The Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC) was founded in 1987 as part of
Ohio’s commitment to economic development. Over the past 17 years, it has grown into a
multifaceted support organization for employee ownership, offering a variety of programs to
assist in the creation of new employee-owned companies and in improving the management
of established companies. It has also established that employee ownership can be a major
tool to anchor capital and jobs locally as part of an overall economic development strategy.

Since 1987, the OEOC has worked with 463 employee and company groups,
employing more than 84,000, exploring whether employee ownership makes sense in each
case; helped employees buy part or all of 69 of these companies, retaining or stabilizing
13,654 jobs; and helped employees create more than $300 million in employee equity –
stabilizing community employment, tax bases, and property values. These companies
continue to create in excess of $20 million in new employee equity annually in addition to
cashing out retiring employees.

The OEOC also works with a network of 61 employee-owned companies to provide a
variety of training and organizational development services to improve their performance.
Additionally, it provides a purchasing cooperative for these firms and administers a revolving
loan fund to provide loans on favorable terms for expansion.

This record of accomplishment is a testimony to what a modestly supported public
sector program can do to help employees to help themselves.