The Rhode Island Worker Cooperative Alliance and Fuerza Laboral see a worker-owned business business future

“We can build a better capitalism,” said Representative Stewart, “and this event is the start of that effort.”

Chloe Chassaing

“I am a worker/owner at a worker cooperative cafe in Providence,” said Chloe Chassaing. “I was a longtime worker at the business, and four years ago, we purchased the business and reopened it as a worker cooperative. It’s been rewarding to work there and see the difference it’s made for us as workers to have a say in our workplace and to be able to collaborate to run the business. It increases the sense of dignity and investment in our workplace.”

Chassaing was emceeing the Worker Cooperative Advocacy Day, which was celebrated by the Rhode Island Worker Cooperative Alliance, Fuerza Laboral, and elected officials at the Rhode Island State House. During the short speaking program, legislators, owners of employee-owned businesses, and organizations that support worker cooperatives in Rhode Island shared their experiences and strategies for fostering a sustainable local economy, including proposed legislation to encourage employee ownership: the Opportunity for Employee Ownership Act (H5940/S0752). If passed, the legislation would increase the opportunity for employees to purchase and own the businesses where they work when that business is sold.

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“It’s been a pleasure to be part of a group of people interested in helping build the next economy that values sustainability, equity, and opportunity,” continued Chassaing, about the Rhode Island Worker Cooperative Alliance. “The United Nations declared 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives. It’s fitting to be part of that global movement.”

“Fuerza Laboral primarily focuses on labor justice,” noted David Molina-Hernandez, the Community and Media Coordinator at the group. “That’s why we started the nonprofit. Our population is primarily a Latino, immigrant, and low-income community.

“We talk about the transformational power of worker-owned cooperatives. More than just businesses, worker-owned cooperatives are engines of opportunity because they come with equity. Fuerza Laboral decided to go full-out on the cooperative movement once we figured out that it is the best way to help low-income families escape poverty because they go from being workers to worker/business owners.

“Cooperatives are structured as democracies - they’re transparent and have shared responsibility,” continued Molina-Hernandez. “They are a natural defense against labor injustices, such as wage theft. You cannot steal from your other worker-owners the way a boss can steal from workers. Cooperatives defend against abuses of power and wrongful terminations for the same reason: everybody has a vote and makes decisions. Because of how cooperatives are structured, labor injustice cannot happen in a cooperative. Decisions aren’t made in a boardroom far away. They’re made by people who do the work and know the community.

“Have you seen how many businesses are born from immigrants in Pawtucket and Central Falls?” asked Molina-Hernandez. “Many of these businesses are owned by first-generation immigrants. It was their dream when they came to this country. They are the heartbeats of our neighborhoods, but these owners are approaching retirement. We face the critical question: What will happen to these businesses? If they close, we all lose. We lose the city, the workers, families, and the vibrant culture surrounding these businesses.

“But if we were to transition them into cooperatives, we would preserve jobs, keep the wealth local, and honor the legacy of those who built them and made Rhode Island unique. Cooperatives are practical, rooted in shared effort, and built to last. These businesses, which brought different colors, shapes, textures, and smells to Rhode Island, will be here and able to last. It is not only an economic strategy but also a moral responsibility for us to keep these businesses. We must ensure that local businesses survive, thrive, and remain in the hands of the people who care about these businesses. Today, we have one goal: To advocate for cooperatives and the solidarity economy.”

Jennifer Stewart is the State Representative for House District 59 in Pawtucket. She is the prime sponsor of the Rhode Island Opportunity for Employee Ownership Act in the House. Senator Frank Ciccone has the Senate bill.

“Small businesses account for approximately 99% of all businesses in the United States, and they provide jobs for 47% of private sector workers,” said Representative Stewart. “These small businesses anchor our local tax base, donate to local charities, and support our community events. They are vital for the health and stability of our communities. Yet, when an owner wants to exit their business for any reason, most Rhode Island small businesses have no succession plan. Moreover, in the coming weeks and months, many small business owners plan to retire - what analysts refer to as the ‘silver tsunami.’

“Some businesses will be sold to a larger company or an out-of-area buyer, and a few will be passed on to family members. According to Project Equity, not only do the vast majority of business owners not have a succession plan in place, but many are finding it increasingly difficult to find a buyer when they are ready to sell.

“None of those scenarios are good for the long-term stability of our communities, so the Opportunity for Employee Ownership Act is aimed at providing small businesses with continuity and providing employees the life-changing opportunity to co-own their workplaces,” said Representative Stewart. “The bill focuses on informational obstacles to worker ownership. The bill tries to provide guidelines and mechanisms for informing employees that the business they work for is available for sale. It’s also a way to get employees to imagine themselves as worker/co-owners. It tries to provide some guidelines to facilitate that process, and lay out some incentives for business owners to entertain fair market competitive offers by a motivated group of employees to buy the business.

“By facilitating sales of small businesses to existing employees, local economies can preserve these successful businesses while gaining the many demonstrated and well-researched benefits of worker ownership. These benefits include better productivity, higher pay, more job stability, and the survival of the business in question. Worker-owned and employee-owned businesses have more savings. I found an interesting statistic about this. While nearly half of Americans cannot manage a $400 emergency expense, according to the Federal Reserve in a 2015 report, most worker/coop employees believed they could find $2,000 in an emergency. That is a significant difference.

