The basics:

• Rutgers, Pennsylvania center launch employee ownership partnership
• ESOP initiative backed by $1M endowment from former NewAge Industries CEO
• Collaboration will use AI tools to evaluate ESOP opportunities
• Program aims to expand employee ownership across three states by 2030

Rutgers University‘s New Jersey/New York Center for Employee Ownership and the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership announced a July 1 partnership aimed at significantly expanding employee ownership across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania by 2030.

The effort is backed by a $1 million endowment from employee ownership advocate and former NewAge Industries CEO Ken Baker. The four-year collaboration will focus on helping more business owners transition to employee stock ownership plans, or ESOPs, through education, outreach and new artificial intelligence tools designed to evaluate whether employee ownership is the right succession strategy.

The announcement comes as employee ownership continues to grow throughout the tri-state region. Across New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, nearly 700 companies operate with ESOPs.  Together, they employ more than 1.4 million workers who collectively hold approximately $48 billion in employer stock. In New Jersey alone, 110 businesses have ESOPs

The Garden State figure covers 535,186 employees who hold about $15.5 billion in employer stock.

Employee ownership has gained bipartisan support as a succession model that helps preserve local businesses, retain jobs and give workers an ownership stake that allows them to build wealth in addition to wages. The new partnership will combine Rutgers’ nationally recognized employee ownership research with the Pennsylvania center’s outreach efforts and The Baker Project’s AI-powered assessment technology to help more business owners understand and evaluate the ESOP model.

Raising awareness

“Employee ownership holds tremendous potential to strengthen businesses, preserve jobs, reduce wealth inequality, and boost local economies across the region,” said Bill Castellano, executive director of the New Jersey/New York Center for Employee Ownership. “One of the biggest obstacles is a lack of awareness. This new partnership, with generous support from Ken Baker, will help us to solve that problem by reaching more business owners than ever before.”

Employee ownership holds tremendous potential to strengthen businesses, preserve jobs, reduce wealth inequality, and boost local economies across the region.
– Bill Castellano, executive director, NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership

Kevin McPhillips, executive director and CEO of the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership, said the collaboration brings together complementary strengths from both organizations.

“Rutgers University has the nation’s finest academic research program for employee ownership,” said McPhillips. “This collaboration will combine the best in thought leadership and successful on-the-ground experience in expanding employee ownership. It is an honor to partner with Rutgers, and it’s a marvelous opportunity for both our organizations. We are very excited to get started.”

Lasting impact

Baker is co-founder and chairman of the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership. He said the initiative has the potential to create lasting economic benefits for workers and communities.

“Combining critical research from Rutgers and state-of-the-art technology and methods from the PaCEO and The Baker Project, this partnership has the opportunity to provide a tremendous economic future for working people and communities throughout the U.S. Our goal is to change lives for the better. It is my honor to support this important endeavor.”

The announcement comes as several companies across the region recently completed ESOP transitions. In New Jersey, Warren-based Becht Engineering BT became 100% employee-owned in January 2025, while Metuchen-based Next Evolution completed its ESOP transition in November 2024. Other recent conversions include:

• New York: Keena Healthcare Technology and Imagine Early Learning Centers
• Pennsylvania: Haverford Systems, SilcoTek Corp. and Paula Teacher and Associates

A timely partnership

Lawmakers say the initiative is particularly timely as many business owners near retirement without established succession plans.

State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D-16th District, said the partnership could help address New Jersey’s coming wave of business ownership transitions.

“New Jersey is facing a generational transition in business ownership, so we need new policies that will keep successful companies throughout the state operating and growing in the years to come. Employee ownership is a proven model that helps workers build wealth, strengthen their businesses, and preserve well-paying jobs in their communities.”

Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, D-38th District, said employee ownership offers benefits for both business owners and employees.

“Business owners want to know their company is in good hands long after they step away. By building a true symbiosis between employees and employers, ESOPs not only give workers a meaningful stake in the company’s future success but allow founders to entrust their legacy to those who know the business inside and out.I’m thrilled to see this collaboration introduce the benefits of employee ownership plans to more businesses across the region.”

As NJBIZ has previously reported, the New Jersey/New York Center for Employee Ownership, housed within the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations, works to raise awareness of employee ownership, increase the number of employee-owned companies and strengthen the economies of New Jersey and New York.

Officials said the new partnership is expected to build on those efforts by expanding outreach, research and technical assistance to businesses throughout the tri-state region.