The proposed bill establishes the Office of Employee Ownership within the Department of Community and Economic Development, along with the Employee Ownership Advisory Board and the Main Street Employee Ownership Grant Program. The Office will advocate for employee ownership, raise awareness of its benefits, and provide technical and financial assistance to employee-owned enterprises. Key terms such as "employee-owned enterprise" and "employee-ownership group" are defined, and the Office's responsibilities include outreach, education, and collecting statistics on employee-owned businesses. The bill also authorizes the allocation of funds for assistance programs, specifying eligibility criteria for businesses facing layoffs or considering conversion to employee ownership.

Additionally, the Main Street Employee Ownership Grant Program will provide grants of up to $35,000 to small businesses with fewer than 200 employees for establishing worker cooperatives or converting to employee-owned enterprises. Local agencies will assist in promoting and administering these programs, while the Employee Ownership Advisory Board will support the development of employee-owned enterprises in Pennsylvania. The bill mandates annual reporting on the impact of these programs and includes provisions to ensure nondiscrimination in financial assistance. It allows the department to create temporary guidelines for implementation and outlines the annual appropriation process for funding sources, with the act set to take effect 60 days after passage.