Keep businesses local.
Preserve jobs.
Strengthen your regional economy.
Employee Ownership is a proven strategy to support business transitions, retain jobs, and build long-term wealth across Tennessee. TNCEO helps economic development and community partners bring this solution to the businesses they serve
Growing Challenges for Tennessee Communities
Economic development efforts have traditionally focused on attracting new businesses and jobs. At the same time, many communities are facing a quieter challenge: how to retain existing businesses, support better job growth, and keep long-standing employers local.
Together, we are asking the right questions to build a resilient economy in Tennessee:
Business Continuity
How do you support well-established businesses without losing them to outside buyers or closure?
Workforce & Job Quality
How do you help businesses retain employees and build stronger, more stable teams over time?
Local Impact
How do you keep jobs, leadership, and wealth rooted in your community while demonstrating measurable outcomes?
What is Employee Ownership?
A Path to Succession, Retention, and Local Impact.
Employee ownership allows workers to build ownership in a company over time, often as part of their compensation.
It can take different forms, including ESOPs, cooperatives, and trusts, but all share a common goal: keeping businesses stable, locally owned, and aligned with the people who help build them.
Employee ownership helps communities retain businesses, support workers, and build long-term local stability
Add Employee Ownership to Your Toolkit
Employee ownership isn’t a standalone program. It can be integrated into existing business retention, workforce, community and economic development efforts.
Business Retention & Expansion
Add a succession pathway to your BRE work. Employee ownership helps address the growing wave of retiring business owners by offering a transition option that keeps businesses operating locally, avoiding closures, relocations, or external buyouts.
Workforce & Talent Strategies
Employee ownership supports priorities like wage growth, stability, layoff prevention, and career pathways, while strengthening overall business resilience. It drives higher engagement and upward mobility while reducing turnover in sectors where retention and job quality remain persistent challenges.
Entrepreneur & Small Biz Support
Strengthen your small business ecosystem. Employee ownership expands business transition and capital strategies, supporting both succession and growth while helping deploy capital in ways that keep businesses locally owned and economically rooted.
How TNCEO Helps
The Tennessee Center for Employee Ownership (TNCEO) provides guidance to businesses and their partners about all things Employee Ownership (EO)
TNCEO is a 501c3 nonprofit
All our services are free
What TNCEO does:
- Help business owners understand employee ownership options
- Assess readiness and fit
- Connect business owners to trusted advisors and resources
- Support Entreprenuer Support Organizations (ESO), Economic Development Organizations (EDO), chambers, and others with referrals and partner-led outreach efforts
What TNCEO does not do:
- Sell financial products
- Replace advisors or offer professional legal, financial, or valuation services
- Push employee ownership when it is not a good fit for the business
This isn't theoretical.
It's already working.
Employee ownership is a proven strategy used across industries to build competitive businesses and long-term local economic strength.
Across the U.S., more than 6,600 employee owned companies hold over $2 trillion in assets, making employee ownership a significant and growing part of the economy.
In Tennessee, this model is already delivering results, with more than $1.1 billion distributed to employee-owners through employee stock ownership plans.
Companies
105
Over 100 Companies in Tennessee are Employee Owned
Employee Owners
109k
More than 109,000 workers in Tennessee are Employee Owners
Wealth Distributed
$1.1B
Over $1.1 Billion has been distributed to workers through ESOPs in Tennessee
Employee Owned Companies You May Know
Employee ownership is used by companies of all sizes, from nationally recognized brands to local and regional businesses.
Nationally
Publix Super Markets is the largest ESOP in the United States; a $50B company with 260,000+ employees
King Arthur Baking Company is a 100% employee-owned company with a widely recognized brand
Davey Tree Expert Company is the oldest tree-care company in the US and has been named one of America's best employers.
Locally
4Top Hospitality is a multi-state restaurant group, which includes Amerigo, etch, etc., Char and Jaspers restaurants here in Tennessee.
Barge Design Solutions is an employee-owned engineering and architecture firm headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee
Houchens Industries is one of the largest ESOPs in the U.S., operating across manufacturing, distribution, and retail.
Common Questions
About Employee Ownership (EO)
What businesses are a good fit?
Employee ownership is most common among small and mid-sized businesses with stable cash flow and strong management teams. A committed workforce (usually 20+ employees) and a viable long-term business model are key indicators of readiness. EO can work in all industries, and is common in manufacturing, construction, professional services, distribution, home care and retail.
When should a business consider EO?
Employee ownership is commonly used during ownership transition, but it can also support growth, succession planning, and long-term stability well before an owner exits. Many business owners explore it mid-career as part of a broader strategy for resilience and competitiveness.
How does EO work for selling owners?
Owners can sell some or all of their business to employees over time while maintaining leadership continuity during the transition. This approach can provide liquidity, preserve the company’s legacy, and keep the business locally owned. Financing is often used to ensure a fair market buyout, and owners can customize the transition based on what's important to them.
How does EO work for employees?
Employees typically receive ownership shares over time, often at no upfront cost, and benefit from profit sharing and long-term equity growth. This creates a direct connection between their work and the company’s success.
How does a business get started?
Most businesses begin with an initial conversation to help owners explore succession options and EO feasibility. TNCEO also connects owners to qualified advisors and guides the early exploration process.
TNCEO business support is free!
What role can partners play?
Partners help identify businesses, make referrals, and integrate employee ownership into existing programs like BRE, workforce, and small business support. TNCEO provides the specialized education, technical assistance connections, and process support.
Employee Ownership isn't a standalone initiative. It's a tool to use and integrate today.
Help a Business Plan What's Next
Employee ownership can be integrated into your existing programs, from business retention and expansion to workforce and small business support. We partner with organizations across Tennessee to identify opportunities, guide exploration, and support successful transitions.
