October brings more attention to employee ownership than any other month of the year.

Across the EOX State Center Network, that extra attention did not go to waste.

Some Centers launched new programs. Others premiered films, held conferences, celebrated employee-owned companies, trained advisors, and brought business owners together to talk candidly about succession. Governors and mayors put Employee Ownership Month on the public record.

There was no single October playbook.

What happened in Alabama looked different from what happened in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Texas or Colorado because their work is uniquely rooted in their own communities. That is exactly what makes the State Center Network so effective at catalyzing the EO Movement in the US.

Here are some of the ways Employee Ownership Month showed up across the country.

The Alabama Center for Employee Ownership had a lot to celebrate.

On October 22, they premiered Safe Landing: The Story of Employee Ownership in Huntsville, a short documentary featuring Avion, Torch Technologies, deciBel Research and APT Research — four companies from Huntsville’s aerospace, defense and technology community whose stories highlight the transformative power of employee ownership.

Rather than explain an ESOP through diagrams and definitions, Safe Landing lets founders and employee-owners show what the transition has meant for their companies, their families, and their Huntsville community.

The project was supported by an EOX Storytelling Grant and developed with local and national partners.

At the same time, ALCEO expanded its Local Legacy campaign beyond Birmingham’s Fourth Avenue Business District and Ensley to business owners throughout the Birmingham metro →. October also included an owner-focused employee ownership happy hour and a Local Legacy Listening Session in Woodlawn.

Different audiences. Same purpose: get succession planning in front of owners before the decision is made for them.

WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY →

Massachusetts marked Employee Ownership Month with something business owners can use immediately.

On October 6, the Healey-Driscoll Administration launched the MassCEO Technical Assistance Stipend Program, administered through the Massachusetts Center for Employee Ownership.

Eligible Massachusetts businesses exploring an ESOP or worker cooperative can now receive state support covering 50% of approved pre-conversion technical assistance costs — up to $25,000 for an ESOP project or $12,500 for a worker cooperative project.

That can help cover the kind of work that determines whether employee ownership is actually feasible: valuations, legal services, transaction planning, feasibility analysis and other specialized assistance.

Awareness is important. Giving an interested owner a practical way to take the next step is even better. This is one of five similar programs available through an EOX State Center. More are expected in the coming year.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MassCEO's Technical Assistance Stipend Program →

GACEO closed out the month with its 2026 Employee Ownership Celebration in Atlanta, bringing together people working to make employee ownership a more familiar part of Georgia’s business landscape.

Recently, GACEO had the privilege of thanking Congressman Rick W. Allen, representing Georgia's 12th Congressional District, for his support of S. 2403, the Retire Through Ownership Act, which became law last week.

During a special meet-and-greet at Augusta Industrial Services, Inc., an employee-owned company, GACEO presented Congressman Allen with a framed copy of Governor Brian P. Kemp's 2026 proclamation recognizing October as Employee Ownership Month. 

For a Center focused heavily on owners and the advisors who influence succession decisions, the annual celebration creates something equally important: a visible community working to build a strong ecosystem for EO.

Business owners exploring EO should be able to see that they do not have to take that path alone.

WATCH THE VIDEO →

The Connecticut Center for Employee Ownership used EO Month to release a new video centered on Web Industries, the Connecticut-founded manufacturer that has been employee-owned for more than two decades.

The story begins with founder Bob Fulton and his belief that “The Essence of Life is Relationships,” but CTCEO wisely does not leave the story with the founder.

Employee-owners themselves explain what ownership means now.

Succession is often where an owner first encounters employee ownership, but the real story continues long after the transaction closes.

Web Industries also spent October amplifying those employee-owner voices to its own audience, extending the reach of the project well beyond the Connecticut Center.

WATCH WEB INDUSTRIES' STORY →

The Iowa Center for Employee Ownership opened October with its fourth annual Employee Ownership Conference in Ankeny.

