April 28, 2022 – According to a report from Becker’s Hospital Review, Kaiser Permanente has partnered with Project Equity and Obran Cooperative to create an employee owner joint initiative. The program is designed to help suppliers that have struggled during the pandemic, as well as to help rebuild and reinforce the communities these companies operate in.
“Through this partnership, supplier companies are invited to consider various potential pathways to employee ownership: an independent transition supported by Project Equity or a conversion via acquisition by Obran Cooperative,” the health system said.
This program will provide education to Kaiser’s suppliers about employee ownership and will help to support supplier companies in transitioning to an employee ownership model. Kaiser has reportedly contacted 3,200 of its suppliers, “all of which are run by people of color or other underrepresented groups to discuss the benefits of becoming employee owned.”
“As a large organization in our communities, we have an opportunity to drive wealth and health,” Ije-enu N. Udeze Nwosu, executive director of Kaiser Permanente’s impact spending program, said in an April 26 post on the health system’s website. “By focusing on our vast supplier network and using our significant purchasing power to encourage and support employee-owned businesses, we can address economic, racial, and environmental inequities and contribute to the success and resilience of our communities.”