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As we recently reported, the most recent data on ESOPs show that there was 22% growth in the number of ESOP participants in closely held companies. A significant majority of that growth came from ESOP companies buying other companies. It’s an ongoing trend that is becoming only more prevalent.

You may know that the NCEO’s mission is to make employee ownership thrive, and at our staff retreat we talked about why that mission matters. One excellent reason is that it generates wealth for people who wouldn’t otherwise have much in the way of assets.

Working at the NCEO means that we can take the time to stay on top of new developments in employee ownership, and I believe this year is different. New developments are coming fast—from federal regulation and legislation, to state-level programs, to a bold new initiative to spread the word. Employee ownership is poised for growth, and we may, right now, be at the turning point when the trend line bends upward.

Research, when done well, often adds nuance and complexity to our picture of the world. But the results featured in this article do the opposite—they make things simple.

If you’ve read more than one issue or two of this newsletter, you are familiar with the evidence that employee-owned companies are, on average, better employers and have higher rates of retention and net job creation.

On December 22, President Trump signed the tax reform bill, making its provisions the law of the land.

There is a lot of understandable concern about just how much it has cost companies, trustees, and insurance companies to defend and pay settlements or judgments in ESOP cases. While it is not possible to account for all of the costs, we can look at the total amount that was ordered to be paid out or was agreed to be paid out.

Recently, ESOP-owned StoneAge was the victim of a ransomware attack. Its ownership culture helped steer it through a very difficult time, as an article in Forbes detailed.

This article is based on the presentation “A Guide to Reviewing the Accuracy of Your ESOP Plan Administration” by Scott Freund, Blue Ridge ESOP Associates, and Brian Sweeney, Redpath and Company, at the 2017 NCEO annual conference and is one of ma