The USFWC is excited to offer a new pilot certification option for minority-, women-, or socially and economically disadvantaged businesses through a partnership with the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO).
The NCEO Registry certifies employee-owned companies in which a majority of shares are held by individuals that are often excluded from ownership.
The NCEO Registry offers three types of certifications: Majority Minority Employee-Owned (MMEO), Majority Women Employee-Owned (MWEO), and Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Employee-Owned (SEDEO). For convenience, they are collectively called the “NCEO Registry Certifications.”
The certification is based on the idea that employee ownership provides workers in every demographic category of the US workforce an opportunity to build economic well-being via an ownership stake in the companies where they work. Research demonstrates that employee ownership builds household wealth for working class people and that this impact applies across ethnic, gender, education level, and other demographic groups. (See the NCEO main research page and this video from the employee-owned company Lewis Services, the first company to receive an NCEO Registry Certification).
The NCEO Registry Certifications currently accommodate employee ownership via an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) and, as of late 2025, now accommodates worker cooperatives. The USFWC reviews worker cooperatives that apply for this program, and works with NCEO to conduct the document review for the certification. Here’s what you need to know:
- The worker co-op certification is a new pilot program for the USFWC, we will be working closely with NCEO to tailor the program to ensure benefit for both worker co-ops and ESOPs.
- The process is more simple for worker cooperatives, which do not require the same set of documentation as ESOPs. During this pilot period,
- The certification is currently recognized by several independent companies as well as at least one group of purchasers. The NCEO is actively working with other groups of private sector purchasers to recognize the certification for their diverse supplier needs.
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The NCEO Registry is currently not recognized by any government entities or agencies; this pilot program is one way that the USFWC seeks explore how to address this issue for government purposes for our members.
For more details about the certification process, visit the NCEO website.
If you have questions about this pilot program, please reach out to policy@usworker.coop.
