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From YouTube: Pittsburgh City Council Post-Agenda - 1/29/19
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A
Hello
and
welcome
to
Pittsburgh
City
Council's
poster
denta
for
Tuesday
January
29th
2019.
My
name
is
Kim
Clark,
Baskin
and
I'm
your
deputy
city
clerk
with
us.
Today
we
have
our
sign
language
interpreter
Nick,
Miller.
The
following
is
a
topic
to
be
discussed
at
roundtable
by
Pittsburgh
City
Council,
an
agenda
item
at
the
request
of
Councilwoman
Erika
Strassburger,
with
a
discussion
on
employee
ownership.
That
concludes
the
topic
of
the
day.
Thank
you
and
have
a
wonderful
day.
B
Good
afternoon
and
welcome
to
the
post
agenda
hearing
on
employee
ownership,
where
we're
joined
today,
I'm
happy
to
be
joined
today
by
Councilwoman,
Harris
and
Councilman,
Coghill
and
I
know
that
other
council
members
will
be
joining
us
soon.
So
we
are
here
to
discuss
the
possibility
of
employee
ownership.
What
does
that
mean?
What
are
the
different
forms
it
can
take,
and
how
can
it
empower
employees
to
to
take
partial
or
control
full
ownership
over
a
company
that
they
work
for
and
what
are
their
sort
of
economic
implications
for
those
employees
and
for
the
businesses?
B
Those
are
the
questions
that
we're
here
to
answer
today
and
we
have
a
whole
panel
of
experts
ready
to
tell
us
a
little
bit
about
that.
So
what
the
way
that
post
agenda
hearings
work,
we
will
hear
from
this
panel
of
experts
there
will.
There
will
not
be
public
comments
included
in
this,
but
certainly
welcome
the
comments
from
anyone,
who's
listening
or
watching
at
home
afterwards
and
to
continue
this
conversation.
I.
Consider
this
to
be
really
just
the
beginning
of
the
Congress
around
this
and
education.
B
Educating
the
public
around
this,
this
exciting
and
opportunity,
and
an
important
issue
so
without
further
ado,
I
will
allow
Kevin
McPhillips
the
executive
director
of
Pennsylvania's
center
for
employee
ownership
to
kick
things
off
with
a
presentation
and
overview
of
the
topic
and
then,
after
that,
I
think
we'll
just
go
down
start
here
and
go
down
the
line
and
allow
opening
remarks
and
introductions
after
which
we'll
have
questions
and
comments
from
Council
members.
Sound
good,
okay,.
C
Thanks
Kevin
over
to
you,
thank
you
so
much
council
person
good
afternoon.
My
name
is
Kevin
McPhillips,
as,
as
the
council
person
said,
and
I'm
the
executive
director
and
CEO
of
a
relatively
new
Pennsylvania
nonprofit
organization,
where
the
Pennsylvania
Center
for
employee
ownership,
and
we
exist
for
one
purpose
and
one
purpose
only
which
is
to
raise
awareness
about
employee
ownership
and
a
dramatic
program
that
can
assist
citizens
here
in
Pittsburgh
and
and
nationwide.
It's
called
employee
ownership,
and
it
has
a
variety
of
forms
and
we're
here
today
to
ask
you
to
allow
us
to
help.
C
You
I'd,
like
to
begin
by
thanking
the
distinguished
members
of
council
for
the
opportunity
to
share
a
few
thoughts.
I
wish
to
thank
mayor
Peduto
for
initiating
this
process
and
commend
council
person
Strassburger
for
taking
the
critically
important
first
step
that
you've
done
today
to
improve
lives
and
decrease
the
wealth
gap
that
is
strangling
so
many
of
our
citizens.
Employee
ownership
can
help
to
do
that.
First.
If
you
could.
E
G
I
J
F
G
H
M
F
N
D
O
O
E
E
C
C
Great
okay,
thank
you
for
watching
that.
You
know
the
cities
of
Pennsylvania
and
Pittsburgh
in
particular,
are
centrally
important
to
the
health
and
the
well-being
of
not
just
the
Commonwealth,
but
the
nation
as
a
whole.
It's
within
that
context
that
I'd
like
to
share
a
couple
stories
with
you
in
2002,
the
owners
of
a
successful
distribution
company
in
a
small
town
in
Selinsgrove,
Pennsylvania
saltan
Susquehanna
County
decided
that
their
owners
were
in
their
70s
and
it
was
time
to
sell
the
business.
They
had
40
employees
who
worked
for
them
and
they
considered
them
family.
C
Unfortunately,
they
were
in
a
very
remote
location
and
all
offers
to
buy
the
business
included,
moving
it
away
and
laying
off
40
workers.
They
couldn't
do
that
these
were
their
neighbors.
They
grew
up
with
these
people.
They
went
to
the
grocery
store
and
saw
them,
so.
Instead
they
learned
of
a
plan
that
would
work.
They
sold
the
business
for
the
same
amount
offered
by
other
suitors
to
the
40
employees.
The
employees
paid
nothing
fast-forward
15
years
to
today.
The
business
has
over
200
employees
and
all
40
original
ploys
have
more
than
enough
in
their
accounts.
C
In
a
Forbes
magazine
story
last
year
it
was
related
that
two
twin
sisters
graduated
high
school
in
Oregon,
and
went
to
work
at
a
fast-food
establishment.
After
one
year
they
received
a
five
cent
raise.
They
knew
that
this
was
unsustainable,
so
they
went
to
a
local
grocery
store
chain
and
they
the
chain
was
called
wind
Co,
it's
basically
the
the
Aldi
of
the
west
coast.
C
They
were
seeking
employment.
The
grocery
store
chain
was
an
employee
owned
company,
but
they
only
had
one
opening,
so
one
sister
took
a
job
there
stocking
shelves
on
the
overnight
shift.
The
second
sister
took
an
administrative
job
at
a
law
firm.
They
both
worked
hard
and
they
both
prospered
fast
forward.
23
years,
the
sister
at
the
law
firm,
reg,
really
contributed
to
her
401k
program
and
by
at
the
age
of
43,
she
had
almost
$70,000
in
her
account,
which
was
very
good
for
her
young
age.
C
The
sister
at
the
grocery
store,
although
they
had
a
401k,
did
not
participate
in
that.
Rather
she
had
an
esop
account
at
the
age
of
43
still
stocking
shell
shelves
on
the
overnight
shift.
She
had
just
over
1
million
dollars
in
her
account
and
in
contributed
none
of
her
own
money.
So
what
is
this
program
in
1974
Congress
passed
a
law
that
is
part
of
ERISA,
the
Employee
Retirement
Income
Security
Act.
It's
called
an
esop,
an
employee
stock
ownership
plan.
C
The
law
says
that
an
owner
can
sell
some
or
all
of
their
business
20%
40%
a
hundred
percent
to
their
employees.
The
employees
pay
nothing,
not
a
penny.
Rather,
the
business
takes
one,
a
loan
from
a
bank
or
another
lending
party
to
pay
the
owner
over
time.
The
federal
government
and
the
state
of
Pennsylvania
stand
up
and
say:
look
if
you
do
this
and
you
meet
certain
criteria.
You
never
have
to
pay
taxes
again
on
your
profits,
for
whatever
portion
of
the
business
is
owned
by
the
employees.
C
The
tax
savings
saved
to
pay
off
the
note,
and
once
the
mortgage
is
paid,
what
can
the
company
do
with
up
to
30%
more
cash?
Well,
they
can
grow
and
virtually
no
one
knows
about
this.
Some
of
the
successful
companies
right
here
in
Pittsburgh
that
have
completed
employee
ownership
include
Voodoo
brewery
tech
tech
net.
Who
is
here
with
us
today,
joy,
Cohn,
thermo,
twin
Silverstar,
deli
Katie,
a
Tater
engineering
who's
with
us
today
and
Caro
tests.
C
So
what
about
the
millions
of
small
businesses
across
the
country
across
the
United
States
that
will
transact
over
the
next
dozen
years
or
so?
