Employee Ownership Blog

Timothy Garbinsky

Guy Raz's NCEO Forum Keynote Available to Members Until October 9

If, like me, you were unlucky enough to miss out on the NCEO Forum last month in Philadelphia, then you didn't get to see the keynote from Guy Raz, award-winning host of the popular "How I Built This" podcast. My colleagues and others in the community told me it was inspiring, built from Guy's observations about employee ownership specifically (and ownership in general) based on companies with whom he has talked and spent time.

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Kimberly McCourtney

New NCEO Peer Networks Debut to Connect Leaders Across the Community

The true success of our recent 2025 Forum in Philadelphia wasn’t just about workshops or sessions; it was about connection, growth, and the launch of NCEO’s new peer networks. Our peer networks are carefully curated spaces that foster deeper connections between employee-owned businesses, creating opportunities for shared learning and collaborative problem-solving within the employee ownership community. Whether you're navigating leadership challenges, guiding companies as a service provider, or serving on boards, these targeted networks provide support, expertise, and a platform to build better employee ownership practices together.

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Corey Rosen

Daniel Aronowitz Confirmed as Head of Department of Labor's EBSA

The nomination of Daniel Aronowitz to head the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in the Department of Labor (DOL) has been confirmed by the US Senate. Aronowitz was until recently the president of Encore Fiduciary (formerly Euclid Fiduciary). The company provides fiduciary insurance, fidelity bonds, cybersecurity insurance, and fiduciary insurance consulting. He is the author of the Fiduciary Liability Insurance Handbook. The book’s only mention of ESOPs is to say that this kind of fiduciary insurance is more costly than that needed for other retirement plans.

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Corey Rosen

House Committee Unanimously Approves Bill to Create Safe Harbor for ESOP Valuations

On September 17, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce unanimously approved H.R. 5169, the Retire through Ownership Act, sponsored by Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), who is chair of the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions (HELP). The bill was amended in committee to more closely parallel the version of the same bill that passed the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions earlier this year.

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Corey Rosen

House Committee Passes Bills to Require DOL Reports on Common Interest Agreements and EBSA Investigations

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce passed H.R. 2958, the Balance the Scales Act, which would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to require that the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) submit an annual report to Congress on so-called “common interest agreements.” The issue first came to the forefront in Harrison v. Envision Management, No. 21–cv–00304–CNS–MD (D.C. Colo. Jan. 13, 2025), a case in which the plaintiff’s law firm received information from the DOL under a common interest agreement, even though the DOL was not a party to the suit. The attorneys for the defendants discovered the information-sharing only the night before an important deposition. The court ruled decisively against the DOL, and several members of Congress expressed concern about the practice.

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Timothy Garbinsky

Employee Ownership: We Got Now

Ages ago, long before it was the focal point of either highlight reels or politically tinged controversies, the WNBA debuted in the late 90s with the tagline "We got next." If you've never played pickup basketball, those who are waiting for the court after the current game to 11 or 15 or (heaven forbid) 21 will say they "got next" to indicate they're playing the winners of the ongoing game.

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Corey Rosen

New ESOP Valuation Rules Could Come as Early as January 2026

The new regulatory agenda for the Department of Labor (DOL) indicates that new regulations for ESOP valuations could come as soon as January 2026. The regulations were required by Section 346 of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The release notes that “[t]o inform this action, the Department established a pre-rule outreach plan to broaden public participation and community engagement in the regulatory process. This includes meeting with a range of stakeholders (including ESOP sponsors, appraisers, labor organizations and academics) to hear about issues they believe should be addressed in the Department’s guidance. The goal of the outreach plan is to inform this regulatory action through meaningful and equitable opportunities for public input by a range of interested or affected parties, including underserved communities.”

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Timothy Garbinsky

Employee Ownership Plays the Great Game of Business

We at the NCEO have long thought (hoped?) that employee ownership would be a bigger part of being a successful business. Beyond its potential as a succession planning option for business owners (which shouldn't be overlooked), employee ownership has time and again demonstrated that it can serve as a robust employee benefit by itself, providing companies with a meaningful way to reward and engage employees. The impact of this engagement on company resiliency has been shown repeatedly in the last few years.

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