John’s background involved a twenty-year career in equity investing, venture capital, consulting and investment banking. His work has had a particular focus on Employee Stock Ownership Plans. As founder and CEO of his own investment banking firm, he helped employees buy and manage approximately $2.2 billion worth of ESOP stock. He sold his firm to American Capital, which then went public.

John left American Capital as Senior Investment Officer when the company reached $1 billion in assets. After leaving American Capital, John was Vice President at Ampersand Ventures, formerly Paine Webber's private equity group. Earlier in his career, after he finished his Ph.D. at Stanford University, he was a consultant at Bain & Company.  John created the first known Employee Stock Ownership Plan for a microfinance institution when he helped the employees of K-REP buy part of their bank in 2001.

John is Chair of a twelve office international non-profit, Progress Through Business, that focuses on building entrepreneurship opportunities and that runs innovative financial literacy, tax form preparation and benefit enrollment projects.  He has through his for-profit and non-profit career helped to start and grow 32 companies in addition to the hundreds of firms he has either financed or advised.  He directs the Saïd Global Entrepreneurship Network and the Center on Business and Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He serves on the board of directors of two companies in the media and finance industries.

John has participated in work, research and speaking tours in 68 countries. He was awarded the Darwin Nelson Community Impact Award by Wisconsin Business Development for his tireless efforts to expand the financial literacy and tax form preparation programmes that have benefited so many.

Research interests:
John Hoffmire’s research is on employee ownership, participative management, privatizations, financial literacy in the workplace, gainsharing, employee benefits and entrepreneurship
He has written widely on international employee ownership, credit unions, capital structures, tax issues, and marketing

Working Papers:

Free and For-Pay Tax Preparation Programs at Two Credit Unions: SECU and UW Credit Union, Filene Research Institute, 2010

Journal articles:

“Promising Practices in the Development and Distribution of Asset-Building Products and Programs”, Families in Society, 2007, Volume 88, Number 3

“ESOPs and Mezzanine Financing,” with David Ehrenfest Steinglass, ESOP Association, 1998

“Competitive Strategy for ESOP Companies,” ESOP Association, 1996

“Practice Note: Questions and Answers Regarding ESOPs for Family Businesses,” with J. Willis and R. Gilbert, Family Business Review, Volume 5,  Number 2,  Summer, 1992

 “Practitioner Conduct: The Need for Open Debate,” Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, Volume 2, Number 2, 1990

“A Quantitative Approach to ESOPs for Unions and Managers”, ESOP Association, 1989

“Using Earnouts to Implement ESOPs in Emerging Market Economies,” ESOP Association, 1989

“ESOP Options for Distressed Companies,” ESOP Association, 1989

Books:

The Economics of Serving Low-Income Employees at Tax Time: Implications for Credit Unions, Filene Research Institute, 2009

How to Market Your ESOP Company, ESOP Association, John Hoffmire. (ed.), 1993

Book chapters:

“ESOP Implementation in the USSR and Yugoslavia,” with David Ellerman, in Employee Stock Ownership Plans, R. Smiley and R. Gilbert, Prentice Hall, 1990