Rob Brown has published an opinion piece in the newspaper with the highest circulation in Maine. The piece outlines why LD 1338, a cooperative development bill currently moving through Maine’s legislature, would benefit the whole state:

Maine has seen a modest rise in employee ownership (whether as employee stock ownership plans or worker cooperatives), but it is a drop in the bucket compared to the magnitude of the challenge. L.D. 1338, An Act to Create and Sustain Jobs through Development of Cooperative and Employee-Owned Businesses, would accelerate an effective response. It will help raise awareness of and incentivize this highly beneficial succession planning option and reduce the costs of financing the sale.

While the story of Rock City Employee Cooperative is inspiring, it’s not as if a group of coffee roaster workers and café baristas had the means to buy these businesses without technical and financial support. By providing a modest incentive to sell a business to employees, L.D. 1338 would give thousands of workers just enough financial breathing room to close the deal.

Read the complete opinion piece at the Portland Press Herald here.

Rob Brown pens LD 1338 opinion piece in Portland Press Herald

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