From the USDA:
Employee ownership can help a business prosper by creating financial incentives for performance and by providing more self management of working conditions and policies. These benefits may accrue whether businesses are organized as cooperatives or as Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) when workers have a majority control. Employee owners in rural communities also help retain businesses that may otherwise be closed down. Worker cooperatives and ESOPs are more prevalent in some urban centers of the United States, but conditions are favorable for their expansion in rural America. Worker cooperatives operate a wide variety of businesses, as demonstrated at a recent conference. This article examines the potential growth of worker owned businesses in the rural economy.
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