Project of the Day: Fifty by Fifty

What would it take to build an American economy grounded in employee ownership?

Millions of Americans already have an ownership stake in their workplace. More than 7,000 U.S. companies are owned wholly or in part by their employees—the people who work there every day. And between 1,600 and 4,400 of these companies are majority employee-owned. These employee-owned businesses are more connected to their communities, better for their workers, and are measurably more stable and productive than traditional investor-owned corporations. They represent the seedbed of a new kind of economy based on broad-based prosperity, limited wealth inequality, and a shared sense of ownership of and responsibility for our communities and workplaces.

What’s possible if we think big, and build from this foundation with strategic alliances, smart policy, and the resources to take employee ownership to scale?

50 million employee-owners by 2050

Growing employee ownership to roughly a quarter of our future workforce will require sharing our best analysis, thinking, and strategies. It will also demand an unprecedented level of focused collaboration among both traditional leaders in the employee ownership field, as well as with non-traditional partners, so we can create a broad ecosystem of support for employee ownership. The 50 X 50 initiative is designed to facilitate the deep collaboration needed to make employee ownership— through structures like worker cooperatives, ESOPs, and other models— a major part of the U.S. economy. Its aim is to begin to bend the curve of history toward an inclusive, community-based economy, where millions more families enjoy financial stability, increased income, and greater retirement security, and where more Americans can control their economic destiny.