Well,
there
is
an
alternative
and
it's
called
a
co-op.
A
cooperative
business
run
gave
us
who
manages
the
Pittsburgh
Chamber
of
cooperatives
going
to
share
a
little
bit
more
about
that
today,
but
in
a
cooperative
conversion,
the
employees
of
let's
say
a
cafe
or
a
hardware
store,
or
a
laundry
service
or
landscaping
business,
a
boutique,
a
small
business
to
name
just
a
few
collectively
buy
the
business
from
the
previous
owners.
C
The
businesses
run
jointly
by
the
new
members
and
the
profits
are
shared
by
all.
This
works
equally
well
for
start-up
businesses.
Needless
to
say,
having
a
stake
in
the
place
that
you
work
brings
added
incentive
for
success,
improve
wages
and
a
real
future,
but
no
one
knows
about
it
in
private
industry,
the
days
of
real
pensions
are
largely
over
as
the
baby
boomers,
like
myself,
age
were
on
the
cusp
of
a
silver
tsunami,
with
4.5
million
businesses
transacting
over
the
next
10
years.
C
C
What's
going
to
become
of
these
people,
what's
the
future
of
Social
Security
I,
certainly
don't
know
how
will
they
be
cared
for
it
and
who's
going
to
pay
for
it?
Employee
ownership
offers
a
stark
contrast
based
on
the
recent
report
on
economic
well-being,
which
is
in
the
materials
that
we
shared
with
you
by
the
nonprofit
National
Center
for
employee
ownership.
Employee
owners
have
30%
higher
wages
on
average,
two
and
a
half
times
higher
retirement
income
five
times
longer.
Job
tenure
and
I
think
this
is
important.
C
Our
92%
less
likely
to
be
laid
off
today,
you're,
going
to
hear
from
my
colleague,
Dan
Zuko
who's
a
recognized
national
financial
expert
on
the
community
value
of
employee
ownership.
If
they're
able
to
join
us
they're,
not
here
right
now,
Matt
rocky
and
Jake
Volker
from
Voodoo
brewery
would
like
to
share
a
few
thoughts.
Oh.
P
C
And,
most
importantly,
we're
going
to
hear
from
two
employee
owners,
my
colleague
Sarita
Bush
of
Katy,
a
tater
and
Mike
Shoei,
who
is
unable
to
join
us,
but
has
a
brief
video
testimony
whose
lives
have
been
changed
as
a
result
of
employee
ownership.
Members
of
council
here
is
what
employee
ownership
does
and
will
do
for
the
city.
It
will
keep
jobs
and
companies.
Here,
employee
owned
companies
are
on
average,
more
productive,
which
means
job
growth.
This
will
grow
the
tax
base.
C
Employee
ownership
will
contribute
to
retirement
and
correcting
wealth,
disparity
and
reduce
the
future
burden
on
government
who's
going
to
take
care
of
these
people.
What
we
were
asking
is:
five
things
number
one.
We
ask
that
the
council
members,
if
you
think
this
is
a
good
idea,
be
ambassadors
for
this
speak
about
it.
Talk
to
others,
both
in
government
and
outside
tell
them
what
you've
learned
number
two.
We
ask
the
council
to
assist
us
to
connect
with
the
city
departments
that
could
be
important
in
raising
awareness
about
employee
ownership
number
three.
C
We
ask
the
council
to
connect
us
to
external
partners
of
the
city
that
can
help
spread
the
word
as
well
number
four
we're
asking
each
member
to
help
identify
the
businesses
in
your
district
that
will
benefit
from
learning
about
employee
ownership
and
assist
us
to
develop
educational
programs
in
your
neighborhoods,
we'll
provide
all
that's
necessary,
we'll
do
the
education.
You
know,
you
know
the
people,
the
citizens,
the
businesses
in
your
districts.
We
don't
know
them.
Lastly,
and
perhaps
that's
good
her
say.
C
Lastly,
and
perhaps
most
importantly,
we
propose
the
creation
of
a
citywide
task
force
jointly
led
by
the
City
Council
and
the
Pennsylvania
Center
for
employee
ownership.
This
task
force
would
assemble
all
stakeholders
from
government,
business,
banking,
nonprofit
advocacy,
Community,
Development
education
and
all
stakeholders
to
develop
a
unified
plan
to
increase
awareness
and
create
more
employee
owners
to
the
benefit
of
the
city
city
and
to
its
citizens.
C
We
are
keenly
aware
that
there
are
critical
issues
facing
the
city
every
day:
education,
economic
growth,
poverty,
race
relations,
crime
guns,
opioids
and
attracting
the
skills
needed
for
the
future
of
a
growing
Pittsburgh
by
a
far
margin
deserve
your
critical
attention.
But
what
is
common
about
all
of
these
problems
is
that
the
solutions
are
very
complex.
C
Employee
ownership
is
low-hanging
fruit.
The
opportunity
and
the
solution
exists
today.
It's
just
that.
No
one
knows
about
it.
The
Pennsylvania
senator
for
employee
ownership
is
a
volunteer
collective
of
current
and
former
CEOs,
like
myself,
with
experience
and
employee
ownership
looking
to
pay
it
forward,
we're
supported
by
foundations
such
as
WK,
Kellogg
foundations,
universities
such
as
Chatham
right
here
in
Pittsburgh,
Rutgers
and
the
University
of
California,
and
by
volunteer
corporate
and
industry
experts,
some
of
whom
are
with
us
here
today,
members
of
counsel.
C
We
can
create
a
more
rational
economy,
one
that
works
for
everyone
right
here
in
Pittsburgh
we
can
make
Pittsburgh
a
vanguard
city
for
employee
ownership
and
a
model
for
the
rest
of
the
country.
Let's
change
some
lives.
We
are
here
to
get
to
work
I.
Thank
you
for
your
kind
attention
and
we
are
at
your
assistance
at
anytime.
C
B
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
opening
remarks
and
and
educating
us
a
little
bit
more
about
what
you
and
one
employee
ownership
is.
Let
the
record
reflect
that
we
have
been
joined
by
Councilwoman
Deb
gross
and
Councilwoman
Cael
Smith,
so
I'll
turn
it
over
now
to
ron
Gaydos
and,
like
I,
said,
we'll
work
our
way
it
kind
of
down
the
line
here,
we'll
get
the
presentation
up
and
ready
to
go.
So
we
can
see
that
as
well,
but
please
take
it
away.
Bob.
P
So
I
was
just
like
to
say
a
little
bit
about
the
history
of
cooperatives
in
the
city
for
one
but
the
Chamber's
the
hands
on
group
for
cooperatives
in
the
Pittsburgh
region,
we're
concentrating
on
smaller
business
right
now
up
to
to
10
or
15
employees.
But
that
is
a
lot
to
handle
right
there
and
we
like
our
motto,
which
is
think
outside
the
boss.
We
also
run
a
small
online
booking
platform,
much
like
TaskRabbit
or
air
B&B,
but
the
member
owners
of
the
platform
are
going
to
be
benefit
been
benefiting
from
the
wealth
generated.
P
P
Fourth,
river
workers
guild,
which
has
five
members
in
a
small
construction
company
based
in
Garfield
to
the
Mondragon
multi-stakeholder
cooperative,
which
is
in
Spain,
which
has
70,000
members
and
a
seven
billion
dollar
annual
revenue
and
cooperatives,
are
based
on
the
these
cooperative
principles,
which
go
back
someway
but
have
been
consistently
modernised.
But
if
you
read
through
one
through
seven,
you
get
an
idea
that
it's
all
about
equity
sustainability
and
democracy
and
business
benefiting
the
business
owner.
Those
they
do
business
with,
and
the
community
to
host
them.
P
P
P
Some
of
the
pioneering
ones
cooperatives
were
the
Penn
craft
farm
and
redstone
knitting
mill,
member
owned
knitting
business
that
ran
in
the
edge
of
the
Mount
of
the
Laurel
Highlands
for
30
years,
and
as
you,
if
you
know
your
economic
history,
each
of
those
dates
are
some
period
of
economic
stress
and
cooperatives
are
often
have
been
successful.
