Beyond Good Jobs: New Impact Report Shows How Worker Ownership Builds Wealth and Power

The Fund for Jobs Worth Owning's 2026 Impact Report highlights millions in business assets transferred to workers, expanded access to capital, and new opportunities for democratic ownership.

What does it take to create a job worth owning?

For the Fund for Jobs Worth Owning (FJWO), The ICA Group's affiliated financing partner, the answer goes beyond wages and benefits. It means creating opportunities for workers to participate in business decisions, share in financial success, and build long-term economic security through ownership.

FJWO's newly released 2026 Impact Report, Beyond Good Jobs: Jobs Worth Owning, documents the results of this approach since the fund's launch in 2020.

Among the report's findings:

• 330 worker-owners supported, including 176 people becoming first-time business owners.
• $12.8 million in business assets transferred to workers through worker buyouts.
• $814,000 in profit-sharing distributed to worker-owners by supported cooperatives following financing.
• 94% of borrowers increased wages following their loans.
• 398 jobs created or preserved through FJWO's financing.

These outcomes illustrate how financing worker ownership can help workers gain a meaningful stake in the businesses they sustain.

Investing in businesses that invest in their workers

Since 2020, FJWO has directly invested $3.98 million in 21 worker cooperatives, catalyzing an additional $17.2 million in co-investment.

The fund focuses on financing worker buyouts and supporting existing cooperatives, particularly in industries where access to business ownership and conventional financing has historically been limited.

More than half of its portfolio is concentrated in home care and child care cooperatives, where caregivers and early childhood educators are building businesses that give workers a voice in decisions affecting their livelihoods and the families they serve.

FJWO's approach combines flexible financing with business support, financial training, and coaching. This recognizes that access to capital is only one part of building a successful worker-owned business.

From employees to owners: Green Mountain Graphics

The report highlights Green Mountain Graphics, a Queens-based manufacturer that transitioned to worker ownership in 2022 after its founder began planning his departure.

Conventional lending was not an option because of limited collateral. FJWO helped assemble financing from multiple lenders, allowing the workers to purchase the business.

In their first year as owners, workers received an average of $15,000 each in profit-sharing, equivalent to nearly 30% of their approximately $50,000 base pay.

To date, the cooperative has distributed $140,000 in profits.

Beyond these financial gains, worker-owners have taken on greater leadership responsibilities and expanded their participation in business decisions.

The conversion demonstrates how a business succession challenge can become an opportunity to preserve jobs and transfer business wealth to workers.

Strengthening the care economy through ownership

The report also features Childspace Daycare Centers in Philadelphia and Peninsula Homecare Cooperative in Washington State.

At Childspace, FJWO provided working capital when rising insurance costs threatened the cooperative's financial stability. The financing helped the business continue supporting its workforce while its leaders pursued broader solutions to challenges facing child care providers.

At Peninsula Homecare Cooperative, flexible capital and financial coaching helped the business navigate a substantial revenue decline and continue investing in its operations and caregivers.

These examples illustrate why patient capital and ongoing technical assistance matter, particularly for worker-owned businesses operating in industries with narrow margins and unpredictable cash flow.

Building an ecosystem for worker ownership

FJWO's impact reflects the importance of partnerships among lenders, cooperative developers, philanthropic institutions, and worker-owned businesses.

ICA's cooperative development expertise, combined with FJWO's financing and portfolio support, helps businesses navigate ownership transitions and strengthen their operations after conversion.

The report also recognizes partnerships with Wells Fargo, Unlock Ownership, the Boston Impact Initiative, and other institutions working to expand access to capital for worker ownership.

Together, these efforts demonstrate how investment can help create not only stronger businesses, but opportunities for workers to build wealth and exercise greater control over their economic futures.

Explore the full report, Beyond Good Jobs: Jobs Worth Owning, and learn how FJWO is financing a more democratic economy.

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