Posts by North Carolina Ownership Center

Which Model Is Right for You? How to Choose Between an ESOP, Worker Cooperative, or EOT You’ve done the hard work. Now comes the real decision. In Part 1 of this series, you saw why employee ownership deserves a serious look alongside traditional exit paths. In Part 2, you worked through the internal checklist —…

By Danny Lamastra, in collaboration with the North Carolina Employee Ownership Center Launching an ESOP is a major milestone. For founders and leadership teams, it represents years of planning, negotiation, and vision finally coming to life. It’s natural to feel a sense of pride and relief. We did it! For employees, however, the experience may…

Written by: Illa Burbank, North Carolina Employee Ownership Center (NCEOC); Gene Holland, Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC) This is part 2 of our 4-part Employee Ownership Journey series, where we explore the path from founder-led to employee-owned. In part 1 of our Employee Ownership Journey series, we talked about all of the options…

This is part 1 of our Employee Ownership Journey series, where we explore the path from founder-led to employee-owned. As a founder or owner of a small-to-medium-sized business, your brain is wired for strategy. You spend your days obsessing over customer needs, navigating roadblocks, and securing resources to achieve your vision. But when was the…

The conversation around employee ownership often centers on business conversions, where a retiring owner sells their company to their employees. This is a powerful model for succession and honoring a workforce. But what if a business starts with employee ownership from day one? The story of Cenzontle, a language justice cooperative based in Asheville, shows…