A Local Playbook: Tools to Advocate for Employee Ownership in Your City
Use this step-by-step approach to build momentum for employee ownership in your city.
As Colorado leads the nation in supporting employee ownership, there’s a real opportunity to bring this strategy to the local level. Here’s how I approached advocacy in Boulder and how you can do something similar in your community.
This approach centers education, relationship-building, and timing. It meets city leaders where they are while offering a clear pathway toward action. Most importantly, it seeds a coalition for long-term, local economic transformation through employee ownership.
Step-by-Step Playbook
1. Draft a Local Proposal
I created an Employee Ownership Support and Coalition Building Proposal tailored to Boulder’s economic development goals. The proposal made the case for employee ownership as a tool for local economic resilience, business retention, and wealth-building. Follow the link above to a template that you can download and edit.
2. Time it Strategically
I distributed the proposal about a month before the city council was set to discuss their economic development initiatives. This gave them time to review and absorb the ideas ahead of key decisions.
3. Build Buy-In Before the Launch
Before distributing the proposal, I met with a city council member to share my vision and gain support. Early allyship matters—this helped lend credibility and open doors to additional conversations.
4. Distribute and Ask for Meetings
I emailed the proposal to all city council members and staff in the Office of Economic Vitality. I also posted it publicly through the city website. In the email, I requested one-on-one meetings to walk through the proposal.
5. Follow Up and Follow Through
I followed up with those who didn’t initially respond, and ended up meeting with half of the council members and key city staff. In the meetings, I followed this agenda:
Who we are (background on the coalition or effort)
Why we care about employee ownership and how it can benefit the city
Identify what they know (and don’t know) about employee ownership and clarify any confusion
Suggested Phase 1: Education and near-term actions (refer to DAWI’s Municipal EO Resource)
Vision for long-term support
6. Show Up to Public Meetings
I attended the city’s economic development meeting to reinforce interest and legitimacy, and followed up with council members and staff afterwards.
7. Expand the Coalition
After the meetings, I began to:
Create materials for the city to feature on its website
Engage the Chamber of Commerce to identify potential employee ownership candidates
Share resources with the University, SBDC, Chamber, City, and other business-facing organizations
I hope this is helpful. Let’s connect if you’re working on something similar, have feedback, or want to try this in your city. I’m happy to share templates, tools, and lessons learned.