(a)Upon appropriation by the Legislature, CalOSBA shall establish the California Employee Ownership Hub, administered by an Employee Ownership Hub Manager, appointed by the advocate.
(b)The manager shall administer the Employee Ownership Hub, and may be responsible for the following duties:
(1)Work with all California state agencies whose regulations and programs affect employee-owned companies, and businesses with the potential to become employee-owned, to enhance opportunities and reduce barriers.
(2)Partner with relevant private, nonprofit, and public organizations
including, but not limited to, professional and trade
associations, financial institutions, labor unions, worker centers, Small Business Development Centers, economic and workforce development organizations, a
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(a)
Upon appropriation by the Legislature, CalOSBA shall establish the California Employee Ownership Hub, administered by an Employee Ownership Hub Manager, appointed by the advocate.
(b)
The manager shall administer the Employee Ownership Hub, and may be responsible for the following duties:
(1)
Work with all California state agencies whose regulations and programs affect employee-owned companies, and businesses with the potential to become employee-owned, to enhance opportunities and reduce barriers.
(2)
Partner with relevant private, nonprofit, and public organizations
including, but not limited to, professional and trade
associations, financial institutions, labor unions, worker centers, Small Business Development Centers, economic and workforce development organizations, and nonprofit entities to educate business owners and employees about the benefits of employee ownership and employee ownership transition succession models.
(3)
Share materials regarding employee ownership benefits and employee ownership transition succession models.
(4)
Provide a referral service to help business owners, labor unions, workers, and worker centers find appropriate legal, financial, and technical employee ownership resources and services to assist in employee ownership transitions and the growth of employee-owned businesses.
(5)
Work with the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, the
Capital Programs and Climate Financing Authority, and related entities to develop recommendations and enhance the ability of broad-based employee ownership vehicles to access California capital programs. Those recommendations shall only apply to ESOPs to the extent that the ESOPs satisfy one of the following conditions:
(A)
The ESOP has appointed an independent ESOP trustee.
(B)
The ESOP has, as a trustee, a person or entity that has completed education on ESOP trustee best practices.
(6)
Report to the Legislature, in accordance with Section 9795, on activities undertaken by the hub during the prior fiscal year, including recommendations for improvement.
(A)
The
first report shall be due on January 15, following the first fiscal year in which funding is provided to implement any portion of this article.
(B)
This reporting requirement may be met separately or the information may be included in the annual report required by subdivision (b) of Section 12098.4.
(C)
CalOSBA shall also post the report to its internet website.
(7)
Report employee ownership transition related concerns and recommendations to the advocate.