Responses
to
economic
stress
in
our
economic
history.
P
P
There
are
six
main
types
running
from
worker
cooperatives
that
a
few
people
quarry
to
the
east
end
food
cooperative,
that
has
12,000
members,
there's
a
full
range.
Basically
any
industry,
oh
I'll
show
you
a
smorgasbord
I
guess
of
cooperatives
throughout
the
country
from
Associated
Press,
Ace,
Hardware,
Ocean,
Spray,
new
era
windows,
even
the
best
Western
hotels,
which
does
their
purchasing
with
a
cooperative.
P
Of
all
the
types,
these
here's,
a
listing
of
the
industries,
you
can
see
retail
service,
manufacturing,
arts
and
media
agriculture,
energy
technology,
construction,
just
about
every
industry
that
we've
gotten
in
our
economy
has
cooperatives
in
it,
and
this
graph
I'm
showing
you
to
show
that
I'm
going
to
go
to
the
next
one.
But
you
see
10
to
49.
There's
is
by
far
the
largest
number
of
businesses
in
in
the
US
and
what
the
chamber
concentrates
on
over
the
smaller
businesses
between
10
and
15.
P
If
you
get
larger
than
that,
then
the
employee
stock
ownership
plan
is
is
can
be
a
much
better
way
to
go,
but
for
smaller
businesses,
cooperatives
are
a
very
good
option
and
opportunity,
but
main
benefits
that
they
have
is.
There
is
ownership,
just
like
the
ESOP,
equitable
wealth
worker
owners
get
12
to
15
percent,
more
more
pay,
there's
more
control,
all
over
working
conditions,
which
a
lot
of
public
health
research
is
showing
that
stress
at
work
can
be
very
bad
for
your
health
and
working
conditions
are
very
important.
P
Democratic
governance,
coops
are
only
about,
25%
is
likely
to
go
under
and
they
turnover
is
about.
A
third
of
the
failure
rate
of
Khmers
conventional
businesses
so,
as
Kevin
said
the
opportunity
for
being
able
to
convert
baby-boomer
owned
businesses,
there's
about
90,000,
and
some
estimates
go
as
high
as
150,000
it'll,
be
turning
over
in
the
next
15
years,
and
there
need
to
be
bet
more
options
to
just
shutting
them
down:
selling
to
equity
firms,
and
things
like
that.
P
So
the
potential
is
to
reach
about
a
million
employees
throughout
Pennsylvania's
economy
to
be
able
to
convert
to
a
cooperative
or
employee
owned
business.
They
start
just
like
most
other
businesses.
There's
either
ground
up
with
the
structure
or
converting
an
acquisition
structures
are
different
than
the
gray
box
on
the
left.
Is
your
typical,
hierarchical,
flowchart
organizational
chart?
P
Cooperatives
are
often
more
horizontal
with
less
hierarchical
decision-making,
which
is
what
one
of
the
things
that
makes
everybody
take
more
responsibility
for
it.
Like
the
first
image
in
the
video
we
saw,
it
was
like
assume
the
responsibility
and
should
take
the
responsibility
and
share
the
wealth,
share
the
responsibility
and
share
the
wealth.
That's
that
tell
us
the
story:
I'm
not
going
to
go
into
that.
C
R
P
Cooperative
resources
are
the
people
in
this
room
who
were
leading
the
future
of
Pittsburg
and
and
and
leading
the
future
or
the
business
scene
in
in
the
area
to
they
need.
We
all
need
greater
visibility.
We
need
business
development
resources
as
well
and
technical
assistance
resources,
it's
being
done
in
many
other
cities.
New
York,
of
course,
is
New
York
and
it
has
a
huge
cooperative
development.
P
So
with
that,
there's
how
to
reach
me
and
I
just
wanted
to
just
go
down
a
list
of
things
that
I
really
like
make
sure
you're
taking
home
is
that
cooperatives
are
for
any
scale
but
they're,
very
good
for
for
the
small
businesses
and
they're
very
they're,
very
good
for
businesses
to
be
able
to
help
businesses.
Not
a
lot
of
individual
work
or
savings.
Being
able
to
pull
resources
can
make
them
happen
more
easily.
It
fosters
sustainability,
inclusive
inclusiveness
and
equitable
development.
P
B
I
L
Thank
you
for
having
me
my
name
is
Dan
Zhu
GLE,
like
Google
with
a
Z.
It's
a
pleasure
to
be
here
and
I
appreciate
that
I'm
a
senior
vice
president
with
a
firm
called
business
transition,
Advisors
Inc
or
a
national
business
succession,
consulting
firm
that
specializes
in
employee
ownership,
Aesop's
four
in
particular,
which
well
my
various
capacities
over
the
last
20
years
in
this
business
I
have
seen
Aesop's,
protect
jobs,
increase
workforce
personnel,
personal
wealth
and
transform
lives
compared
to
the
alternatives.
L
In
contrast,
I
have
seen
the
devastating
effects
of
sales
to
outsiders,
which
I'm
sure
you
all
have
as
well,
which
include
the
potential
loss
of
jobs
due
to
consolidation,
simply
buying
the
company
for
their
patents
or
other
intellectual
property
and
the
replacement
of
local
suppliers,
which
could
be
devastating
to
a
community.
It
also
means
the
abandonment
of
the
family's
legacy
for
core
mission
and
the
shared
values
due
to
the
buyers
goal
of
potentially
flipping
the
business
for
maximum
profit
in
three
to
seven
years,
which
may
create
even
more
uncertainty
in
that
community.
L
In
my
personal
experience,
as
a
professional
ESOP
consultant,
I've
seen
grown
men
and
women
overcome
with
gratitude
when
they
find
out
that
their
owner
decided
to
sell
their
stock
to
the
ESOP
and
subsequently
given
to
the
employees
instead
of
being
sold
to
an
outside
buyer,
whose
intentions
are
unknown
and
scary.
At
a
particular
employee
announcement,
roll
out
meeting,
which
is
my
favorite
part
of
the
whole
process
when
we
get
to
tell
the
employees
you're
now
the
new
owners,
that's
really
fun
thing
to
do
because
often
they're
really
concerned,
and
at
this
one
meeting
this.
L
L
I've
also
seen
the
regret
and
heartache
of
selling
shareholders
who
sold
to
outsiders
who
devastated
the
company
and
the
community
through
layoffs,
closures
and
consolidations
I've
heard
of
sellers
who
were
ashamed
to
be
seen
in
the
new
car
that
they
bought
with
their
sale
proceeds.
You
know
they
want,
don't
want
to
drive
through
town,
because
the
people
that
were
just
laid
off
from
the
new
buyer
are
sitting
next
to
them
at
the
church
pew.
In
many
instances
the
esop
is
a
better
way
in
the
right
scenario.
L
As
we
all
know,
if
we
watch
any
TV
whatsoever
well,
Pennsylvania
and
Arkansas
are
the
only
two
states
that
don't
honor,
that
capital
gains,
tax,
deferral
and
potential
elimination,
and
so
some
of
our
legislators
that
well
that's
not
great.
That's
not
good.
Weird
of
a
disincentive
here
in
Pennsylvania
for
owners
to
sell
theirs
their
stock
to
the
two
nice
soft,
so
legislation
has
been
promoted
in
the
state
in
which
Kevin
and
I
and
others
in
our
group
are
very
active
in
supporting
of
mirroring
changing
Pennsylvania
law
to
mirror
that
federal
law.
L
So
we
are
not
at
a
disincentive
and
we'd
be
more
than
happy
to
leave
Arkansas
as
the
only
state
in
the
Union
that
doesn't
reciprocate,
that
federal
law,
so
it
has
like
I,
said
broad
bipartisan
support
and
put
us
on
par
with
the
other
48
states.
So
that's
just
a
little
state
update.
