My wife and I opened the first location of A Slice of New York in 2006 in Santa Clara, and in 2011 followed that with a second pizzeria location in Sunnyvale. After eleven years, we changed our ownership approach and became a worker cooperative, giving 15 people equal ownership in the business (we have 28 employees, and ownership is optional).

Because of a new measure passed by the California Legislature and signed into law Sept. 29 by Gov. Gavin Newsom, more companies in the state can do the same. But what does any of this really mean?

The law Newsom signed — SB 1407, the California Employee Ownership Act, which becomes effective Jan. 1 — creates an Employee Ownership Hub in the governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Known as GO-Biz, this hub is intended to be a central repository of information about employee ownership structures (e.g., Worker Cooperatives, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), and Employee Ownership Trusts). It also will help raise awareness, streamline, assist, and promote the process of transitions to these worker-owned structures.

The new law builds upon the institutional support for worker ownership, which was achieved through the passing of the California Worker Cooperative Act of 2016. The Employee Ownership Hub promotes a form of business practice that is not widely known, yet it is one that has been shown to weather economic storms, be inherently resilient, and create a voice for those who make it successful.

While it may seem...

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