Fireside Chat: The Ownership Advantage


Description

A depth of research shows the impacts employee ownership can have on company performance when it is combined with efforts to increase employee participation in solving company problems.

Higher productivity, lower employee turnover, and greater resilience to economic downturns are all common outcomes of many employee-owned firms. However, greater employee involvement, when combined with ownership, also offers potential for other benefits, including enhanced innovation and problem-solving. The result is that some of the strongest performing and most resilient businesses in the US are employee-owned. In this conversation from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, leaders from employee-owned companies discuss how ownership drives business success.

This video comes from the 2025 Employee Ownership Ideas Forum, hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. For clips and highlights from the Forum, subscribe to the Economic Opportunities Program on YouTube, and tune in to our podcast to listen to full discussions on the go. For more from the Forum — including audio, transcripts, and additional resources — click here.


Speakers

  • Dion Houchins, Houchens Industries, CEO and Chairman
  • Leslie Kass, CEO, Lewis Tree Service
  • Moderator: Mary Josephs, Founder and CEO, Verit Advisors, Contributor at Forbes Magazine

About the Employee Ownership Ideas Forum

The Employee Ownership Ideas Forum brings together leading policymakers, practitioners, experts, and the media for a robust discussion on how we can grow employee ownership for the shared benefit of American workers and businesses. It is hosted by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing.

About the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing

The purpose of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing is to study the various models that have emerged and will emerge of employee ownership shares and profit shares in the corporation and society of the United States and around the world.

About the Economic Opportunities Program

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy.

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