Our
concern
here
today
is
for
the
city.
We
all
love
and
the
region
that
we
love.
L
S
Good
afternoon
my
name
is
cherry
de
Bush
corporate
trainer
and
proud
employee
owner
of
kt88
er
I
want
to
thank
you
for
the
opportunity
to
talk
about
a
subject
that
is
so
near
and
dear
to
my
heart,
which
is
employee
ownership.
So
a
little
background
on
Katy
a
Katy
is
a
consulting
engineering
firm
that
focuses
on
quality
verification
and
asset
management.
S
made
the
wise
in
gracious
decision
to
sell
it
to
the
employees
that
year
kta
became
70
percent
employee-owned
and
a
hundred
percent
employee-owned.
Five
years
later,
today,
katie
is
celebrating
their
70th
anniversary
and
the
little
under
four
little
under
three
hundred
employees.
We
have
now
have
a
rich
future
thanks
to
the
decision
of
employee
ownership.
So
we're
really
proud
about
that.
A
S
You
know
when
we
talk
about
the
benefits
of
employee
ownership,
the
national
center
for
employee
ownership,
which,
by
the
way
they'll
be
hosting
their
annual
conference
here
in
Pittsburgh
April
8th
through
the
11th
great
resource
for
employee
companies.
You
don't
have
to
reinvent
the
wheel,
but
the
N
CEO
has
documented
some
proven
benefits
that
Aesop's
have
an
esop
employee
stock
ownership
plan.
Companies
tend
to
have
greater
growth
in
bottom
line
performance.
S
Another
one
was
to
join
with
our
local
government
and
community
leaders
to
close
that
skills
gap
that
exists
within
our
region,
I
believe
by
partnering,
with
private
companies
Aesop's
to
recognize
the
skills
that
are
needed
in
the
region.
They
could
do
the
training
and,
in
essence,
get
these
people
to
work.
I
mean
we
want
to
grow.
S
So
that's
a
good
way
in
closing
I
just
want
to
say
that
we
must
preserve
and
support
and
promote
employee
ownership
to
aid
in
its
success
in
sustainability,
I
believe
by
partnering,
with
the
Pennsylvania
center
for
employee
ownership,
that
it
will
give
the
city
of
Pittsburgh
a
resource
for
existing
employee
owners
in
a
platform
for
establishing
new
ones,
so
that'll
be
good
for
the
community
and
its
residents.
So
thank
you.
Thank
you.
T
Okay,
thank
you
for
having
me
here.
My
name
is
Mike
Vedra
I'm,
the
president
of
TechNet,
incorporated
TechNet
is
a
company
that
does
specialty
chemical
processing
for
high
performance,
metals
in
metals,
alloys
for
a
whole
range
of
different
industries,
requirements
and
customers,
both
military
and
commercial,
so
TechNet
was
formed
or
became
an
esop
I
should
say
in
2015
one
that
when
the
founder,
a
gentleman
named
Gary
Reed
decided
to
retire
in
doing
that.
T
He
he
took
the
steps
to
sell
the
company
to
his
employees
to
try
to
help
his
employees
and
that
to
further
help
these
employees
he
sold
at
a
discount
and
he
sort
of
discounts
so
that
it
would
reduce
this
debt
payment
that
this
new
company
writing
these
new
employee
owners
would
have
to
pay
tech.
Med
is
now
100
percent
employee-owned
in
just
the
four
years
since
the
stock
was
formed,
the
number
of
employees
at
Tech
met
has
almost
doubled
from
23
to
42.
T
The
value
of
the
company
has
more
than
tripled,
at
least
by
sher,
by
the
the
share
price
and
we've
expanded
into
a
second
building
their
90,000
square
foot
facility.
To
take
advantage
of
these.
Of
the
many
new
growth
opportunities
that
we
continue
to
have
in
those
four
years,
we've
only
had
one
person
leave
and,
quite
frankly,
it
was
for
an
opportunity
that
we
just
couldn't
match
of
his
I'm
very
happy
for
them,
but
no
one
else
has
left.
We
have
a
very
good
employee
retention.
T
So
if
for
anyone
who's
there
been
there
since
2013,
the
lowest
account
balance
for
any
of
our
employees
is
sixty-six
thousand
dollars
and
that's
without
them.
Putting
a
penny
in
for
themselves.
Most
of
those
employees
have
more
than
at
seventy
five
percent
of
the
people
who
were
there
from
2013
on
have
more
than
hundred
thousand
dollars
again
with
no
contribution
on
their
own.
T
Our
people
have
always
I
think
been
very
customer
focused,
but
another
advantage
of
the
ESOP
is
after
that,
after
that
occurred,
they
became
much
more
engaged
even
than
they
were.
They
become
sort
of
all
in
we.
We
compete
mostly
in
the
aerospace
and
the
medical
device
industries,
and
so
attention
to
detail
is
kind
of
very
critical
there
and
having
this
to
this
full
engagement,
this
deep
engagement
of
the
employees
allows
us
to
stand
out
among
our
competitors.
T
The
tax
advantage,
the
ESOP
corporate
structure,
has
allowed
us
to
put
large
amounts
of
money
back
into
the
company,
mostly
in
the
areas
of
research
and
development.
We
average
now
between
two
and
four
new
patents
a
year
which,
for
a
company
of
our
size
against
42
employees,
is
quite
significant.
We
are
currently
working
on
developing
new
processes
and
new
technologies
currently
for
NASA,
the
US
military,
GE,
aerospace,
GE
additive,
Textron
tighten
spine
and
many
many
others
we're
a
company.
T
I
truly
believed
were
people
like
what
they
do
and
they,
like
being
there
everyone's
part
of
the
team
everybody's
part
of
the
company's
big
picture
and
very
much
so
we
grow
and
we
succeed
or
fail
as
a
team
and
everyone
working
there.
It
has
that
same
stake
that
same
part
of
the
responsibility
and
the
potential
rewards
I
mean
closing.
T
The
financial
benefits
from
the
ESOP
have
enabled
reinvestment
in
expansion
to
all
these
new
technologies,
which
I
think
we're
excelling
in
and
all
these
areas
of
continuing
opportunity
for
the
company,
but
that's
not
the
largest
again,
the
largest
benefit
for
us
and
the
largest
reward
has
been
in
this.
This
commitment
of
the
employees
into
this
growth
and
success
of
our
of
our
corporation
Tec
pet
is
not
just
a
place
where
they
work.
T
We
have
a
tremendous
opportunity
still
on
the
horizon
because
of
these
patents,
because
this
reinvestment,
because
of
this
engagement,
we
have
these
opportunities
quite
a
few
of
them
going
forward,
and
all
of
us
are
sort
of
going
to
benefit
from
that
everybody
who's
confused
contributing
to
it
is
going
to
benefit
from
it.
It's
pretty
much
it.
Thank
you
very
much.
U
You
know
what
we
like
to
see
ourselves
as
an
economic
force
in
western
Pennsylvania,
everything
from
direct
sourcing
of
raw
materials
to
a
hundred
and
eight
employees
today,
so
I'd
like
to
take
a
step
back
from
where
that
is
before
you're
an
esop
in
2014,
when
I
came
on
board
as
a
from
a
silent
partner
to
a
managing
partner,
we
had
three
employees.
I
was
the
fourth
we
knew
at
that
time.
U
So
every
single
employee
in
my
company,
as
you've
heard,
has
ownership
but
I
think,
what's
more
importantly,
is
that
they
actually
feel
it
and
own
it.
So
we
own
and
operate
pubs.
We
have
seven
now
little
things
like
turning
the
lights
off
and
not
wasting
water
is
extremely
important.
It's
full
circle
sustainability
when
you
really
look
at
these
type
of
programs
to
be
able
to
brought
in,
but
it's
also
an
amazing
way
to
give
back,
I
think
to
populations
that
are
very
indicative
of
what
the
city
of
Pittsburgh
sees.
