Assets in Common (eBook)

Stories of business and community leaders remaking the economy from the ground up

Infrastructure for Shared Ownership, Charity May, Jay Standish, Chelsea Robinson, Zoe Schlag, Derek (Autoren)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
320 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
979-8-3509-5655-9 (ISBN)

Infos

'Assets in Common' reveals a strategy for transforming the U.S. economy through shared ownership and stewardship. Based on extensive research, the authors present in-depth case studies and approaches, such as cooperation between companies, shared balance sheets, holding companies, and shared services. They offer compelling evidence that connecting assets can create economic resilience. 'Assets in Common' identifies what's working at scale, and what's needed next. This book is a must-read for business and community leaders who want to be part of the solution. Filled with practical insights, 'Assets in Common' offers actionable steps for building infrastructure.

Derek Razo is Co-founder and Managing Partner at Common Trust, where he leads business and product development. Recognized as one of the nation's foremost authorities in this field, Derek has led shared ownership and steward ownership transitions since 2017. He co-founded Purpose International in 2016 and then later Purpose US, which have led the movement for steward ownership and popularized the use of Perpetual Purpose Trusts for mission protection. Derek has served as an investor, advisor, and delivery partner for businesses shifting to stakeholder and purpose ownership. Derek's extensive experience also includes collaborating on community-led projects such as affordable housing and real estate, and indigenous-led funds. Derek studied computer science and business at UC Berkeley, and has been a serial founder of cooperative and open source businesses throughout his early career.

Textauszug

Introduction

Chelsea Robinson

Infrastructure for Shared Ownership

The United States economy is overdue for a shift towards equity and democratic wealth building. As authors, we set out to reveal lesser-known corporate forms and financial structures that leaders can use to enable widespread transformation. We have compiled a curated selection of case studies that demonstrate outstanding examples of an alternative economic paradigm in action. In particular, we are excited about the potential of using shared ownership forms as the core instrument for business ownership and community asset stewardship.

This body of work is an attempt at figuring out how to scale steward ownership and shared ownership. Given that many leaders are already aware of the potential of tools such as trust-owned corporations to protect their values long-term, this work offers a next step; to grow this movement through infrastructure that connects assets for greater resilience and competitiveness. Throughout this book, we describe this in several ways. We use language like ‘connective entities’ and ‘networked businesses’ to describe what we call Infrastructure for Shared Ownership.

Shared ownership and steward ownership are key concepts throughout the book, so let’s define them for you up front:

• Shared ownership refers to business and property ownership structures that distribute equity and control among a wider group of stakeholders, such as employees, customers, or community members. Shared ownership models create more equitable and engaged economic participation through structures like cooperatives, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), and community land trusts.
• Steward ownership is a corporate governance model that ensures enduring independence and mission-driven focus by placing a company’s shares in a trust or foundation. This preserves the organization’s purpose and values beyond the involvement of any individual leaders. Central to steward ownership is the strict separation of economic interest and governance. Rather than being privatized, profits are either reinvested in the business and its stakeholders or donated to charity.

When shared and steward ownership are combined, we protect assets and businesses for the long term, align financial interests with mission and values, incentivize reinvestment instead of extraction, and build wealth for all stakeholders.

This book extends the powerful concepts of shared ownership and stewardship by envisioning the integration of these units into something greater. If we work together to build infrastructural institutions between our entities and assets, we can create competitive ecosystems that more and more entities can opt into. Building infrastructure for shared ownership will promote the development of an economy running on different incentives and principles. If matured, these kinds of ecosystems could offer resilient, scalable alternatives to the default financial system.

Leaders face enormous friction when prioritizing reinvestment over extractive incentives. Business owners and community leaders are often ready to prioritize the health, well-being, and wealth of their people and places. Even after leaders restructure their community assets or company into a stewardship format, they still experience the hostile pressures of the extractive economy. Because of this edge effect between shared and steward ownership formats and the rest of the economy, this book shows how we can build corridors of connection between institutions.

