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The Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership 2023

I’ve just returned after attending the Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership and wanted to share my experiences of the event. This is the second year that the Symposium has taken place. Organised by Graeme Nuttall OBE and Professor John Hoffmire, the aim is to bring together individuals and organisations active in employee ownership from across

Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka to foster tech entrepreneurs

The Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), the apex ICT institution of the Government and a catalyst in driving the startup ecosystem forward, launched the ’10,000 Ideas’ national tech innovation program recently to empower the next generation of tech entrepreneurs along with startup ecosystem enablers.

Business Ownership Key for Economic Recovery in U.S. Cities, New Report Shows

 The National League of Cities (NLC) and the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI) released today new guidance for U.S. cities to pursue equitable post-COVID economic recovery through the use of employee ownership.

The new report, titled “Economic Recovery and Employee Ownership,” walks city

Growth is not enough

This op-ed was originally published in Project Syndicate.

Following the steep economic downturns brought about by COVID-19, policymakers should be asking or rethinking fundamental questions. None is more fundamental than whether rapid economic growth is the best way to drive development and help struggling communities escape poverty.

For good reason, economic growth has long been

Empowering Women and Social Enterprise in India so Both Can Thrive During the Pandemic

In its 72 years of independence, India has shown its unprecedented prowess in building a modern, democratic nation. It has lifted millions out of poverty, is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and has increased its global influence by becoming a member of the G20

An interview with Gadhadar Reddy, Chief Executive Officer of NoPo Nanotechnologies Private Limited

John Hoffmire: Tell me about your company, NoPo Nanotechnologies.

Gadhadar: I founded NoPo Nanotechnologies in 2011 along with Dr. Robert Kelley Bradley. Our objective was to produce high quality carbon nanotubes and thereby enable applications that would transform life. In particular, we are developing technologies for the space industry that will also help solve some of

Net-zero carbon emissions won’t be sustainable if social inequalities aren’t addressed

With COP26, the UN’s climate change conference, on the horizon next year in Glasgow, all eyes are on securing the decarbonisation of the global economy. What this will mean and how it will be achieved will be hotly debated before, during and after the conference.

Thanks to COVID-19, the world has experienced an extraordinary simulation of

China’s ESG iceberg: sustainability in the age of technological disruption

It may be hard to imagine China as an emerging leader in sustainable business practices as it remains one of the world’s top carbon emitters. However awareness of ESG best practices is growing among Chinese companies, largely driven by changes in regulatory policies as part of China’s structural shift toward sustainable growth.

As with other developments

For Owners Looking to Sell, an Option That Keeps Their Company Intact

In early 2000, Michael and Lynn Terry started a business selling horse trailers that were lighter than their competitors’ and customized to each client’s needs. Nearly two decades later, their company, Cimarron Trailers, with tens of millions of dollars in sales, employed over 130 people in Chickasha, Okla., and their trailers were sold

17 U.S. Ballot Initiatives to Reduce Inequality

While the presidential race has dominated the 2020 election, there are many other important decisions facing American voters. Here are 17 proposals on ballots around the country that, if approved, would go a long way towards reducing economic inequality.

Tax increases on the wealthy and corporations

  1. One of the biggest fights over fair taxation is raging

Hunter-Davisson Becomes 100% Employee-Owned

On October 19, 2020, FMI Capital Advisors announced the transfer of ownership of Hunter-Davisson, Inc. (“Hunter-Davisson”) to company employees via the Hunter-Davisson, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”). In this transaction, Hunter-Davisson became 100% employee-owned. FMI Capital Advisors was the exclusive financial advisor to Hunter-Davisson for this transaction.

Based in Portland, Oregon, Hunter-Davisson is

For energy transition, the key word is sustainability, not politics

Two words — sustainable and transition — are frequently used when we talk about energy these days and unfortunately, the definitions are at best inconsistent and at worst, misleading. That makes agreeing on not just what we need to do, but how, especially difficult.

Nevertheless, doing nothing is not an option. The transition to

Merrick’s Employee Ownership: What’s the Secret Sauce?

Merrick’s employee ownership journey started at the beginning of our company, with Founder Sears Merrick. In fact, the first stock transactions in Merrick’s history were recorded in the year we were incorporated, 1959. Sears had a theory that anyone who worked for themselves would work that much harder (and he was right!). From

Layering Evidence for Impact Investing Success

The field of impact investing turns 12 this year. As any parent knows, 12-year-olds can be precocious, and while they’re still young, they’re also maturing and ready to take on more responsibility and accountability. The same is true of the impact investing field. In particular, now is the time for more maturity and

Covid-19 reverses electricity access progress

Energy access policies continue to bear fruit, with 2019 data showing important progress. The number of people without access to electricity dropped from almost 860 million in 2018 to 770 million in 2019, a record low in recent years. In India, the government announced having reached full electricity access in 2019, and effective policies have

Sustainability themes too important to ignore

2019 was a pivotal year in the journey towards a more sustainable future.

The recent wave of public attention generated by the nature documentary series ‘Blue Planet II’ has helped to create a backlash against single-use plastics. Sustainability issues have made front-page news courtesy of environmental movement Extinction Rebellion and Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg,

Algorithms Are Making Economic Inequality Worse

The risks of algorithmic discrimination and bias have received much attention and scrutiny, and rightly so. Yet there is another more insidious side-effect of our increasingly AI-powered society — the systematic inequality created by the changing nature of work itself. We fear a future where robots take our jobs, but what happens when a significant

Which aspect of US economic inequality is most worrying?

Inequality has been seizing ever more of the public’s attention in recent years, reflected everywhere from papal encyclicals and economic tomes by French socialists to technical academic debates and the demotic language of politicians and pundits. The health and economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have further elevated

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