Thursday, March 22
Armitage Hall, Faculty Lounge
12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.
Presented by Christopher Michael, J.D.
Director of Employee Ownership, Newark Community Economic Development Corporation
To date, cities have not fully utilized employee ownership as an economic development strategy––as a means to retain businesses, improve the quality of jobs, and expand the local tax base. In this short lecture, Chris Michael will share personal experiences with initiatives in New York City and Newark, NJ that aim to increase the number and size of employee-owned businesses in the local region. As context, he will also relate findings from dissertation research on the history of employee ownership in the United States.
About the speaker:
Chris Michael is director of employee ownership at the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, the primary economic development agency for the city of Newark, NJ. He also serves as senior advisor to the Rutgers University-based NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership. Chris regularly consults for government, business, and nonprofits on employee ownership, and assists individual firms with conversion to employee ownership. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in political science at the City University of New York.