Loren Rodgers
Since the February 1 release of the NBC News Now story “Instead of ‘I quit,’ workers at these companies say they’re staying put and reaping rewards,” inspired by new NCEO research supported by ESCA, the NCEO has received many inquiries from people wanting to know more and asking for ways they can easily share the information.
Kevin McPhillips
The Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership is pleased to announce that employee ownership legislation has successfully passed in the Pennsylvania House and is on to the Senate. Pennsylvania is one of only a small number of states that do not currently mirror the federal Section 1042 rules. By making an election under Section 1042, sellers of C corporations can defer 100% of capital gains tax when selling to their employees in an ESOP. The bill (PA HB-285) would adopt the rules of Section 1042 (as well as Section 402(e)(4), regarding net unrealized appreciation) in Pennsylvania state tax law.
Loren Rodgers
On February 1, the evening NBC News Now is running the story “When workers are owners, they often get better benefits and a chance to build wealth. Some even build million-dollar retirement accounts.” NBC News hosts a web version of their reporting that includes both the video segment and a text version by Gretchen Morgenson and David Paredes.
Dallan Guzinski
The NCEO recently conducted an employee survey for a medium-sized ESOP company as part of its Ownership Culture Surveys Networking Program. In preparation for their upcoming initiatives, the company had also registered several employees for the NCEO's Communications Committee Crash Course. The company clearly wanted to make some important changes and do positive work on behalf of their fellow employee-owners. When assessing some of the themes in the employee feedback, we found that there was a strong desire among employees with fewer than two years of service for guidance or a formal way for them to receive mentorship and help while growing into their career.
Kim Blaugher
The ESOP consulting community endeavors to advance employee ownership. In a recent call of 70 leading ESOP consultants hosted by the Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, we discussed why some ESOP transaction closing dates were delayed. These delays resulted in increased transaction fees and frustration from the company and selling shareholders as their enthusiasm of becoming an ESOP-owned company was challenged. Our discussion aimed to understand how to avoid these unnecessary delays, which can harm the growth of employee ownership. We have convened a working group with the help of the NCEO and will work on finding solutions over the next few months.
Nancy Wiefek
The 2022 ESOP Database, the NCEO's comprehensive data source on all ESOPs in the US, is now available. The database includes plan year 2020 Form 5500 filings (or the most recent available filing before 2020) and includes company name and address, industry, number of plan participants, plan assets, age of the ESOP, publicly traded indicator, and many more fields. (Download a sample of the data).
Jordan Boone
The NCEO is hiring for our event team. We are currently seeking an event assistant who will play an integral part in the success of events like our Fall ESOP Forum.
Corey Rosen
The National Defense Authorization Act signed into law by President Biden on December 27 contains the first-ever government contracting program to specifically encourage ESOPs. Section 874 of the new law creates a Department of Defense pilot program that would allow companies that are or become 100% ESOP-owned to receive noncompete follow-on contracts for the work. The award would be contingent on a finding that the contractor’s performance was satisfactory or better. The program will run for five years, and the Government Accountability Office is required to provide an assessment of it within three years of the program’s enactment.
Loren Rodgers
During the 2019 Employee Ownership Conference, 15 CEOs convened in a conference room (imagine that!) in the Pittsburgh Convention Center for an interest meeting that spawned the first cohort of the ESOP CEO Network.
