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Employee Ownership Blog


Corey Rosen

House Hearings Review ERISA Compliance Oversight and Transparency at the DOL

The US House of Representatives Education and Workforce Subcommittee held a hearing on July 22, 2025, on transparency and oversight at the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). The hearing, titled “Restoring Trust: Enhancing Transparency and Oversight at EBSA,” focused on alleged EBSA overreach in enforcing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). EBSA's enforcement includes audits, investigations, and litigation to ensure that companies comply with ERISA's requirements.


Nancy Wiefek

New Study Measures Employee Ownership's Potential

Research Associate Matt Mazewski from the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers has completed an analysis of US Census data on how many privately held firms in the US are “good candidates” for conversion to employee ownership through an ESOP or worker cooperative. He draws upon the US Census Bureau’s Annual Business Survey, County Business Patterns, and Economic Census.




Corey Rosen

ESOP-Owned Emprise Group Makes One of the Largest-Ever Acquisitions by an ESOP Company

Emprise, a 100% ESOP-owned holding company that acquires and invests in middle-market consumer product companies, has acquired Nice-Pak Products through its portfolio company Vivos Holdings, LLC, creating one of the largest companies in its field. Emprise, which the company says stands for "employee" and "enterprise," includes a number of personal care companies, including Consumer Product Partners, Surefil, UpLift Brands, and Vi-Jon, as well as INSPR Labs, which provides research and analytical services for the personal care industry. Nice-Pak is a manufacturer of sanitizing wipes for personal care, babies and toddlers, homes, hospitals, and other users.



Corey Rosen

Patricia Hetter Kelso, 1927-2025

Patricia Hetter Kelso, a leading voice in the promotion of employee ownership and universal capitalism, died yesterday at 98. She was the intellectual and business partner, wife, and coauthor of numerous books on expanding capitalism with her husband, Louis Kelso. Louis Kelso developed the idea of the employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 1956. Patricia met Louis in 1963, and they married in 1980.


Timothy Garbinsky

Congratulations to Joseph Blasi

Dr. Joseph Blasi, one of the driving forces of academic interest and research on employee ownership, has stepped down from his role as the director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University. He will continue his work as both a researcher and mentor at the university's School of Management and Labor Relations.