“Employees owning the businesses where they work have repeatedly shown that they improve business resilience and strengthen the communities in which they operate,” said Representative Stewart. “They provide a pathway to business ownership for entrepreneurs who may not have access to generational or inherited wealth. They bring increased job satisfaction, workplace democracy, and job security for the people who do the heavy lifting, everyday work that allows these businesses to thrive."

In short, the Rhode Island Opportunity for Employee Ownership Act seeks to:

• Incentivize business owners selling to employees;

• Maintain small business legacies;

• Preserve community character;

• Provide opportunity for cooperative employee ownership;

• Create sustainable & dignified jobs; and,

• Strengthen Rhode Island’s economic resilience

“We can build a better capitalism,” said Representative Stewart, “and this event is the start of that effort.”

Eric Beecher is one of 12 employee owners at Sol Power, a solar installation company based in Charlestown, Rhode Island. Sol Power has been in business since 2013, powering more than a thousand homes in Rhode Island with clean energy installed by employee/owners.

“We are in a four-season outdoor construction industry, which is a tough business to be in, but our approach to it is providing people with careers,” said Beecher. “It’s not a seasonal job. We are providing people with good green-collar jobs and career opportunities. A great example of that is our low turnover. Since 2013, we’ve had four people leave our business.

“We’ve seen other companies come and go. You heard a little about the sustainability of employee-owned businesses. We’ve outlasted pretty much every big national company in Rhode Island. We’re now considered the old company in Rhode Island. And the reason we are sustainable and still here is because of employee ownership. That’s why we’re outlasting the competition. If you look online at our reviews, you see that every customer gives us five stars and not just a quick review, but a heartfelt comment about our company. That’s because we take pride in reaching out to and connecting with customers while providing the best service possible.

“Sol Power is an amazing place to work. I love it. It has been amazing for me. I’ve been there since the start, and it’s incredibly important to me,” said Beecher. “That’s why we need to extend this opportunity to more people. We are a sustainable business, we’ve been here for the long haul, and we are providing our employees with a life-changing opportunity, incredible pay, incredible benefits, and the satisfaction of running your workplace. That’s why it’s so important that we extend this opportunity to as many people as possible: so they can also experience the joy of running their own business, and all the financial and equitable benefits that go with that.”

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Pawtucket resident Shelby Mack is a member of the Lefty Loosey Bike Collective, a democratically run community bike shop based in the Valley Neighborhood of Providence and part of the Rhode Island Worker Cooperative Alliance. Mack is also an MBA student studying worker ownership as an economic development tool.

“I’m going to speak briefly about the evidence for worker ownership as an economic development strategy,” said Mack. “Over the past year, I have been researching how worker cooperatives can contribute to creating vibrant, inclusive economies where every resident can meet their basic needs, and those of their families and loved ones, but also learn, contribute meaningfully to their communities, and thrive. Research shows that supporting worker cooperatives is an effective economic development strategy, building community resilience and creating sustainable, dignified jobs.

“According to a 2017 study from the National Center for Employee Ownership, when workers have an ownership interest in organizations where they work, wages are 33% higher, median job tenure is 53% longer, and net worth increases 92%. That’s almost double.

“When worker cooperatives form a significant portion of a region’s economy, the results can be transformative. For example, in the Region of Emilia-Romagna, in Italy, two-thirds of residents are members of some form of cooperative. They have lower unemployment, a higher quality of life rating, and remarkably higher economic resilience than most of the country’s other regions. Importantly, policies, politics, funding, and mutual support have been organized over a century to make that happen.

“We in Rhode Island know we’re facing remarkable challenges. The cost of living is growing significantly, and wealth inequality is increasing. Nowhere in Rhode Island does minimum wage enable you to rent affordably. One-in-10 of our neighbors are living in poverty, and many more of us are struggling to make ends meet. Funding for critical life-saving programs is being threatened or has already been cut. Too often, our economic policy in this state is held hostage to large corporations’ decisions as to where to locate, whether to be here or move.

“Small businesses, which are the lifeblood of our economy, are also in jeopardy. According to data compiled by Project Equity, 56% of small business owners in Rhode Island are over 55, meaning we have that impending silver tsunami we’ve been hearing about today. Industry experts suggest that some small businesses, maybe 70 to 80%, do not successfully sell when the owner wants to exit. And it does not have to be this way. We can build our economy from the ground up, from the people up.

“Worker ownership through Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), employee trusts, and worker cooperatives expand the benefits of small business ownership for the many instead of the few,” continued Mack. “Worker ownership is not just about financial security and wealth building, although this is critical. From my experience running Lefty Loosey, with 13 other people for the past five years, I can tell you that making decisions together has helped me feel how precious democracy is and how important it is to fight for it when it’s under attack. I feel such a deep sense of pride in what we’ve built together, the hundreds of bicycles we’ve given away to people who need them, the hundreds of people who have found that they can learn mechanical and hands-on skills when given the opportunity through our classes, and the thousands of people whose bikes we’ve helped repair. We’ve done so much more together when we harnessed the creativity and initiative of so many people than we would have if just one or two people had run this business.

“That’s a pride I want everybody to have the opportunity to feel,” said Mack. “That’s why we worked to introduce the Rhode Island Opportunity for Employee Ownership Act. As you’ve heard, it allows workers to buy a business in the event of a sale, and provides an incentive to the seller. We invite Rhode Islanders to imagine a future where worker ownership is the norm, not the tiny exception; where most of us can experience the financial security, resilience, and sense of pride that comes with ownership and stewardship.”