State-wide Gathering Highlights Need for Worker-owned Businesses in Massachusetts
CONTACTS:
Helen Matthews, Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP), homefries@economicdemocracy.us, 617-784-1731; Alex Papali, Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) alex@economicdemocracy.us; Sarah Assefa Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) sarah.a@economicdemocracy.us
Williamsburg, MA – On Monday, March 30, 2026, Sen. Paul Mark and Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa alongside the Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP), will hosted a legislative brunch with dozens of local advocates at community gathering space the Burgy Grange in Williamsburg, to show their support for priority asks in the state budget and the “Opportunity to Own” bill. Participants included worker-owners from MA networks of cooperative businesses such as Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds and Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives (VAWC), and local worker-owned co-ops such as Cocineras Latinas, Pedal People, Oxbow Design Build, and Nubbernaut. They shared stories of how transitioning from conventional to worker ownership provided significant benefits to their families and communities.
COWOP has been a primary advocate for funding the Massachusetts Center for Employee Ownership (MassCEO), the state’s office to promote worker ownership, ever since its successful campaign to pass the MassCEO Enabling Act in 2022. In the state’s upcoming FY2027 budget cycle, advocates are requesting the office be funded at a stable $300,000, to support business owners and employees in pursuing worker ownership.
In addition, advocates are seeking an increase in the budget line for the Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) program run by the MassDevelopment agency, which allows providers of technical assistance to support small businesses, including worker cooperatives, in building critical entrepreneurship and democratic management skills. Due to sharply increased interest in worker cooperatives across the Commonwealth, COWOP and allied groups are calling for an increase of SBTA funding from the current level of $5 million to $7.5 million.
“Opportunity to Own” is an innovative bill (H. 503 and S. 305) filed by Sen. Paul Mark and Reps. Christopher Worrell and Sean Garballey that encourages owners of small businesses to consider transferring ownership to their workers when they decide to sell. This bill would create a major opportunity to grow the worker cooperative ecosystem and help stabilize Massachusetts' economy. The bill provides a strategy for Massachusetts to meet the challenge of tens of thousands of small business owners retiring in coming years (aka ‘Silver Tsunami” - Opportunity to Own fact sheet), shuttering their businesses or selling to predatory investors, and laying off MA workers.
Representative Lindsay Sabadosa shares: "I’m proud to support worker-owned businesses in my district and across Massachusetts: an approach that keeps our small business ecosystem strong and rooted in our communities. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues on policies that expand worker ownership as a powerful tool for building a more resilient local and statewide economy."
Wren Ribeiro, representing COWOP coalition on the Advisory Board of MassCEO, and based in Easthampton, adds:
“MassCEO, now in its third year as a standing office of state government, has a wonderful opportunity to convert some of the state's 700,000 small businesses to models of employee ownership. My hope is that interest in worker cooperatives, particularly our principles of shared governance and cross sector cooperation, grows to meet the challenges of the 'silver tsunami' underway."
Recent research by Brayan Rosa Rodríguez, a policy consultant working on behalf of COWOP, explains: "Massachusetts is losing nearly 96,000 jobs annually to permanent business closures — and the data shows that a growing share of those closures involve mature, viable businesses that simply couldn't find a successor. The Opportunity To Own bill offers a proven, fiscally responsible pathway to change that. The evidence is clear: when Massachusetts workers have the opportunity and support to own the businesses where they work, communities keep jobs, build wealth, and strengthen the local economy. S.305 is smart economic policy — and the numbers back it up."
Alex Papali, Policy Director for the Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP), states: "Our economy is increasingly unstable and small businesses are more at risk of closing than ever- but their workers are poised to help. Legislators and their constituents from western MA are together creating policy solutions to grow a state economy that spreads wealth more fairly and is far more resilient than what we have today."
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The Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) is a growing statewide network that aims to bring together worker co-ops and developers, grassroots organizations and labor unions, and funders and investors to resource and coordinate the advancement of a worker ownership movement across Massachusetts.
