The June 1, 2010 Employee Ownership Update is online and discusses the following:

• Employee Ownership 100 List Updated for 2010
• French Employee-Owned Companies Perform Well
• British Coalition Government Promises More Employee Ownership
• Vermont Employee Ownership Center Conference Set for June 9

The NCEO has released the 2010 Employee Ownership 100:

Collectively, they employ 597,000 employees, essentially the same as last year's 598,000, and up from 580,500 in 2008. As usual, Publix Super Markets tops the list, with 144,000 employees. The smallest companies on the list have 1,050 employees. Sixteen are in architecture and/or engineering, 15 in manufacturing, 14 are supermarkets or (in one case) convenience stores, and 9 are in construction or construction services.

Total employment at the 92 companies that were also on the list in both 2008 and 2009 grew 1.4% over last year, partly from acquisitions and partly from internal growth. Of the eight companies that dropped off the list, one (the Tribune Co.) went bankrupt, one terminated its plan, and the rest were near the cutoff point last year and did not quite make it this year. To make the list, at least 50% of the company's stock must be owned by an ESOP (which accounts for almost all of the plans), or the company must have a profit sharing or similar plan and/or a direct stock purchase plan in which most employees participate.

The Update also discusses the references to employee ownership in Britain's Our Programme for Government and the results of a French employee ownership study.