The National Employee Owner Summit is a two-day, off-site training program staffed by the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, where employee-owners learn from and interact with their peers from other ESOP companies. In small groups, structured exercises, and informal discussions, employee-owners develop new skills and a new perspective on employee ownership at their respective companies.
Download Preliminary Agenda Here
Download Program Overview Here
February 24th (Monday) & 25th (Tuesday) 2025
Double Tree by Hilton Phoenix-Mesa
1011 W Holmes Ave, Mesa, AZ 85210
The program is designed primarily for hourly and salaried non-managerial employees and provides them with an opportunity to learn with and from their peers. Typically, attendees come from outstanding ESOP companies where developing a culture of ownership is considered an important aspect of corporate success.
This 2-day program is not your typical conference. It is capped at 40 participants and through high-engagement activities provides non-managerial employee-owners a better understanding of what an ESOP is, how they benefit from being a participant in one, and best practices on building an ownership culture. The Employee Owner Summit introduces employee owners to skills, knowledge and peer contacts that will make their participation as owners even more effective. The program includes mini-forums, presentations, teamwork exercises, and interactive games.
Download Preliminary Agenda Here
"A few of our Ownership Culture Committee Chairs attended this program in August of 2017 and it made such an impact, we brought the program to our Kentucky facility and trained the entire company. The instructors are knowledgeable and able to explain the complexity of ESOPs in easily understood terms. In addition, the program allows participants to run their own ESOP companies in a very realistic, fun game simulation. This simulation provides a chance to apply our ESOP and business knowledge while competing against other teams to see which company is the most successful. Applying the knowledge in this fun way makes it stick. Great learning and team building experience. I highly recommend the program!"
- Krisi Schell, SRC Holdings Corp.
"WOW – such a great experience!! We sent five employees to this in the fall of 2021 and all came back with useful information. It was a smaller setting than the annual conferences which made it a great way to network with other employee owned companies and share ideas. The instructors from the OEOC gave us great insight on how to “Think like Owners” and share this information with our fellow team members. The 2-day course was broken down into several instructional sessions, from the basics to business financials. I would highly recommend this to any of your employee owners from – everyone can benefit from this!!"
- Lori Robinson, Parallel Technologies
“Scot Forge enjoys attending the National Employee Owner Summit. When our owners attend the program, we learn and are able to share best practices among a trusted group of companies. We leave well informed and anxious to return to share our learnings with our fellow owners. The Summit Instructors are always well informed on current events facing ESOP companies. After networking and connecting with ers, we leave with a greater sense of pride, and an interconnected fate.”
- The Scot Forge ESOP Council
“The program was the opportunity we needed to step away from the business and “re-energize” our Employee Owned spirit.”
- Nancy van Ginkel & Diane Kruis, Mantaline Corporation
Members of the OEOC's Employee-Owned Network or of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), receive discounts on registrations for this program. Benefits are increased when multiple employee-owners from your company attend the Summit - all companies receive a discount when sending 2 or more participants.
Not sure if you are a member?
For membership inquiries email oeoc@kent.edu
By Phone: You can call the Double Tree by Hilton Phoenix-Mesa front desk at 480-833-5555 and book your reservation. Let them know you are booking under the room block with the "Ohio Employee Ownership Center" for the "National Employee Owners Summit" to receive the discounted group rate.
Online: Online booking link forthcoming
*** We recommend that you reserve your sleeping rooms as soon as possible for the event.
Contact Chris Cooper at ccooper1@kent.edu or 330-672-3028 for more info on the program.