U
R
U
She
awesome
she
has
been
so
good
to
me
since
good
I
came
in
as
an
outsider,
so
you
know
they're
they
but
she's
been
very,
very
good
to
us.
So
anyway,
putting
that
aside,
we
hire
from
areas
that
typically
have
had
inappropriate
distributions
of
wealth
that
other
sections
of
cities
or
communities
have
had
so
now.
I
have
cooks
and
waiters
and
waitresses
and
bartenders
and
canning
line
technicians
and
procurement.
Analysts
and
marketing
analysts
that
come
to
me
and
they
say:
hey
I,
don't
know
what
this
is
about,
because
I've
never
owned.
U
Anything
in
my
life,
I've
been
living
paycheck
to
paycheck,
since
I
was
17
and
I
dropped
out
of
high
school.
Can
you
sit
down
and
talk
to
me
about
this
absolutely
all
day
long?
If
you
work
with
me
hard
is
what
I
always
tell
them.
You
know
kind
of
kind
of
at
that
position
in
the
company.
I
say:
you're
gonna
have
something
at
the
end
of
the
day,
and
you
see
our
company
doing
well.
Gonna
continue
to
do
that.
So
it
is
something
that
we
are
extremely
passionate
about.
U
I
think,
especially
in
Pittsburgh,
there's
been
some
recent
articles
that
have
popped
out
about
how
big
of
an
employer
the
service
industry
is
I.
Think
that
anybody
that's
starting
a
new
restaurant,
berry,
winery
tour
company,
whatever
that
might
be,
should
strongly
consider
it,
because
the
way
that
the
money
flops
out
generally
in
these
type
of
businesses
is
I,
can't
it's
very
hard
for
me
to
pay
you
a
living
wage
and
still
put
profit
on
the
table
at
the
end
of
the
day.
This
is
a
really
nice
way
to
kind
of
bring
it
full
circle.
U
I
think
it's
important
for
everybody
that
I
think
we've
all
had
buddies
that
want
to
start
a
restaurant
or
a
brewery,
is
to
mention
it
to
them
and
really
kind
of
see
where
that
goes
so.
I
think,
just
in
summary,
on
a
personal
level
of
all
things
that
I've
had
the
opportunity
professionally.
This
is
it's
without
a
doubt.
C
U
Think
we're
gonna
do
that
huge
source
of
pride.
So
if
you
hear
any
business
owner
who's
ever
doing
that,
you
should
pat
him
on
the
back.
So
thanks
and
I
do
want
to
apologize
if
I
have
to
head
out
in
a
few
minutes,
I
will
follow
up
with
anybody
and
I
feel
bad.
But
thank
you
for
having
me
here
today
appreciate
it.
Thank.
B
C
B
R
C
I'll
just
share
with
the
council,
Mike
Shoei
is
from
a
company
called
Tech
in
Pennsylvania,
and
her
I
can
read,
read
his
comments
all
right.
He
he's
he's
employed
by
a
company
called
rustic,
which
is
a
science
company
and
in
central
Pennsylvania
he's
also
the
he's.
The
president
of
the
employee
owners,
Association
chapter
in
Pennsylvania,
was
planning
to
be
here
today,
but
was
unable
so
I'll
just
share
his
comments.
C
Honorable
members
of
City
Council,
it's
a
pleasure
to
have
the
opportunity
to
share
a
little
bit
about
rest
tech
and
what
makes
companies
like
us
stand
out
from
the
typical
public
company
rest
tech
headquarters
are
based
in
Bellefonte
Pennsylvania
and
provide
chromotography
products
at
almost
every
count
country
in
the
world.
In
turn,
these
products
help
many
industries
and
markets
make
their
planet
a
safer
place
to
live.
We
have
products
in
outer
space
and
in
labs
all
across
the
world
that
are
assisting
with
nationwide
epidemics.
Like
the
opioid
crisis.
C
How
do
these
products
make
it
across
the
globe
and
into
the
hands
of
our
customers
they
get
for
there
from
all
of
their
dedicated
and
engaged
employee
owners.
Like
myself,
my
name
is
mike
schooi
and
I'm
in
customer
service
at
rest.
Ik,
I'm
not
a
high-level
executive
at
rustic,
but
I
am
an
owner
of
the
company
rest
tech
is
a
hundred
percent
employee-owned
and
Anisah.
Our
employees
make
an
impact
on
our
business,
our
industry
and
our
community
because
rest
tech
is
100
percent
employee-owned.
C
Our
employees
have
a
vested
interest
in
the
success
of
the
business
which
in
turn,
impacts
their
families
and
our
community.
Not
only
our
employees
and
their
families
receiving
benefits
of
our
ESOP,
but
the
community
is
as
well.
These
benefits
include
supporting
blood
drives
Relay
for
Life
and
United
Way
support
and
numerous
other
Human
Services
needs
around
the
area
that
make
our
community
a
better
place
to
live
before
we
became
an
esop.
C
Our
founder
could
have
sold
our
company
to
a
large
corporation,
but
he
decided
to
reward
all
of
the
hard-working
employees
and
families
by
selling
the
company
to
us.
An
esop
is
a
retirement
plan,
but
it's
also
a
highly
sustainable
business
model
that
has
proven
to
be
extremely
successful.
Our
employee
owners
have
to
retirement
nest,
eggs,
the
typical
401k
and
the
Reese
up
retirement.
He
has
an
example
of
a
graph
that
shows
an
absolute
hockey
stick
of
the
profitability
of
the
company.
Sorry,
we
can't
show
that
to
you
our
founder.
C
It
challenged
us
to
retire
as
millionaires
when
becoming
an
esop
and
we're
doing
just
that.
The
biggest
hurdle
for
business
is
working
on.
A
succession
plan
is
not
knowing
that
this
business
model
is
the
out
there
for
them
and
it
could
benefit
them.
Thank
you
for
your
time.
Please
help
us
bring
awareness
to
companies
that
want
to
keep
their
businesses
and
families
in
the
state
and
the
community
sincerely
Mike
Shoei
I
do
have
one
last
item.
It's
a
four-minute,
video
I
ask
if
you'd
like
to
see
it.
C
C
O
N
B
R
Please
I
think
would
be
helpful
to
put
some
information
online
and
on
the
community
pharaohs
website
and
stuff
so
that
we
can
share
that's
this
information
with
our
communities
and
with
the
public
and
be
very
specific,
I
think
with
the
information
there
funeral
interest
in
this.
This
contact,
this
link
or
whatever
you
know
very
specific
because
it
gets
confused
and
we
share
so
much
information.
But,
as
I
mentioned,
we're
all
gonna
buy
into
anthikad
kills.
C
C
R
Can
share
with
the
public
I
think
that
that's
helpful
to
the
public?
That's
what
I
want
to
share
and
I'm
curious
of
the
negatives
I
mean
when
I
do
post
agendas,
I
I'll,
be
honest,
I'd
like
to
have
both
sides
of
everything
I
like
to
do.
You
know
fact:
finding
the
information
I'd
like
to
know
that
it,
what
are
the
negatives?
What
other
I've
obviously
heard
all
the
positives,
but
in
here
either
sure
for.
C
C
Stripping
out
this
and
stripping
out
that
they
could
perhaps
offer
a
higher
price
knowing
that
their
profits
were
going
to
be
more
when
they,
when
they
cleaned
it
up,
so
certainly
the
the
issue
of
them.
If
you
don't
have
20
or
25
employees,
then
the
likelihood
is
that
Aesop's
are
probably
not
the
right
thing.
However,
coops
would
be
so
you
want
to
look
at
that.
There
are
specific
tax
advantages
for
Aesop's
that
don't
exist
for
coops.
Unfortunately,
that's
a
whole
other
ball.
P
P
C
It's
important
to
note
that
a
you
know:
employee
ownership,
isn't
an
alternative,
let's
say
to
bankruptcy.
This
is
not.
This
is
not
an
alternative
to
filing
chapter.
This
is
a
program
to
help
good
companies
get
better.