Press Kit (links to additional information):
Opportunity to Own Fact Sheet
Bay State Banner editorial
Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube
Helen Matthews, Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP), homefries@economicdemocracy.us, 617-784-1731; Alex Papali, Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) alex@economicdemocracy.us; Sarah Assefa Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) sarah.a@economicdemocracy.us
Williamsburg, MA – On Monday, March 30, 2026, Sen. Paul Mark and Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa alongside the Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP), will hosted a legislative brunch with dozens of local advocates at community gathering space the Burgy Grange in Williamsburg, to show their support for priority asks in the state budget and the “Opportunity to Own” bill. Participants included worker-owners from MA networks of cooperative businesses such as Roots and Dreams and Mustard Seeds and Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives (VAWC), and local worker-owned co-ops such as Cocineras Latinas, Pedal People, Oxbow Design Build, and Nubbernaut. They shared stories of how transitioning from conventional to worker ownership provided significant benefits to their families and communities.
COWOP has been a primary advocate for funding the Massachusetts Center for Employee Ownership (MassCEO), the state’s office to promote worker ownership, ever since its successful campaign to pass the MassCEO Enabling Act in 2022. In the state’s upcoming FY2027 budget cycle, advocates are requesting the office be funded at a stable $300,000, to support business owners and employees in pursuing worker ownership.
In addition, advocates are seeking an increase in the budget line for the Small Business Technical Assistance (SBTA) program run by the MassDevelopment agency, which allows providers of technical assistance to support small businesses, including worker cooperatives, in building critical entrepreneurship and democratic management skills. Due to sharply increased interest in worker cooperatives across the Commonwealth, COWOP and allied groups are calling for an increase of SBTA funding from the current level of $5 million to $7.5 million.
“Opportunity to Own” is an innovative bill (H. 503 and S. 305) filed by Sen. Paul Mark and Reps. Christopher Worrell and Sean Garballey that encourages owners of small businesses to consider transferring ownership to their workers when they decide to sell. This bill would create a major opportunity to grow the worker cooperative ecosystem and help stabilize Massachusetts' economy. The bill provides a strategy for Massachusetts to meet the challenge of tens of thousands of small business owners retiring in coming years (aka ‘Silver Tsunami” - Opportunity to Own fact sheet), shuttering their businesses or selling to predatory investors, and laying off MA workers.
Representative Lindsay Sabadosa shares: "I’m proud to support worker-owned businesses in my district and across Massachusetts: an approach that keeps our small business ecosystem strong and rooted in our communities. I look forward to working with my legislative colleagues on policies that expand worker ownership as a powerful tool for building a more resilient local and statewide economy."
Wren Ribeiro, representing COWOP coalition on the Advisory Board of MassCEO, and based in Easthampton, adds:
“MassCEO, now in its third year as a standing office of state government, has a wonderful opportunity to convert some of the state's 700,000 small businesses to models of employee ownership. My hope is that interest in worker cooperatives, particularly our principles of shared governance and cross sector cooperation, grows to meet the challenges of the 'silver tsunami' underway."
Recent research by Brayan Rosa Rodríguez, a policy consultant working on behalf of COWOP, explains: "Massachusetts is losing nearly 96,000 jobs annually to permanent business closures — and the data shows that a growing share of those closures involve mature, viable businesses that simply couldn't find a successor. The Opportunity To Own bill offers a proven, fiscally responsible pathway to change that. The evidence is clear: when Massachusetts workers have the opportunity and support to own the businesses where they work, communities keep jobs, build wealth, and strengthen the local economy. S.305 is smart economic policy — and the numbers back it up."
Alex Papali, Policy Director for the Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP), states: "Our economy is increasingly unstable and small businesses are more at risk of closing than ever- but their workers are poised to help. Legislators and their constituents from western MA are together creating policy solutions to grow a state economy that spreads wealth more fairly and is far more resilient than what we have today."
###
The Coalition for Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) is a growing statewide network that aims to bring together worker co-ops and developers, grassroots organizations and labor unions, and funders and investors to resource and coordinate the advancement of a worker ownership movement across Massachusetts.
Press Kit (links to additional information):
Opportunity to Own Fact Sheet
Bay State Banner editorial
Website | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | YouTube
Photo: Cocineras Latinas, a worker-owned cooperative catering company in Western Massachusetts, catered a legislative brunch focused on advancing policies to support worker-owned businesses (courtesy of COWOP coalition).
Photo: MA State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa speaks at a legislative brunch focused on policies to support worker-owned cooperatives (courtesy of COWOP coalition).
