Employee Ownership Blog

On June 30, 2017, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2017-41, which lays out revised procedures for obtaining opinion letters for preapproved plans, including ESOPs.

Our last update noted that the Massachusetts legislature had approved a bill that would restore funding to the Massachusetts Office of Employee Involvement and Ownership (MassEIO). On July 17, Governor Charlie Baker (R) vetoed various parts of the budget, including the funding for the MassEIO.

On July 21, the Department of Labor announced that it had agreed to a $5.5 million settlement in Acosta v. Ginsberg. The DOL alleged that the founder of the company received an inflated price when he sold 50% of his shares to the ESOP in 2009.

When Sen. Charles Schumer announced the emergence of a new economic message for the Democratic Party, he did not mention employee ownership.

On July 24, Alaska Governor Bill Walker presented the Alaska Manufacturer of the Year award to ESOP-owned Alaska Mill & Feed. President Joel Klessens said, "Our 65 employees invest a lot of themselves in their work.

The online journal JD Supra ran a short article with some warning signs that an ESOP transaction may be abusive.

Senators Gary Peters (D-MI) and Jim Risch (R-ID) announced legislation on July 12 that would mobilize the SBA's SCORE (Serv

Thanks to the efforts of Paul Mark and Julian Cyr, both representatives in the Massachusetts legislature, the budget passed by the legislature now includes funding for the Massachusetts Office of Employee Ownership and Involvement.

Currently, Austrian companies can provide employees with up to €3,000 ($3,400) per year in shares. The stock is usually held directly by the employee.

The NCEO is currently updating our figures for our Employee Ownership 100 list, our list of the largest majority employee-owned companies in the country.

The Beyster Institute at UC San Diego will host its popular training program for ESOP trustees and other fiduciaries for the first time outside of California. The program, which will be hosted by the Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University, will cover: