Loren Rodgers
Thank You, from the NCEO
Thank you.
Employee Ownership Blog
Loren Rodgers
Loren Rodgers
Mark Cuban: "Give Employees Stock"
LinkedIn's Daniel Roth interviewed billionaire investor Mark Cuban and posted the online interview. In it, Cuban makes it clear that he is not talking just about a sense of ownership—he’s been quoted for decades as a supporter of employee ownership: “When we sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo, 20 years ago give or take, out of 330 employees, 300 became millionaires. And those 30 weren't only because they started too late. But they got paid as well." (Also see our June 17, 2019, blog post.)
Loren Rodgers
Wilmington Trust and DOL Reach $88M Settlement
In a press release issued on April 30, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it had reached an agreement with Wilmington Trust "to pay a combined $80 million to 21 employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) for which it served as trustee and $8 million to the government, and to reimburse plan sponsors of ESOPs for legal costs and expenses advanced in connection with the Secretary’s investigations and litigation."
Loren Rodgers
EBSA Head Preston Rutledge to Step Down
Pension & Investments is reporting that Preston Rutledge, the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), will be stepping down from his post in May. EBSA is the unit that oversees enforcement of employee benefit plans, including ESOPs. P&I's article notes "[a]n official Labor Department announcement has not yet been made and the reason for his departure or his next move could not immediately be learned."
Loren Rodgers
PPP Funds Exhausted
Update April 22: Congressional leaders and the White House announced an agreement yesterday which would, among other things, nearly double the amount available through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) by adding $320 billion in funding. The Senate passed the bill late yesterday by voice vote, although two senators (Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah) voiced opposition. The bill now goes to the House, which is expected to vote on Thursday. The text of the House bill is here.
Loren Rodgers
ESOP Trucking Company Praised in White House Ceremony
In recognition of their increased and successful efforts amid the coronavirus outbreak, President Trump praised a number of shipping and trucking companies, including Tennessee-based ESOP Big G Express. Big G Express driver Steven Richardson was invited to make some remarks, in which he spoke about Big G's ESOP and his experience as an essential worker during the pandemic.
Loren Rodgers
In Response to COVID-19: What Employee-Owners Are Doing
We're hearing stories from our members and the extraordinary things employee-owned companies around the nation are doing during this COVID-19 outbreak.
Loren Rodgers
Resilience
As I talk with members, the word that keeps coming to mind is “resilience.” Some of you reading this are facing terrible choices and no-win situations. Some of you are seeing trouble approaching. But all of the people I have talked with these last weeks – company leaders, employee-owners, advisers, members of the NCEO board, people in our allied organizations – are putting in the hours to create solutions and share them.
Loren Rodgers
The NCEO Hosts Public Webinars on Covid-19
The NCEO is hosting three webinars, open to the general public, this week on the coronavirus outbreak and its relationship to employee ownership. You can register for future webinars on Free Webinars: ESOP Issues During the Coronavirus, which will also be updated with follow-up information and recordings of the webinars.