A New Way To Honor America’s Workers

As we fire up our grills and celebrate the achievements of American workers for the 143^rd year this Labor Day, let’s spotlight a powerful idea: Giving workers a real stake in the wealth they help create. That’s the promise of employee ownership and, specifically, employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs. They enable workers to become co-owners of the companies they help build.

With 30-plus years helping create ESOPs and observing workers as owners, I can’t think of a better way to honor Labor Day than letting employee-owners speak about the role ownership has played in their lives. Hopefully, policymakers will read their stories – compiled by the Expanding ESOPs coalition – and make it easier for more workers to become owners.

Through the accounts of Mustafa Abou-Taleb of Proponent, the world’s largest independent, employee-owned distributor of aircraft parts and supplies, and Austin Evans of the Nashville marketing agency 5by5, we grasp how employee ownership isn’t just a financial benefit but also a catalyst for dignity, stability, and purpose.

Mustafa Abou-Taleb was nine years into a marketing job when he became restless. While working with Proponent, a client, he had noticed employees were genuinely happy and engaged. The reason? They were owners. He was stunned that Proponent’s ESOP allowed employees to build substantial retirement savings without contributing a dime beyond their work. At his agency, he had no 401(k) and every dollar saved came from his paycheck.

“I wish someone would poach me,” he joked to his client contact when she told him a team member had been recruited to another company. Soon after, he joined Proponent’s marketing team.

“What drew me in was the ESOP,” he says. “I sensed something special, but it wasn’t until I saw my first ESOP statement that it truly hit me. In just over a year, my account balance exceeded what I had saved in 15 years of disciplined saving on my own. Around that time, my wife and I welcomed our first child, and the sense of financial security was priceless.”

But for Mustafa, it wasn’t just the money. “There was a shared sense of accountability and purpose rare in corporate environments,” he says. “An ESOP fosters an ownership mindset where employees are motivated to make the company succeed because it directly impacts all of us. I remember one of my direct reports choosing a more affordable vendor for a project, explaining, ‘It’s our money.’”

Most of Mustafa’s colleagues have been at Proponent for over a decade and turnover is low “because we’re building life-changing wealth for our families – and we all have a stake in the outcome,” he contends.

Mustafa and his wife just welcomed their second son. “For the first time in my life, I can look ahead to our children’s future without anxiety,” he says.

Austin Evans was celebrating his marketing agency’s 10th anniversary at Disney World when in a surprise, the founders revealed they had sold 30% of the company to employees via an ESOP. Most of the team had never heard of an ESOP, but the owners explained their jobs were safe, roles wouldn’t change, and the leadership team was staying. The next day in six rooms, a different aspect of employee ownership was explained.

“The more I learned about this benefit and that I would receive it just by doing my job, the more interested I grew,” Austin says.

Team members embraced their new roles as partial owners with a heightened level of intentionality around their work. Then came another bombshell: the agency was acquired by 3LS, a 100% employee-owned holding company. Overnight, Austin and his colleagues became full owners.

“By that time, I had done a ton of research on employee ownership and was all in,” Austin recalls. “I have a six-year-old son, and retirement has always made me anxious. When I first got to Nashville, I waited tables and wrote music before taking on debt to start my own business. Saving for retirement was impossible. Our first ESOP statement doesn’t come until later this year, but the ESOP already has made a difference in how I think about my future. Peace of mind has replaced anxiety – and that’s priceless.”

Despite their transformative impact, ESOPs remain rare. In California, where Mustafa works, less than 1% of private businesses offer them. And in Austin’s home of Tennessee, there are only 95 ESOPs. Yet the benefits are clear: They build wealth; reduce turnover and prolong tenure; foster accountability, innovation and pride; and provide equity by enabling workers to share in the success they help create. No wonder research shows 93% of employee-owners report satisfaction with their ESOP plans.

Mustafa’s and Austin’s stories underscore that employee ownership isn’t a fringe idea but a proven path to a better future. As we celebrate Labor Day, let’s move beyond appreciation and toward action. Let’s commit to making ESOPs more common, accessible, and impactful.

Because the best way to honor America’s workers is not just words, but with wealth, dignity, and opportunity. Let’s make them owners.