Find Your Resource

One of the few clear implications of last week's election is that the character and policy agendas of both parties will inevitably change. Many traditional core principles of the Republican Party establishment do not bind president-elect Trump, who strongly identifies as a change candidate.

Employees are expected to vote soon to approve the sale of New Belgium Brewing (maker of Fat Tire beer and other brands), the fourth-largest craft brewery in the U.S. and the largest ESOP-owned craft brewery, to Lion Little World Beverages, a subsidiary of the Japanese beverage giant Kirin.

In the Atlantic, Derek Thomas argues that the idea of employment may become a historic relic.

For those of a certain age (like me), Sears was the Amazon of its day. You could get almost anything but food in a Sears catalogue, and its stores were ubiquitous. My first house in the San Francisco Bay area was built in 1906 with plans from Sears. Early in his life my dad sold shoes for Sears.

The Department of Labor has made it clear in its various process agreements with ESOP fiduciaries that it wants ESOP companies to be more prudent in how they prepare forecasts for appraisals.

Fifty-seven percent of ESOP company boards have a compensation committee, increasingly made up in part or entirely by outside directors. What should these committees be doing to make sure compensation is handled appropriately?

At the NCEO's recent annual conference, Southwest Airlines President Emeritus Colleen Barrett said that people are always lining up to her to tell her their favorite Southwest stories, usually about how employees went out of their way to help customers, make people laugh, or otherwise go well bey

At the NCEO/Beyster Institute's recent annual conference in Portland, Southwest President Emeritus Colleen Barrett told the attendees that airline executives can be reluctant to say what they do at a social gathering for fear of the stories people will want to tell about their terrible experience

We are now considering Seattle, Los Angeles (probably the Hollywood area), and San Francisco for the 2013 conference. Los Angeles and Seattle would offer about the same hotel prices; San Francisco would be about 15% higher. Where would you like it to be?

The Obama administration's revenue proposals include one item specific to ESOPs. The administration notes that current law is unclear about whether transfer of qualified replacement property to a spouse should trigger tax on the amount of capital gains originally deferred in an ESOP transaction.