Employee Ownership Blog

H.R. 4171, "An Act Relating to the State Designation of Employee Owned Corporations," has been introduced by Texas State Representative Ryan Guillen. It would allow ESOP companies in Texas to be recognized as Historically Underutilized Businesses.

Data from our transaction survey shows that most ESOP transactions work out well for the seller, the company, and employees, but sometimes the phone rings at the NCEO with a story that went the other way.

Of the 73 corporate winners of Fortune's 2017 100 Best Companies to Work For award, 36 had broad-based employee ownership plans (27 of the winners were nonprofits, partnerships, or other organizations that do not have stock).

After a long road through federal courts, a suit brought by participants in the Lehman Brothers ESOP was not granted a hearing by the U.S. Supreme Court.

On February 25, the Democratic Party elected Thomas Perez as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

A new study in the UK shows that high-performance work practices can positively affect employee commitment, engagement, turnover intention, and job satisfaction, but only if multiple practices are used together, including broad-based incentive pay.

As of mid-February, 28 of China's 34 provincial regions had announced their plans for the reform of state-owned enterprises. Each provincial region's approach is different, but mixed-ownership reform, which often includes a measure of employee ownership, is prominent among several.

Distributions from all ESOPs from 2002 to 2014 totaled nearly $880 billion ($879,791,547,549).

On January 1, 2017, Arbor Assays, a company that designs and manufactures tools for the life-science industry, became an employee-owned company through the use of a "perpetual trust." The owners sold their interests to the employee trust and provided seller financing.

Thank you to all of the members who voted in the 2017 board elections. The staff and board of the NCEO give our congratulations to the new and returning directors, who will serve terms from April 1, 2017, to March 31, 2020. The seven new directors are:

The ESOP Association of Canada has launched its new website at esopcanada.ca.

Piggly Wiggly was once a prominent South Carolina-based grocery and listed on the NCEO's list of largest employee-owned companies, but starting in 2013 its fortunes declined, and it has sold off most of its assets.