That's
what
it
is
you
also
probably,
if
you've
got
this
going
on.
You
know
fighting
between
rank-and-file
and
management,
you're,
probably
not
a
good
candidate
for
this,
so
council.
C
The
really
aren't
there's
a
lot
of
misinformation
out
there
about
employee
owned
companies,
for
example,
I
had
a
call
from
somebody
who
was
inquiring
about
it
and
said
well,
my
lawyer
told
me
that
ESOP
businesses
pretty
much
always
go
out
of
business.
Nothing
could
be
further
from
the
truth,
in
fact,
as
I
shared
with
some
of
the
council
members,
the
default
rates
today
on
traditional
loans
are
about
5%.
L
P
R
I
Q
Told
me
a
little
bit
about
it
before
you
know
you
all
came
in
and
it's
nice
and
clear,
and
you
know
other
than
the
TV
angle,
so
I
guess.
My
question
is:
if
somebody
play
devil's
advocate,
okay,
I
have
a
company
say:
I
have
30
employees
and,
like
you
say
you
know,
I
understand
about
some
other
company
wanting
abaya.
They
may
move
it
to
a
different
state.
They
may
you
know,
depending
on
the
nature
of
the
business.
You
know
it's,
you
could
be
saving
jobs,
for
you
know
the
local
employees.
Q
Q
C
And
the
way
that
works
is
let's,
let's
use
a
couple
numbers.
Let's
say
that
capital
gains
on
the
sale
of
a
business
is
21
percent
federally
and
let's
say
that,
there's
another
three
percent
state,
okay,
so
you've
got
twenty
four
percent
of
your
profits.
Going
to
the
government's
give
me
your
profits
going.
You
know
on
a
regular
basis
to
to
to
the
federal
government.
C
If
you
sell
the
business
to
your
employees-
okay,
let's
say
it's
a
hundred
percent
sale,
then
in
in
an
s-corporation
business
the
the
the
business
no
longer
pays
that
twenty
five
percent
tax
it
was
going
to
pay.
The
business
takes
it
alone
from
a
bank
or
another
lending
source
to
pay
the
owner.
Okay,
so
the
owner
gets
paid
and
the
the
business
which
now
has
more
cash
because
it's
not
paying
the
tax
uses
that
to
pay
off
the
note
to
the
bank.
If
it's
chaser
Wells
Fargo,
who
that
is.
Q
Does
that
answer
that
for
you?
Well,
it
does
and
now
I
guess
the
other
part
of
that
is
that
so
say,
first
of
all,
I'm
a
big
believer
in
heaven.
You
know
stake
of
the
game,
any
part,
ownership,
yeah,
I,
always
say
and
I
believe
this
still
to
this
day,
I
could
call
any
company
on
any
phone
number
across
America
and
I
could
tell
you
if
they're,
publicly
or
privately
owned.
Q
You
have
your
own
names
on
it
and
your
own
incomes.
You
know
based
on
your
performance,
you
just
seem
to
perform
better.
So
you
know
I
tend
to
think
privately
owned
companies
function
better
than
publicly
owned
companies,
yeah
so
say,
for
instance,
I
own.
A
business
I
have
15
20
employees.
We
all
come
to
the
agreement
of
you
know
two
million
dollars.
They're
gonna
pay
me
over
I.
Guess
you
have
a
terms
of
a
contract
five
years
or
whatever.
You
know,
however,
you'll
decide
that
with
what
if
the
company
goes
belly-up
what?
C
C
A
nother
business
structure.
Fortunately,
because
people
have
a
stake
in
the
game,
they
tend
to
do
better
than
not
employ
one
company,
but
absolutely
any
business.
If
you're
selling
buggy
whips
yeah
and
you
cut
a
deal
for
an
esop
selling
buggy
woods
and
you
have
no
customers
to
sell
them,
your
business
is
going
to
go
out
of
business.
There's
no
question
about
it.
That's.
Q
C
Couple
things
there:
first
of
all,
in
order
to
conduct
an
esop.
This
is
a
program,
that's
that's
overseen
by
the
US
Labor
Department.
Once
you
establish
that
you're
interested
in
pursuing
this
there's
a
process
of
a
feasibility
study
that
needs
to
be
done.
This
is
a
deep
dive
into
the
into
the
finances
of
the
business.
You
use
a
independent
third
party
to
to
do
a
valuation
of
the
business
and
a
trustee
has
to
be
hired.
That
has
liability
for
this
deal.
C
So
there's
a
there's,
a
trustee
that
it's
going
to
oversee
this,
the
likelihood
of
a
business
that
is
going
to
go
out
of
business
in
24
months
being
approved
for
an
esop
any
loan
from
a
bank,
because
a
bank
is
going
to
look
at
this
and
say:
should
I
loan
money
to
this
or
not,
is
probably
pretty
slim.
If
we're
talking
in
the
world
of
hypotheticals,
could
that
happen?
It
could
happen.
C
The
statistics
suggest
that
it
doesn't
happen,
but
if
the
if
the
business
does
go
out
of
business,
there's
a
loan
there
that
the
company
has
that
has
to
be
repaid
to
a
bank
presuming
the
owner
has
gotten
paid
off
and
they
haven't
done
anything
unseemly
in
the
transaction.
Then
no,
they,
the
the
the
selling
shareholder.
W
C
C
C
L
Flow
to
overcome
those
highs
and
lows,
so
if
the
company
does
get
in
trouble
and
it
goes
to
zero,
the
stock
value
goes
to
zero
yeah.
The
employees
don't
have
anything,
but
they
didn't
lose
anything
just
you
know
as
if
they
did
nothing
at
all.
They
would
add
nothing
anyway.
Now
the
different
story
is
what
you
said:
well,
if
you're
Picasso
and
you're
selling
Picasso's
bank
painting
company
and
you're
gonna
retire
next
year.
Well,
first
of
all
that
be
factored
into
the
value.
They'd
say:
what
are
your
plans?
Do
we
have
an
employment
agreement?
L
You
know
how
long
you
stay
in.
Do
you
commit
to
this,
and
so
we
might
not
give
you
a
two
million
for
that
business
if
you're
planning
on
retiring
next
year,
but
if
you
said
I
commit
to
sticking
around
for
ten
more
years,
I'm
gonna
hire
my
replacement
and
train
them.
Everything
I
know,
then.
Maybe
you
get
that
instead
of
two
million
you
get
three
or
four.
C
Another
good
question:
yeah,
the
the
you
have,
the
structure
aboard
the
businesses
run
traditionally
the
way
any
other
business
is
once
the
once,
the
the
trust,
the
employee
owners
own
51%
of
the
business.
They
have
the
right
to
choose
the
board
of
directors.
They
may
or
may
not
change
the
board,
but
it's
run
just
as
it
always
has
there's
a
board
of
directors
and
they
choose
a
CEO
and
it's
a
traditional
management
structure.
Now
with
a
co-op,
it
could
potentially
have
a
different
kind
of
management
structure.
It
could
be
democratically
operated.
So
you.
P
Know
and
there's
very
efficient
ways
to
do
that
from
there
and
that's
a
spectrum
to
from
a
hybrid,
traditional
top-down
structure,
with
some
concessions
to
to
a
level
organization
where
things
are
done
by
consent,
if
they're
or
consensus,
but
again
the
the
whole
stake
that
the
worker
owners
have
is
not
to
get
bogged
down
in
anything.
That's
gonna
keep
the
performance
of
the
company
from
being
successful.
So
there's.
T
I
T
Don't
get
I
mean
the
only
employees
they
don't
get
to
vote.
They
don't
get
this
acceptor.
There
are
a
few
caveats
if
you're
looking
to
sell
more
than
80%
of
the
total
assets
of
the
company,
there's
a
few
things
that
the
law
actually
dictates,
that
you
have
to
give
them
a
actual
vote
on,
but
for
day-to-day
operations
it's
like
any
other
company,
so
they
can
still
be
fired.
I
mean
they're
kind.
