Glossary of Terms on The Grid

Investing aimed at a specific city, region, or community so the money and its benefits stay local. Several employee-ownership funds use this approach to keep businesses and jobs rooted where they already are.

A shareholder is a person, company, or institution that owns at least one share of a company’s stock or a share of a mutual fund. Shareholders essentially own the company, which comes with the right to share in the profits.

A vision of the economy in which far more people share in owning the businesses they work for or buy from, instead of ownership staying concentrated in a few hands. Employee ownership is one path toward it.

Surety is a type of financial guarantee.

Annual testing for an ESOP that the amount of employer contributions to direct contribution plans that can be deducted each year, according to IRC Section 404(a)(3), is 25% of the compensation of the plan participants.

A variety of terms for individuals who have been incarcerated, and who may face employment barriers as a result.

Feelings of or a sense of ownership

An idea, practice, or material artifact perceived as new by the relevant unit of adoption, e.g., a company

Jobs that pay a living wage and offer stability, benefits, and a real path to build wealth, not just an hourly rate. Employee ownership is one way owners try to turn ordinary jobs into quality ones.

Replicable, out-of-the-box worker-owned businesses that provide a pathway to work for DREAMers and undocumented individuals.

Common stock is not just a piece of paper—or, these days, a digital entry—but a ticket to ownership in a company

The employees at a company who are Black, Latino, Asian, Indigenous, or otherwise people of color. Some employee-ownership funds focus on businesses whose workforces are mostly people of color.

The Davis-Bacon Act requires that all contractors and subcontractors performing construction, alteration excess of $2,000 pay their laborers and mechanics not less than the prevailing wage and fringe benefits

An examination of records or financial accounts to check their accuracy.

Workers whose household income sits at or below the middle of the range for their area. Community lenders and grant programs often use this measure to decide who a program is meant to reach.

Any change of the portion of equity or debt components of a company's balance sheet with the intent to change the equity owned by an EO Plan (such as ESOP or EOT)

Jobs to be Done is a framework published by Clay Christensen. It can be used to create offerings that people truly want to buy by understanding the job the customer is trying to get done.

Non-extractive finance flips the power relationship of lender and lendee, making sure that a borrower will never be worse off after working with a lender than before working with them.

Unique considerations for "union shop" ESOP companies

Consumer cooperatives are owned by the people who do business there

The mandatory transfer of employer securities into or out of plan accounts, not designed to result in an equal proportion of employer securities in each account

Proxy voting is a form of voting whereby a member of a decision-making body may delegate their voting power to a representative, to enable a vote in absence.

A 12-month period for which an organization plans the use of its funds. (The fiscal year for a business does not always line up with the calendar year.)

an interrelated set of solutions designed to meet employment needs: job-seekers and employers.

Loan guarantees are promises by an individuals, government, or organization to repay a loan if the borrower defaults, reducing risk for the lender.

The point, especially the level of sales of a good or service, at which the return on investment is exactly equal to the amount invested.

A statement given buy a seller to a buyer itemizing the sale and demanding payment. A bill may be for the sale of a good or a service.