SECTION 1. Section 2 of Chapter 157A is hereby amended by adding the following language:

“Original business owner,” a natural person who is the majority shareholder of a business at the time of the cooperative conversion.

SECTION 2. Chapter 157A is hereby amended by inserting after section 6 the following new section:

Section 6A. Specialized membership shares.

(a) An original business owner may hold membership shares on a temporary basis that shall not be subject to the requirements set forth in section 2 of chapter 157. Shares held under this section shall be referred to as “specialized membership shares.”

(b) Specialized membership shares may only be accessed after the creation of a timeline, mutually agreed upon by the original business owner and members of the cooperative, for the sale of all specialized shares to general membership shareholders.

(c) Specialized membership shares are aggregated to allow the original owner one membership vote while in retention of the specialized membership shares.

SECTION 3. Section 8 of chapter 157A is hereby amended by adding after subsection (b) the following subsection:

(c) Dividends from specialized membership shares under section 6A of this chapter are not disbursed on a patronage basis. Specialized membership shares allow dividend returns at a predetermined rate, as determined by the original business owner and worker owners at the commencement of the cooperative conversion.