas Company
In this episode we speak with President Pete Douglas and Executive VP Finance and Administration, David Brockbader of the The Douglas Company about their recent transition to employee ownership via an ESOP. The interview also includes Franco Silva, Director, Prairie Capital Advisors who was one…
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Are Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Employee Ownership Values?
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is something we hear a lot about, but what exactly do these terms mean, and what do they look like in an employee owned company? In this episode we sit down with Dr. Joy and Ty Miller of Carver & Associates to talk about some of the preconceived notions that...
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New Loan Funds for Employee Ownership
Small businesses account for nearly half of all jobs in the US economy, and nearly half of all small businesses are owned by Baby Boomers who will retire in the next few decades in what has been termed the "silver tsunami". These businesses are integral to local communities, and there continued...
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Getting to the Other Side
Research consistently shows that employee owned companies whether economic downturns better than their conventional counterparts, but we rarely get an 'inside view' of this outcome is achieved. In this episode, we sit down with Bernie Murphy, President of the Ohio based ESOP company Jones…
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[TEASER] - Getting to the Other Side
Research consistently shows that employee owned companies whether economic downturns better than their conventional counterparts, but we rarely get an 'inside view' of this outcome is achieved. In this episode, we sit down with Bernie Murphy, President of the Ohio based ESOP company Jones…
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Living the Employee Ownership Life
On this inaugural 2021 episode of the pod, we talk with Anthony Mathews from the California Center, and former Executive Director Of the Beyster Institute. Anthony has spent decades in the world of employee ownership and has a thing or two to say about it. We get into his path into the field, his...
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[TEASER] Living the Employee Ownership Life
Owners at Work is back for season two. We talk with Anthony Mathews of the California Center for Employee Ownership about his many years working to expand employee ownership as well as how employee ownership may be a cure for what ails our economy and society more broadly. Full episode drops…
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Employee Ownership: Reducing Inequality and Building Assets
We hear a lot about the the rising level of economic inequality in our society, the increasingly precarious nature of employment, and the difficulties of saving for retirement. What we hear about much less is the how employee owned firms, in particular companies with Employee Stock Ownership…
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The Employee Ownership Trust
If there is one thing to know about the field of employee ownership it's that it includes a wide variety of models. In the US, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and worker cooperatives are the two most well known, but there are many others. In this episode we sit down with Chris Michael, an...
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Year End Considerations: Valuations and Repurchase Obligations
We're getting to the end of year, and a general theme of our upcoming programming, as well as many of our conversations with companies and advisors alike, focuses on taking stock of what's happened, and is still happening, and how we are looking at, and planning for, the future. In this episode…
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Beyond COVID: Keeping Your ESOP On Track
In this episode we speak with six experts in the field of employee ownership about how to approach 'regular' operations that all ESOPs must undertake while at the same time keeping an eye on planning for the long term. The discussions, which are adapted from our Annual Conference Short Take…
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Existing ESOPs in the Current Economy
It is well known within the employee ownership community that employee-owned companies do better in times of crisis compared to conventionally owned companies. However, this not a law of gravity, it is the result of countless actions taken by and processes created within employee-owned firms. In...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Interviews leading experts on issues pertaining to employee ownership including building an ownership culture, management practices, succession planning, economic development, and so much more.
HOSTED BY
Ohio Employee Ownership Center
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Owners at Work have?
Owners at Work currently has 61 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Owners at Work about?
Interviews leading experts on issues pertaining to employee ownership including building an ownership culture, management practices, succession planning, economic development, and so much more.
How often does Owners at Work release new episodes?
Owners at Work has 61 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Owners at Work on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Owners at Work?
Owners at Work is created and hosted by Ohio Employee Ownership Center.
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