Greyston Bakery — Yonkers, NY
At Greyston Bakery, filling job openings is straightforward. Hire anyone willing to work — no questions asked. Co-founded by Bernie Glassman, a Brooklyn-born Zen Buddhism teacher, and his wife, the 36-year old bakery is known for its pioneering Open Hiring™ program. More than 34 percent of the people in the Yonkers, New York neighborhood the bakery is located in live below the poverty line, education levels fall below the state average, and unemployment is close to two percent higher than the national average.




Photo by Will Cook

New Belgium Brewery — Fort Collins, CO
What’s it like to be the owner of a company that sells more than 950,000 barrels of beer? Since New Belgium Brewing became an employee stock ownership (ESOP) business in 2013, every staff person enters work knowing exactly what that’s like. New Belgium’s commitment to a high involvement workforce culture celebrates the strength of teams over individuals.



“I take a lot more pride in what I do. The ownership mentality means I don’t pour beer and give tours because my boss expects me to; I do my job, and do it well, because as an employee-owner, I want to be the best ambassador to our brand as possible because it will lead to more of those ownership perks. It feels good to work with an organization of co-owners. We are not a faceless organization. In fact, we’re 700 faces who all have a stake in the future of this business. I always feel heard. If I don’t know the why behind a certain business decision or practice, I am encouraged to ask whomever I need to in order to find the answer. If I uncover an inefficiency, I am encouraged to take ownership over the project to make it right.”
-Hannah Jungels, Beer Romancer Photo courtesy of New Belgium


Rhino Foods — Burlington, VT
Each year, financial insecurity plagues 138 million American workers. A 2016 Federal Reserve report revealed that 47 percent of Americans could not afford an unexpected expense of $400 unless they borrowed money or sold assets. This is bad for workers and bad for business. According to Kiplinger and the Center For Financial Services Innovation, employees’ financial stress costs businesses $5,000 in productivity per employee, and is the source of more than 60 percent of workplace accidents and 40 percent of employee turnover.





Learn more: incomeadvance.org