Benefits

Employee-owners retire with more than 2x retirement savings of other workers (NCEO)

Why should employee ownership be a national priority?

Three problems have been dragging down the economy for generations. One answer, with overwhelming bipartisan support, addresses all three at once.

01

Wealth

Appreciating assets are where security comes from. Most Americans hold none.

The bottom 50% of Americans hold roughly 1% of the country’s equities. (1)

Employee ownership puts appreciating assets in the hands of workers.

Most households have next to nothing saved for retirement — a $10,000 median balance. (2)

Equity returns compounded over a career generate meaningful retirement wealth.

Median net worth across families of color is far below the national average.

Ownership disproportionately benefits front-line workers, helping close the racial wealth gap.

02

Worker Engagement

A disengaged workforce is an economic problem, not just a management one.

Lack of wealth at the bottom suppresses consumption — propensity to spend runs ~11× higher for the bottom fifth than the top. (3)

More evenly distributed ownership puts money where it gets spent.

High quit rates create constant friction in the economy, peaking near 40%. (4)

Owning a stake in the company measurably raises retention.

Only ~30% of Americans are engaged at work, costing ~$2 trillion in lost annual productivity. (5)

Ownership paired with real worker voice produces higher engagement.

03

Culture

The belief that hard work gets you ahead is declining.

Two-thirds of Americans are financially illiterate. (6)

Owning financial assets is how financial literacy actually gets learned.

Compared to today, only about 20% of Americans believe the next generation will be better off. (7)

Recognition for hard work and real savings produce a more positive outlook.

Sources

(1) Federal Reserve, 2026

(2) Economic Policy Institute, Feb 2024

(3) Federal Reserve, Feb 2019

(4) Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (peak rate, Q1 2022, annualized)

(5) Gallup, 2025

(6) US Treasury, 2020

(7) 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer

Employee ownership builds stronger companies

We’re now almost 10 years in, and for many of the 150 employee owners, their ESOP account is the biggest asset they own. The average worker now has well over $100,000 in their account. We’ve started to have our first ESOP retirees and that’s helped make the benefits of ownership more tangible to everyone: we’ve seen lives change from the wealth we’re building together.

Brent Hutchings

CEO, North River Boats / Willie Boats · Roseburg, Oregon

Today, 53% of our associate-owners have over $50,000 in their ESOP accounts and 19% have over $200,000. Since 2010, we’ve given out $733 million in stock and redeemed over $150 million.

Doug Bawel

Chairman, Jasper Holdings · Jasper, Indiana

If you really want to get the benefit of an ESOP, you have to think about the culture you’re building. You have to think about what ownership means to every employee and how that manifests itself in how they show up at work each day.

Tom Finn

CEO, AVID Products · Providence, Rhode Island

Employee ownership really gave me an opportunity to succeed as a leader because I didn’t have to have all the answers. It really could become an “us, not me” situation.