Unlocking mutual support between entities can buffer against adverse pressures to place profit above all else. It is possible to build and share banking systems, currencies, employer-of-record companies, no-interest loan pools, warehouses, and heavy machinery libraries. It is also possible to run entire value chains within collaborative networks of allied organizations. Competitiveness can thrive alongside interdependence. Together, networks of institutions operating on different economic principles can buffer each other from the winds of the default economy as it crumbles.

The groundswell of attention on good governance in finance and corporations is driving a movement towards shared ownership and stewardship forms. Perpetual Purpose Trusts, Employee Stock Option Plans, Cooperatives, and Employee Ownership all share a big tent: Corporate models for an equitable economy. This book contributes to the next step in scaling up these modalities by emphasizing connectivity. This movement needs infrastructure to help these shared ownership models grow, become resilient, and eventually outpace the existing economy.

In this book, we not only break down the nuts and bolts of real examples, but we also elaborate on the patterns, success factors, and nuanced issues across each. Though an individual case study may seem relevant to some audiences and less so to others, the principles from each specific instance can be transferred and reapplied in many other environments. We hope that between all the stories you’ll see the big opportunity.

A Highlights Reel

We’ve collated some key ideas up front. We hope this can be an enticing starting point and a point of reference. You may want to come back to this once you’ve read more of the book to allow these key points to sink in deeper. The following is a selection of patterns and concepts. We believe that combining these concepts in practice could help you successfully build infrastructure for shared ownership from the bottom up. These concepts can foster economic revitalization and build shared surplus for communities, regions, or sectors suffering from the long-term damages of over-extraction, and growth at all costs.

Conscious Consolidation

Many leaders are aggregating assets into unifying entities like holding companies or multi-stakeholder cooperatives. Achieving this via typical structures can be a slippery slope to monopoly and cartel behavior. However, when designed with shared ownership and stewardship, these can create value for stakeholders and long-term missions. Conscious consolidation can help with efficiency gains and greater influence in the market.

Shared Balance Sheets

Pooling assets in shared legal containers can create mechanisms for resilience and liquidity at scale. Putting many buildings, employees, business units, funds, or loans onto shared balance sheets enables pre-tax internal trade. These larger balance sheets can be leveraged for growth, acquiring capital, extending credit to allies, or buffering against losses and layoffs.

Pragmatic Leaders

A motivated, practical leader is often behind infrastructure for shared ownership. These leaders typically have an operational mindset and a vision to create win-wins for their people, customers, and stakeholders while staying in line with regulators.

Companies Cooperating

Connected entities create infrastructure for shared ownership. Methods like cross-shareholding, or co-investment in co-owned services companies create connective tissue between businesses and assets. Entrepreneurship typically focuses on developing and leading one project, but infrastructure projects require entrepreneurial creativity in managing relationships between entities.

Monetary Policy and Sovereignty

Monetary policy is typically considered the role of the state. It determines how the central bank controls the money supply and promotes price stability. It involves managing interest rates, setting bank reserve requirements, and influencing credit availability in the economy. These kinds of policies can be generated within networks of businesses with shared resources. Complementary currencies or internal network trade can be opportunities to redefine the role and value of money. Sovereign economic spaces can encode new incentives and imbue meaning to money itself.

Municipal & Civic Integration

Municipalities and citizen-led initiatives can benefit from infrastructure for shared ownership. Connected business networks enhance worker empowerment and agency. Empowered people participate more actively in local developmental efforts. Community leaders can use shared ownership and stewardship for community assets, while local governments can aggregate regional resources onto shared balance sheets. These concepts are relevant and beneficial for regions and cities alike.

Regionalism and Place

Each locale has a history of how economic and cultural development occurred in that area. These historical drivers, such as settlements created among mining, shipping, or fabrication, can be sources of economic revitalization. Looking at the endogenous sources of economic development in a region can inspire a purpose for networks of business activities to grow from. Linking the past activities of a place to its desired future state can provide a strategy for developing infrastructure for shared...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 4.6.2024
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Technik
• ISBN-13: 979-8-3509-5655-9 / 9798350956559