Initiation of Policy and Strategy Discussion concerning National Employee Ownership Policies

[Deborah Groban Olson <dgo@esoplaw.com>]

Dear COG Network Participants who have chosen this discussion, (and several of
you who have not but who I think might be interested):

        Welcome to the discussion of National Policy on  Employee Ownership. To
contribute to this discussion, please send comments to EOnation@cog.kent.edu.
Also if you have not signed up with Dan Bell for this discussion please send
your name, address and email address to EOnation@cog.kent.edu.  ( I have
included at the end of this email the summary of this working group's charge.)

        Please send in your comments on the following matters. 

        1) Reading material this group should reveiw, along with citations and
information on its availability. If it is available electronically, please give
an electronic address, and let us know if it can be obtained for the COG
on-line library or via a link to the COG web site.

        2) Your opinion on subjects and priorities for this discussion.

        3) There is a lot of existing employee ownership legislation and a
variety of existing technical assistance programs. We must organize and develop
the following discussion. We do not expect to answer all these questions during
the initial 15 month grant period. We plan to collect and organize the material
and stucture a meaningful discussion ending in a strategic implementation plan.

The steps in this process are these.
                A)  Find the existing employee ownership laws and technical
assistance programs, including specific descriptions and data on concrete
results.
                B)  Find existing publications and comparative analysis of
these
various systems.

                C) Categorize what exists.

                D)  Determine our criteria for "best practices" being
mindful of
cultural and economic differences.

                E) Determine which of the existing practices we believe
constitute "best practices".

                G) Consider combinations of or alternatives to these programs
which would better meet our criteria.

                F) Focus these thoughts into recommendations to be used as
goals
or objectives in a strategic planning process for action by COG network
members, or, if necessary, as recommendations for further research.

        Following is the focus of this discussion:
 Building employee ownership at he national level: canvass the range of
national
legislative choices to promote employee ownership and their relative advantages
and disadvantages.  This includes (1) tax expenditures such as deductible
contributions or tax credits, (2) national support for technical assistance,
(3) preferential lending policies, (4) equity funds, (5) support for
cooperative start ups, (6) national managerial academy, (7) development of
national organizations of employee-owned companies, and (8) other ideas for
strengthening employee ownership at the national level through national
legislation or national organization.

        In looking at the international experience with all of these, we aim to
find the best practices and spread them, understanding that “best practices”
may mean different practices in different environments.

        Currently active Network members have substantial anecdotal information
and some data on employee ownership practices and proposals (including ESOPs,
co-ops, profit sharing and ownership of stock through pension plans) in many
countries including: Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Chile, France, Hungary,
India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Mozambique, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Spain,
Sweden, UK, US, Zimbabwe, and co-determination practices in Germany, Austria
and Denmark.

        We need to collect this information, along with similar information on
countries not mentioned above, and make it available to all Network
participants in a useable form. 

        Additionally, many Network participants are interested in
not-for-profit
employee ownership education and technical assistance programs (EOTAs). Some of
them are veterans of long-lived successful EOTAs. Some are seeking to create
them. Others are struggling to keep alive formerly government supported
programs which have lost government support. Some of these organizations are
grant supported, others support themselves on fee generated income. Some
provide technical assistance on transactions, while others limit themselves to
providing information. Some are neutral information sources, while others are
advocates. Some are government agencies, others are private. Anecdotal data
tell us that these information sources are key players in broadening ownership.
This discussion group will be a forum for these participants to meet, exchange
information and assistance, and possibly help launch or merge struggling groups
to increase worldwide EOTA capacity. 

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Deb Olson


Attorney Deborah Groban Olson
Chair
Captial Ownership Group
3163 Penobscot Bldg.
645 Griswold St.
Detroit, MI 48226
(ph) 313/ 331-7821  or 964-2460
(f) 313/ 331-2567     or 964-4065

dgo@EsopLaw.com
www.EsopLaw.com