FROM FOUNDER TO FUTURE

Abrams, a successful entrepreneur, explains how companies—and the nation at large—can benefit from adopting an employee-ownership model.

According to the author, the United States’ economic system rewards business owners and shareholders, but largely consigns employees to unspectacular wages. As he bluntly puts it, “Workers have been left behind­.” However, he says that there’s great opportunity for change in the future: In this country, he notes, there are more than 3 million companies owned by people who are at least 55 years old; by 2040, most of those businesses will be sold, shuttered, or willed to another—a “silver tsunami” made of trillions of dollars. To capitalize on this seismic shift, and simultaneously improve one’s business, the author recommends the widespread adoption of an employee-ownership model, one that trades more hierarchical distributions of power for “participatory democratic management.” In consistently accessible prose, Abrams explains various models for such an arrangement, both popular and obscure; the advantages and disadvantages of each; and the “nuts and bolts of owner­ship conversion.” The shift to employee ownership, the core of the book, is just one element of what he calls a “CommonWealth Company,” which, among other things, demonstrates a commitment to making a “positive social and environmental impact.” Abrams makes a strong case, especially for the worker-cooperative model that he chose for his own business, an integrated architecture, building, and solar energy firm called South Mountain that he founded in 1973. However, he never makes a convincing argument that a sweeping transition in this direction is plausible—although, to be fair, he considers himself only “cautiously optimistic”—and the argument he makes that such a transition could contribute to a “restoration of democracy” is even less persuasive. However, he does provide a lucid and succinct account of the attractions of an uncommon and empowering business model, even at the individual level.

An accessible and instructive introduction, although not all readers may share its optimism.