O
T
Like
any
other
company
yeah
yearly,
the
board
is
required
to
do
a
performance
review
for
myself
and
on
each
other,
and
as
long
as
they're
happy
with
my
performance.
I
continue
on
basically
again
like
every
other
company,
that
kind
of
limits
the
extent
of
the
board
to
looking
at
my
performance,
the
performance
of
other
key
executives.
They
approve
a
budget
things
like
that
and
outside
of
that
outside
of
four
meetings
a
year.
The
company
is
kind
of
mine
to
run
right
with,
within
the
the
broad
guidelines
that
they
provided.
I
T
Fur
art
for
our
particular
company,
not
much,
has
changed
for
a
lot
of
people
that
are
there
they're
super,
but
for
a
lot
most
of
those
people,
whoever
their
manager
or
supervisor,
was
it's
still
their
ship,
their
manager
supervisor.
Now
they
have
more
co-workers,
which
is
a
great
thing,
we're
growing
fast.
They
have
there's
new
buildings,
there's
new
processes,
there's
new
customers,
but
in
terms
of
the
reporting
structure
in
terms
of
those
types
of
things,
our
policy
manual
that
really
didn't
change.
At
that
point
it
gets
reviewed
every
two
years,
like
any
other
company.
Q
D
T
W
T
C
W
X
So
many
resources
all
pulled
together
and
to
be
able
to
take
hear
the
stories
and
I
wrote
down
the
list
of
names,
I'm
eager
to
find
out
about
companies
that
are
employee
owned
and
that
are
coops
in
the
city
and
in
the
region.
I'm,
not
sure.
Still,
if
everyone,
if
there's
like
a
master
list,
I
mean
so
some
people.
X
Thank
you
and
I
would
love
to
to
just
be
able
to
refer
people
to
that
list
so
that
they
know
and
I
think
it
would
help
us
spread.
The
word
that
she
said
I
would
definitely
be
supportive
of
forming
attacks.
Task
Force
on
the
issue.
The
four
women
on
council
four
years
ago
before
councilman
Strasburg
was
here,
did
a
task
force
on
the
issue
of
child
care.
X
Operators
and
I
see
a
similar
possibility
here
and
I'll
also
say
at
the
time
we
did
a
legislative
package
and
we
were
able
to
put
some
money
aside.
That
helped
is
we're
still
looking
for
the
right
partner
to
help
fund
and
support
child
care.
Businesses
I
would
prefer
it
as
a
revolving
loan
fund.
It's
a
model
I'm
familiar
with
having
worked
with
Community
Development
financial
institutions,
doing
micro
lending
and
things
like
that
in
a
previous
life,
and
then.
X
Thirdly,
we
also
set
aside
a
small
amount
of
money
to
Commission
a
study
so
that
we
knew
what
the
capacity
was,
what
types
of
childcare
facilities
there
were
bigger
ones,
smaller
ones,
regulated
ones
with
quality
levels.
Where
were
they
which
neighborhoods
needed
more?
It
had
more
or
less,
and
it
really
helped
to
create
a
dialogue
among
nonprofit
partners
and
in
the
industry
about
how
we
help
just
to
expand
the
quantity
and
quality
of
childcare.
X
Businesses
and
I
see
a
similar
parallel
here
that
would
be
possible
and
then-
and
then
also
we
spoke-
thank
you
for
Kevin
and
for
Rosalie
for
coming
into
my
office
yesterday,
because
then
it
kind
of
got
me
thinking.
Well,
maybe
something
maybe
there
are
industries
that
would
benefit
more
from
this
model
like
childcare,
right
and
I
think
we
have
seen
some
models
in
other
places
around
home
care
workers,
domestic
care
workers,
things
like
that,
and
especially
in
the
service
industry,
where
there's
such
a
thin
profit
margin.
We
know
that
wages
are
too
low.
X
We
know
that
turnover
is
too
high.
We
know
that
some
of
the
businesses
are
unstable
and
so
that
this
is
a
real
possibility
for
increasing
that
stability,
but
also
increasing
local
wealth
and
control,
and
that's
really
a
something
that
is
in
important
to
my
constituents
and
I
think
is
important
to
us
as
public
policy.
People
here
is
that
we
don't
want
to
see
our
local
wealth
decrease.
X
R
I
I
X
When
I
look
at
our
city
neighborhoods,
the
neighborhoods
I
represent
I,
don't
want
to
see
amongst
the
residents,
less
control
and
less
ownership
than
I
did
last
year
or
the
year
before
right.
That
means
someone
else.
Someplace
else
has
more
control
and
more
ownership
right,
and
so
we
I'm
usually
thinking
about
it
in
terms
of
the
control
of
actual
real
estate
parcels,
but
it
also
applies
to
businesses,
especially
so
it's
you
know
it
might.
X
These
things
are
not
always
you
know,
it's
places
differ
in
terms
of
their
demographics
and
I
am
seeing
I
have
a
lot
of
neighborhoods
with
a
lot
of
small
businesses,
a
lot
of
local
family-owned
businesses,
longtime
businesses
and
we're
losing
them
rest
in
beefs,
grocery
italiana,
mm-hmm,
Bloomfield,
Bridge
tavern
now
suddenly
needs
Hotel.
These
are
beloved
institutions
that
are
gone.
The
doors
are
shut,
we
saved
one
and
members.
X
Think
it
was
a
customer
that
ended
up
buying
it,
but
it
took
a
long
time
and
there
was
crowdfunding
and
everything,
because
mr.
critic
wanted
to
retire
right
and
I,
don't
blame
the
grocery
telly
Anna
family
want
him
to
retire,
and
the
blue
footbridge
tavern
owners
for
wanting
to
retire
mr.
need
for
wanting
to
retire
and
I
could
go
on,
but
we
don't
want
to.
The
community
doesn't
want
to
lose
these
businesses,
so
I
really
think
it
can
help
empower
our
neighborhoods
and
similar
to
the
land.
X
Trust
model
that
we're
using
for
housing
to
be
community
controlled
and
aligned
with
the
mission
of
the
community
and
in
Lawrenceville,
specifically
that's
about
affordable
housing.
So
it's
a
Community
Land
Trust
formed
around
permanent,
affordable
housing
that
we
have,
but
we
need
to
find
these
tools.
The
tools
like
this,
like
these
Aesop's
I,
just
one
other
detail
you
mentioned
yesterday
that
was
really
I'm,
not
sure.
If
I
wrote
down
my
notes
correctly,
it
works
best
for
where
did
I
scribble
it
businesses
with
25
or
more
employees
because
of
the
tax
advantage,
I
think
I.
C
Missed
that
part,
in
my
sure,
sure,
typically
II,
as
one
item
are
ideal
for
businesses
with
with
20
or
25
employees
and
more
the
reasons
are
a
variety
first
of
all,
there's
a
federal
statute
that
says
that
no
one
can
own
more
than
10%
of
a
of
an
esop
members.
Yes,
so
almost
by
definition,
you
need
11.
There
are
other
federal
aspects
that
make
it
difficult
if
the
number
is
is
close
to
10,
because
if
you
go
under
10
for
some
reason
you
hire
someone,
then
you've
got
some
issues
etc.
So
so
that's
there.
C
In
addition,
you
know
you,
you
have
to
be
able
to
repay
a
loan
over
a
period
of
time
and
you
want
to
have
a
certain
amount
of
girth
to
you
to
your
business
to
be
able
to
manage
the
cash
requirements
of
the
business
over
over
time.
So
so
so
that's
the
reason
why
we
say
that
I
mean
there
are
cases
of
of
Aesop's
that
are
smaller
than
that,
but
but
we
generally
recommend
something
like
that,
which
brings
us
to
the
other
opportunity,
which
is
the
co-ops
and
I,
see
two
sort
of
major
issues
here.
C
Let
me
be
very
candid:
one
of
the
challenges
is
going
to
be
funding,
okay
and-
and
it's
one
thing
to
seek-
you
know
federal
funding
or
local
funding.
