Since their founding in 2004, Namaste Solar knew that they wanted their business model to be different. While there are many ways a business can establish an edge, the company identified early on that employee ownership would be one of their most impactful strategies to incorporate from the ground up.

“If we could have everybody acting and thinking like an owner,” says Co-Founder, Blake Jones, “that would translate into better work quality, better customer service and basically better ability to run the company and be competitive.”

DENVER - The Colorado Employee Ownership Office (EOO) in collaboration with the Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media (COFTM) has developed a new documentary following the employee ownership journeys of five Colorado companies.

Own It: A Colorado Story follows five Colorado-based companies that have transformed the fabric of their communities – and the lives of their workers – by becoming employee-owned.

The Main Street Phoenix Project is a unique cooperative started in March 2020 aimed at rebuilding a more sustainable economy post-COVID. The project was founded by Employee Ownership Commissioner and employee ownership advocate Jason Wiener. 

A recent report published by the Employee Ownership Foundation shows that employee-owned companies have outperformed non-employee-owned counterparts throughout the pandemic. While the pandemic introduced new economic challenges, majority employee-owned companies have shown incredible resilience and ability to maintain stability.