From Wealth Works:

Interest in employee ownership and other bottom-up business strategies has increased in western North Carolina and surrounding areas. Opportunity Threads is a success story that provides a model for employee ownership within the region. Founded in 2008 by a native of Morganton, North Carolina, Molly Hemstreet, Opportunity Threads employs about two dozen individuals, many of whom are Mayan immigrants to the region from Guatemala. Workers are hired on with the opportunity to become a worker-owner after a 12 – 18-month vetting process. As owners of the firm, the workers make decisions together and share the successes of the company by focusing on profit, growth, and productivity, alongside democratic workplace principles. For Opportunity Threads, worker ownership has provided a pathway to economic success for the employees and their households by offering stable jobs with fair pay.

Get the full story here:

https://www.nado.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Carolina-Textile-District_final.pdf