Why
can't
we
rally
the
the
the
business
interests
and
get
them
understanding
how
valuable
it
would
be
to
have
this
kind
of
a
loan?
How
do
we
leverage
the
the
current
business
industries
that
we
have
to
try
to
get
them
involved?
They're
immensely
successful
in
the
ESOP
world
we
have
organizations
like
PNC
who's
right
here
we
have
Wells
Fargo
Chase
Manhattan
Bank
of
America
M&T
Bank.
C
There
are
all
volunteers
with
their
organizations
and
developing
ESOP
practices
within
their
banks,
because
they're
so
successful
the
risk
levels
are
way
down
here.
They
don't
know
about
coops.
Today
they
don't
really
know
about
them.
They're
all
doing
lending
every
one
of
them
are
making
twenty
thousand
fifty
thousand
hundred
dollar
loans
to
people
to
redo
a
kitchen
or
a
bathroom
or
or
a
thing
like
that.
Why
can't
we
leverage
the
the
capabilities
of
the
business
world
and
bring
them
to
the
table
as
well?
I,
don't
think
anybody's
ever
tried
to
do
that.
C
So
from
my
perspective-
and
this
is
why
I
think
we
need
the
task
force,
we
need
to
build
a
strategy
to
fold.
You
know
for
the
smaller
businesses
within
the
neighborhoods
and
we
need
the
help
of
counsel
to
get
us
into
the
neighborhoods.
Who
are
they?
Where
are
they?
Let
us
do
the
education
over
here
is
the
larger
organizations
the
Aesop's,
and
we
need
help
from
counsel.
C
You
know
who
have
the
relationships
with
the
businesses
as
well,
but
we
got
to
build
those
toolkits
and
you
know:
Rosalee
is
about
halfway
there,
but
we've
still
got
some
work
to
go
on
this,
but
we
need
to
gather
all
the
resources
of
the
city,
who
are
the
other
stakeholders
within
this,
whether
it's
government,
whether
it's
NGO
or
nonprofit,
or
Community
Development,
who
are
the
other
stakeholders
who
should
be
part
of
this
conversation
in
building
the
plan?
That's
tactical!
We've
done
a
lot
of
talking.
We've
done
a
lot
of
studying.
C
X
If
I
may,
I
want
to
give
a
shout
out
to
spirit
Pittsburgh,
which
I'm
not
sure
if
they
have
a
full
title,
which
is
a
fabulous
entertainment
venue
in
Lawrenceville
and
the
owners
here,
Tom,
Tom
and
Jeff
were
here
earlier,
but
they
had
to
leave
and
they've
been
interested
in
trying
to
find
out
information
themselves
about
employee
ownership.
So
I'm
gonna
connect
you
with.
X
X
Q
Q
Not
necessarily
saying
that
this
is
better
for
somebody
to
sell
their
business
to
a
co-op
or
you,
but
just
looking
for
the
right
situation.
More
than
anything
you
know
this
is
a
first
I
really
do
believe
in
the
whole
idea
of
it.
The
incentive
of
you
know
making
more
money
to
me.
You
know
I've
been
self-employed
for
all
my
life
since
I've
been
8
or
since
I've
been
23
years
old
or
so,
but
except
now,
I
guess
I
work
for
the
people
now
here.
W
C
C
I
E
L
Q
Ten
employees,
what
would
be
the
first
step
is
to
say
say:
he's
like
yeah,
you
know,
I
really,
don't
have
anybody
to
sell
it
to
I'd
love
to
keep
these
people
employed.
You
know
you
really
can't
move
the
pizza
shop
to
Cleveland
because
they
don't
know
Angelenos,
pizza
and
Cleveland.
What
would
be
the
first
step
to
find
somebody
who's
going
to
finance
the
employees?
Is
that
right?
Well,.
C
Yeah
yeah:
well
today,
you
know
they
might
go
to
Ron
and
while
I
provide
them
some
information
and
guidance,
and
today
it's
up
to
the
employees
to
get
the
money
together
bar
whatever.
What
we're
suggesting
is.
We
try
to
go
a
step
further
and
try
to
put
some
tools:
some
capabilities,
some
resources,
maybe
some
funding
sources.
For
example,
there's
a
group
called
the
new
New
England
co-operative
bank.
This
is
a
bank
in
New
England.
That's
focused
on
just
providing
micro
loans,
essentially
to
pizza
shops
that
want
to
do
this.
C
We
don't
have
that
here
in
Pennsylvania.
So
how
do
we
figure
out
how
to
do
that
and
provide
some
resources,
because
the
toughest
part
is
gonna,
be
the
funding
for
the
pizza
shop?
You
know:
are
they
going
to
really
have
the
money
to
be
able
to
pay
the
owner
off
day?
One?
Probably
not
so
we
got
to
help
them
figure
out
and
do
that
and
that's
what
I
think
the
task
force
can
do.
Yeah.
Q
P
P
C
Can
create
some
other
process
where
they're
not
aware
you
know,
for
example,
the
SBA
has
a
new
program.
I
won't
go
into
too
much
detail.
It's
called
the
Main
Street
Act,
it's
a
new
federal
piece
of
legislation
which
directs
the
SBA
to
guarantee
loans
to
coops.
Okay.
So,
but
you
got
to
get
the
loan
first
and
you're
going
to
do
it
through
a
bank
and
the
bank
is
going.
W
W
C
Yeah
yeah
yeah,
so
we
want
to
figure
out
new
ways
for
coops
that
make
them
more
feasible.
We've
talked
about
worker
coops,
which
is
like
the
pizza
shop
or
the
you
know
the
housekeeping
group,
where
the
truth
is
there's
only
about
500
of
those
nationwide
today,
and
so
what
we're
trying
to
do
is
figure
out
ways.
How
do
we?
How
do
we
make
five
hundred
thousand
of
those
think
about
the
number
of
small
business?
X
B
Well,
thank
you.
I'll
just
offer
some
closing
comments
unless
there
are
any
other
comments
or
questions,
but
you
know
I
think
about
the
question
that
we're
grappling
with
nationally
the
shrinking
metal
middle-class
and
it
seems
almost
too
big
to
tackle.
But,
as
you
mentioned,
Kevin
and
others
have
alluded
to
this.
Is
you
know
this
is
low-hanging
fruit?
B
This
is
something
that
we
can
absolutely
you
know
it's
it's
it's
successful
and
the
challenge
that
as
I
see
it
is
you
can't
just
pass
a
bill
and
make
it
so
the
challenge
is
you
have
to
do
the
work,
the
retail
and
the
wholesale
work
to
put
the
information
out
there
and
understand
and
make
sure
that
people
enough
people
understand
the
benefits
of
it
to
actually
take
advantage
of
it,
and
actually
you
know
to
to
you
know,
invest
in
this
model
from
the
businesses
and
employees
themselves
to
the
lending
institutions.
So
that's
why
I
agree.
B
You
know
a
task
force
is
a
great
way
to
start
this
and
would
be
happy
to
work
with
any
of
my
colleagues
who
were
interested
and
others
to
identify
the
right
people
and
get
that
started
absolutely
and
yeah
I.
Think
of
I.
Think
of
friends
who
have
put
themselves
through
you
know
college
or
grad
school
through
various
jobs,
and-
and
you
know
one
one
in
particular,
including
myself,
but
one
in
particular,
who
was
a
service,
was
really
successful
server
at
restaurants.
I
B
It's
it's
good
management
and
it's
just
an
extension
of
that
kind
of
a
good
management
structure.
You
know
put
into
real
practice,
MA
and
monetarily
benefiting
those
employees,
so
I
really
want
to
thank
unless
there
any
other
questions.
I
really
want
to
thank
all
of
our
invited
guests.
Today,
I've
learned
a
lot
I
think
we
have
some
some
really
tangible.
Next
steps
and
I'm
really
enthusiastic
about
working
with
with
council
colleagues
to
make
the
task
force
a
reality
and
want
to
thank
everyone.