As Congress deliberates the budget for FY2026, there’s still time to advocate for funds to be appropriated for the WORK Act. The legislation, passed in 2022, authorized $50 million over five years to create the Employee Ownership Initiative within the Department of Labor to promote employee ownership, by supporting new and existing state employee ownership programs, including:
- Federal grants toward state employee ownership programs that provide education and outreach about the possibilities and benefits of employee ownership and business succession planning
- Funding projects to gather data and information about state employee ownership programs
- Acting as a clearinghouse on best practices within employee ownership and disseminating that information
The Employee Ownership Initiative is the first federal worker ownership grant program from the Department of Labor, and is currently led by Division leader Hilary Abell.
Below is a template letter to send to your representative. It’s best to email your representative directly. If you have questions about how to find your representative’s contact information, please reach out to policy@usworker.coop for more help.
Dear [Staff/Representative Name]:
My name is [NAME], and I am writing from [ORG NAME], based in [State/district]. As you consider Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations levels, we respectfully request $7 million in funding for grants to Employee Ownership Centers through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Ownership Initiative.
Worker cooperatives are an increasingly popular solution to strengthen companies, reward workers, and prevent job loss. This growing business model allows entrepreneurs to benefit directly from the value that they create, while also fostering a company culture of transparency, engagement and trust.
In addition, worker co-ops provide a unique opportunity to address the growing loss of economic and cultural assets as baby boomers age into retirement. Baby boomers who are at or near retirement age own nearly half of the nation’s privately-held businesses. That is more than 2.3 million companies, employing one in six workers nationwide or close to 25 million people. While more than half of small business owners expect to retire in the next 10 years, fewer than 15 percent have a formal exit plan in place. As these business owners retire, the U.S. will face a massive shift in our local economies that could trigger the closure of small businesses across the country and a significant loss of jobs and investment in our communities. This looming crisis can be turned into a unique opportunity to strengthen small businesses, reward workers, and invest in neighborhood cornerstone businesses. The Employee Ownership Initiative, and the grants slated to invest in state employee ownership centers, is a powerful opportunity to invest in a sector that will be transformed by these limited funds.
I would like to schedule a call with you to answer any questions that you may have and expand
on the importance of the WORK Act and the Employee Ownership Initiative. Please let me know when you have time. You may also contact our national trade association for worker -owned and -governed businesses: Mo Manklang, Senior Director of Government Relations for the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives at mo@usworker.coop.
I would also be happy to schedule a tour for the [Representative/Senator] or district staff.
Thanks for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
