A project funded by the EOX State Center Grant Program

Meeting business owners where they are

The Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership (MNCEO) used its project grant to build a narrative-focused infrastructure, launching the Worker Co. Podcast. This series of conversations examines what it looks like when workers have a real stake in the places they work — across cooperative models and other forms of employee ownership.

Through this project, MNCEO:

• Produced a mission-aligned podcast that lifts up lived experiences around employee ownership, culture, and shared wealth-building.

• Invited diverse guests from Minnesota’s employee ownership ecosystem—worker-owners, practitioners, allies, and ecosystem partners.

• Strengthened relationships with local EO companies and organizations through deeper, story-based conversations.

• Added a flexible storytelling channel to its education and outreach work, giving people something they can listen to, share, and return to over time.

• Helped position employee-owners and practitioners as trusted messengers for employee ownership in the state.

This builds on MNCEO’s earlier capacity investments in a new website, CRM, and added staff support...a strong foundation to produce and sustain a content project like this rather than treating it as a one-off experiment.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Information is important, but it’s often the stories that stick. With the Worker Co. Podcast, MNCEO is making employee ownership feel less abstract and more human — something you can picture in real workplaces with real people.

For the EOX Network, this project underscores that storytelling is a vital part of our infrastructure, not a side project. And it offers a model for other State Centers that want to champion local voices and real-world EO experiences in a way that feels honest and grounded.