Over 200 Business leaders, employee-owners, service providers, researchers, students, and advocates gathered for a day of learning, connection, and conversation. Keynote speakers, Iowa Lt. Gov. Chris Cournoyer and Dr. Celina Peerman helped set the stage for a program featuring four tracks: Exploring Employee Ownership, Growth Strategies, Culture & Engagement, and a new Academic Research track. Nearly 45 panelists and speakers shared insights on employee ownership, including a powerful personal story from an employee-owner who described the difference employee ownership has made in her life. The conference highlighted the many ways employee ownership can strengthen businesses, build employee wealth and support Iowa’s economy. (Save the date for next year's event on October 7th in Ankeny, IA)

Annual gatherings like Iowa’s matter because they create continuity. Owners can meet people who have already made the transition. Advisors can sharpen what they know. Existing employee-owned businesses can compare notes. And people who may have encountered EO only in theory get to hear from people living it.

READ MORE →

MOCEO began October by launching the second cohort of its Employee Ownership Ambassador Program.

The free four-week program equips business professionals with a working understanding of ESOPs, worker cooperatives, and EOTs so they can recognize when employee ownership belongs in a conversation with a client or business owner.

That work becomes especially important outside major metros.

This month, MOCEO also announced an 18-month rural initiative supported by the Patterson Family Foundation → focused on making employee ownership a more practical succession option for rural Missouri businesses. The work will include advisor training, owner outreach, regional collaboration and a playbook that can carry the lessons beyond a single community.

Business owners rarely begin succession planning by calling an “employee ownership person.” They call someone they already trust.

MOCEO is putting more of those trusted people in a position to speak to the ins and outs of employee ownership.

SEE MORE →

NCEOC began EO Month on the heels of its first-ever NC Business Continuity & Employee Ownership Conference in September.

On October 15, the Center hosted its annual Employee Ownership Celebration at the employee-owned O.Henry Hotel in Greensboro.

NCEOC then took the work west to Asheville → for Employee Ownership & Business Continuity: Overview & WNC Stories, bringing together business owners, advisors, economic developers, subject-matter experts and employee-owned companies. Advisors could earn continuing education credit while owners heard directly from companies with firsthand experience.

That combination is exactly where a State Center adds value: education for the people advising owners, lived experience from companies that have done it, and local connections that foster trust and support for NC business communities.

TNCEO used Employee Ownership Month to announce its biggest business-assistance program yet.

Backed by a $500,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, the new Tennessee Employee Ownership Business Assistance Program → will reimburse eligible businesses up to $25,000 for the professional work required to explore a transition to an ESOP.

TNCEO unveiled the program during its October 22 Celebration of Employee Ownership, where the Center also recognized ten 100% employee-owned Tennessee companies.

And the work is reaching beyond the state’s major business centers. TNCEO also secured a $30,000 USDA grant to support succession planning and employee ownership exploration among rural businesses in Wayne and Hardin counties, along with a $5,000 Maddox Fund planning grant focused on opportunities for employee ownership within Middle Tennessee’s food system.

TNCEO celebrated EO another way, highlighting another powerful story from a real employee-owned company: John Hannah shares why he chose employee ownership in a newly released short documentary, No Capes, Just Heroes (a collaboration between the TNCEO, Good Future, and EOX).

WATCH THE FILM →

TXCEO used October to show business owners that there is more than one way to become employee-owned — and that the best explanation often comes from another owner.

The Center highlighted the story of P. Terry’s, then closed the month with Austin Courts & Floors →, a nearly 50-year-old Central Texas company transitioning through Direct Employee Ownership.

Co-founder Greg Dettman joined TXCEO to talk about the decision firsthand, alongside Tandem Center for Shared Business Success.

That kind of programming cuts through theory. An owner considering succession gets to hear another owner explain why they chose the path, what they weighed and what the transition actually required.

HEAR FROM P. TERRY'S CO-FOUNDERS ON THE TODAY SHOW →

WICEO hosted its first Celebrating Employee Ownership in Wisconsin dinner → on October 22 at The Edgewater Hotel in Madison.

The honorees told a remarkably broad EO story.

Union Cab represented worker cooperative ownership. Weinbrenner Shoe Company was recognized for preserving a long Wisconsin business legacy through an ESOP. Community Pharmacy Cooperative was honored for community impact. Findorff represented a major Wisconsin company newly 100% employee-owned through an ESOP.

