Employee Ownership Blog
Corey Rosen

Corey Rosen

April 23, 2025

New Jersey Moves Forward on Employee Ownership Program

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) board approved the creation of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Assistance Program. In its press release, the board said the program “will connect applicants with an approved contractor to perform feasibility studies and provide technical assistance. The program aims to increase employee ownership models in the state, which can provide employees with opportunities to have a greater stake in a business, generate sustainable and equitable wealth, and ensure greater financial security.”

Corey Rosen

April 11, 2025

New Report Details Employee Ownership in Europe

The Annual Economic Survey of Employee Share Ownership in European Countries, 2024 (PDF) from the European Federation of Employee Share Ownership shows that while the number of employee share plans has increased, the percentage of employees participating in these plans has decreased somewhat. The report is primarily focused on large publicly traded companies in Europe. Most of the plans that are broad-based are some form of stock purchase plan. The report says that 6.7 million employees participate in employee ownership plans in Europe, or about one in five employees in all large public companies. Nonmanagement employees own an average of 1.7% of the shares in these companies.

Corey Rosen

Matthew Licina

April 01, 2025

WA Bill Would Eliminate State’s Employee Ownership Program

Facing a budget deficit, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson is looking to potentially eliminate the state’s employee ownership program, which just got underway in 2024 and is similar to one in Colorado. Representative Adison Richards, a Democrat, has introduced HB 2047, a bill that would eliminate the program and its funding.

Corey Rosen

March 25, 2025

EBSA Nominee Previously Urged ERISA Litigation Reform

In Why Does the Department of Labor Allow ERISA Regulation Through Litigation By Plaintiff Lawyers?, a September 2024 post on his private blog FID Guru, Daniel Aronowitz, the nominee to head the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), urged Congress to reform ERISA litigation rules. He wrote, “Congress must act with ERISA litigation reform. In the 1990s, the trial bar was filing frivolous securities fraud cases against public companies, using investors with as little as one share of stock. Congress acted with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), creating a higher pleading standard to combat securities fraud abuse. It has not been a perfect solution, but at least Congress tried to reduce frivolous litigation.”

Corey Rosen

March 14, 2025

California Bill Would Create Contracting Set-Aside for ESOP Companies

California Republican Senator Suzette Valladares has introduced SB-713, a bill that would:

Corey Rosen

March 14, 2025

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%.

Corey Rosen

February 28, 2025

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.

Corey Rosen

February 21, 2025

NY Bill Would Examine Certifying Employee-Owned Companies as Minority- and Women-Owned

New York Assembly Bill 5649, authored by Democratic Assembly Member Stefani Zinerman, directs the New York State advisory panel on employee-owned enterprises to evaluate barriers to certification as minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBEs) for employee-owned businesses and recommend strategies for retaining the MWBE status of existing certified business enterprises when they become employee-owned. The commission was established in 2022 to report on how the state could encourage employee ownership but has yet to issue any recommendations. The NCEO has an article on ESOPs and preferred-status certification with background information and recommendations.

Corey Rosen

February 13, 2025

New Data on ESOP Companies Acquiring Non-ESOP Companies

The NCEO has completed the most comprehensive review to date of publicly available information about ESOP companies purchasing non-ESOP companies. The review is consistent with anecdotal reports that buying other companies has become an important source of growth for closely held ESOP companies.

Page 2 of 17