U.S. Co-ops is part of a group of stakeholders that stand ready to implement the recently passed Main Street Employee Ownership Act, a landmark piece of legislation that will amend the lending landscape for worker co-ops.
In a September 12 letter to Linda McMahon, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administrator, U.S. Co-ops and its partners applaud the move to amend longstanding inequities in how the SBA administers loans to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and worker cooperatives, and pledge to help accelerate the process.
The Main Street Employee Ownership Act was passed in August as part of the 2019 Defense Authorization Act, thanks to an amendment from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, whose office worked with U.S. Co-ops and its partners to craft worker co-op-friendly language for the legislation.
“Employee-owned businesses have a strong track record of better pay and retirement benefits for workers and a commitment to creating and sustaining local jobs,” last week’s letter said. “We hope that we can become partners with you in this pursuit and again stand ready to help you in any way possible.”
Capital Impact Partners, CooperationWorks!, the Democracy at Work Institute, the ESOP Association, National Center for Employee Ownership, National Cooperative Bank, and the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives joined U.S. Co-ops in signing the letter.