State Rep. Darrin Madison also received the Employee Ownership Champion Award for his work on legislation supporting employee ownership conversions.

EOX was proud to sponsor the evening, and Steve Storkan joined WICEO to speak about the national outlook for employee ownership and Wisconsin’s opportunity ahead.

One event. Several models. Decades of business history. New conversions. Public policy.

That is a pretty good picture of how broad the employee ownership field has become.

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center began the month with a free public introduction to employee ownership and continued its education work through programs for business owners and existing employee-owned companies.

But one of our favorite Vermont stories came from an employee-owned company itself.

Throughout October, King Arthur Baking donated 50% of baguette sales at its Norwich café and bakery to VEOC through its “Baguette Effect” program.

It is a wonderfully literal example of the relationship State Centers build with the companies they serve: an employee-owned business using Employee Ownership Month to help the Center introduce the idea to the next one.

READ MORE →

North Dakota marked Employee Ownership Month with official recognition from the Governor’s office and an October 6 ESOP luncheon that brought together business and EO leaders to talk about the progress being made across the state. It was a full-circle moment, considering the North Dakota Center was in its infancy during last year's celebration event in Bismarck.

Former Lieutenant Governor and retired Border States CEO Tammy Miller helped convene the gathering alongside employee ownership leaders and supporters.

A proclamation can put employee ownership on the public record.

The conversations that surround it are what give that recognition somewhere to take hold.

READ MORE →

The Indiana Center for Employee Ownership entered October with recognition from both Governor Mike Braun and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, each issuing proclamations recognizing Employee Ownership Month.

For INCEO, those proclamations reinforce years of work making employee ownership visible as a legitimate business succession and economic-development strategy in Indiana.

They also give employee-owned companies something useful to take back into their own celebrations: public recognition that their ownership model contributes to Indiana’s businesses, workers, and communities.

READ MORE →

On October 21, ILCEO brought Illinois’ employee ownership community together for its 2026 Employee Ownership Celebration.

The afternoon was built around stories, connections and the people already advancing EO across the state.

ILCEO is also using that community as a base for further building the EO field in its state, including its Ambassador Program and upcoming advocacy work.

That makes an EO Month celebration more useful than a once-a-year gathering: people leave knowing there is another way to plug into the work.

READ MORE →

Michigan had more than one reason to celebrate this fall.

DBI became employee-owned, adding another Michigan company to the growing list of businesses choosing to share ownership with the people behind the work. MICEO captured the transition in its feature, Designing the Future Together: DBI Becomes Employee-Owned →.

West Michigan also added a major new ESOP when Rockford, one of the region’s largest construction and development firms, became 100% employee-owned →. All 330 employees are eligible to participate in the company’s new ESOP. MICEO was not involved in the transaction, but a company of Rockford’s size choosing employee ownership is significant news for the state.

And MICEO entering its own new chapter with Kwaku Osei being named next Executive Director of the Center →. Kwaku brings experience in entrepreneurship, community investment and economic development to a Center already deeply involved in helping Michigan businesses explore employee ownership.

Employee Ownership Month is useful because, for thirty-one days, more people are paying attention to EO.

The EOX Network of State Centers continue to breath life into the EO Movement that is sweeping the nation.

They give a business owner somewhere to call when a post, event, film or conversation sparks an idea. They help advisors understand that employee ownership is a powerful tool in their succession planning tool belt. They know the companies in their states that can tell the story better than any brochure. They build relationships with economic developers, public officials, funders, and service providers. And when an owner becomes serious about exploring a transition, State Centers help connect that business to the expertise required to evaluate EO responsibly.

That work is rarely flashy.

Some days it looks like a statewide conference.

Some days it is five people around a table.

Both can change the future of a business. Both help create better futures for business owners, their employees, and the communities they call home.

EOX is proud to spend Employee Ownership Month celebrating the people across the State Center Network who keep meeting the moment, day-in and day-out...not just in October, but all year long.

Find your State Center → and help the EOX Network create more employee owners! Help us create more success stories to celebrate between now and next year's Employee Ownership Month!