Corey Rosen
California Bill Would Create Contracting Set-Aside for ESOP Companies
California Republican Senator Suzette Valladares has introduced SB-713, a bill that would:
Employee Ownership Blog
Corey Rosen
Massachusetts Bill Would Exclude Capital Gains from Sale to ESOP from Taxation
Massachusetts Senate bill S. 1950, An Act to Promote Employee Ownership, would exempt capital gains from the sale of a Massachusetts business with 500 or fewer employees from capital gains taxation. The bill was introduced by Democrat Julian Cyr and referred to committee. Long-term capital gains in the state are taxed at 5%.
Madelyn Hammack
Tandem Center for Shared Business Success Featured on The Alternative Exit Podcast
In a recent episode of The Alternative Exit Podcast, host Andy Farquharson sat down with Drew Mousetis, Executive Director of the Tandem Center for Shared Business Success. Drew shared his transformative experience at Cargas, where he developed expertise in direct employee ownership models. The conversation highlighted how employee ownership creates shared success while keeping businesses rooted in their communities.
Kimberly McCourtney
Navigating Valuation in 2025: Key Factors from Washington, Market Trends, and Global Uncertainty
During our February CEO Peer Network Meeting, we had the pleasure of welcoming guest speaker Ken Serwinski to our discussion on valuation. He posed a key question: “Valuation projection challenges...what should drive your thought process?” Ken brought his expertise spanning over 30 years in the ESOP space. His insights provided a valuable framework for understanding the factors that will shape business valuations in the coming year.
Loren Rodgers
Senate Confirms Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor
By a vote of 67 to 32, the Senate on March 10, 2025, confirmed former U.S. representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer as the new secretary of labor. The bipartisan support for Chavez-DeRemer included "yes" votes from 17 Democratic senators; three Republicans opposed her confirmation.
Founder crosen@nceo.org
Executive Director lrodgers@nceo.org
Withdrawn DOL ESOP Valuation Regulations Provide Insight
Summary
In December 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed rules that would govern the valuation of company stock in an ESOP. Although the Trump administration withdrew the rules in January, the 2022 WORK Act requires the DOL to issue valuation regulations, so while the fate of those withdrawn rules is uncertain, they provide insight into the DOL’s perspective under the Biden Administration and possibly the new administration. When new political leadership at the department is in office, a new proposal for the rules may be materially different from the withdrawn rules.
Loren Rodgers
DOL Employee Ownership Head Reinstated
On March 7, the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) was notified that all probationary employees at the Department of Labor who received termination notices on February 21, including Employee Ownership Division chief Hilary Abell, would be reinstated. The reinstatement will be effective as of Monday, March 10, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America.
Lisa Gomez, the former head of the Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA), said, "With the decades of experience she brought to the role, Hilary's contributions to EBSA's Division of Employee Ownership have built a critical and meaningful connection between the Department of Labor and the employee ownership community. Without her reinstatement, that foundational work would have been needlessly lost."
Corey Rosen
Seventeen of the Largest 100 Private Companies Have Employee Ownership
Seventeen of the Forbes 2024 list of the largest 100 privately held companies (ranked by sales) have some form of employee ownership. Five are 100% ESOP-owned, four are minority ESOP-owned, two have profit-sharing plans primarily invested in company stock, one is an employee ownership trust, and one is a broad-based partnership available to employees at all levels. Supermarkets, convenience store chains, engineering, and construction are the most common industries among the employee ownership companies. We also compile a list of the largest employee-owned companies for our yearly Employee Ownership 100. That list includes only companies for which we have reliable external verification that their plans are broad-based, and it also focuses on majority and 100% employee-owned firms and the active participants they cover.
Scott Rodrick
DOL Employee Ownership Head Laid Off
Update: As of March 7, the recently terminated head of the Division of Employee Ownership is to be reinstated March 10.
The National Association of Plan Advisors (NAPA) reports that Hilary Abell, who in July 2024 was appointed as the head of the Division of Employee Ownership at the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), has been terminated as part of a wave of actions across the U.S. government.