Governor signs employee ownership executive order

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order Wednesday establishing the Commission on Employee Ownership. The order is meant to encourage employee ownership of businesses.

“Increasing employee ownership will help support a strong economy and promote job security in communities across the state,” said Polis when he signed the order. “Supporting employee ownership has been a top goal and now we are taking the necessary steps to make it a reality.”

In Colorado, 98 percent of all Colorado companies are small businesses. And these 560,000 small businesses employ more than one million people, making small business one of the state’s top employers, Polis said. Small businesses also diversify the economy with 85,800 minority-owned firms in Colorado, he said.

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The commission will support the development and advancement of employee-owned businesses by:

• Establishing a network of technical support for businesses wishing to convert to employee-ownership.
• Educating businesses and communities about the economic benefits of employee-owned businesses.
• Identifying barriers to employee-owned businesses and recommending actions and resources to remove those barriers.

The commission will be housed in the Office of Economic Development and International Trade.