Loren Rodgers
Long-time ESOP-owned company Clif Bar is running a one-minute advertisement during the 2021 World Series that prominently features Clif Bar's employee-owners showing pride in their product and their company, and introducing themselves and their coworkers as employee-owners.
Corey Rosen
We've just released this year's EO 100, our annual list of the largest 100 companies that are owned by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or similar plan or, less commonly, where a majority of the employees directly own a majority of the shares. The largest company on the list is Publix Super Markets with 207,000 employees; the smallest companies on the list have 1,300 employees. The list shows that employee ownership is not a fringe economic phenomenon but rather an important part of the US economy.
Scott Rodrick
The Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations has opened applications for the J. Robert Beyster Fellowship, the Louis O. Kelso Fellowship, and other fellowships for the study of employee share ownership and profit sharing in the U.S. and internationally. The announcement states:
Dallan Guzinski
The NCEO’s 2021 Fall Forum broke new records once again this year with more than 700 people joining us virtually from across the country and world. Many of this year’s attendees participated in a series of roundtables where employee-owners and professionals hosted conversations and networking opportunities addressing some of the ESOP world’s most talked about topics. On October 13th we will continue the conversation around one of these topics: remote and hybrid work challenges. Read on for a few highlights from the conversations that took place at the Forum.
Timothy Garbinsky
As anybody who just finished attending our 2021 Fall ESOP Forum can attest, it’s a busy time of year for us all. In my case, I found myself conducting interviews, moderating discussions, and joining some of the more casual networking sessions, all to make sure members and attendees truly got the most out of our event. And this doesn’t even include the sessions I tried to attend for my own edification, since I, like all of us, still have a lot to learn.
Corey Rosen
A potentially major improvement in rules for ESOP defense contractors was included in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s markup of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA, S 2042). An amendment from Sen. Jean Shaheen (D-NH) would provide that the Department of Defense should create a pilot program that would allow companies that are or become 100% ESOP-owned to receive noncompete follow-on contracts for the work, even if they no longer meet applicable small business or other set-aside requirements. The award would be contingent on a finding that the contractor’s performance was satisfactory or better. The program would run for three years, and the Government Accountability Office would be required to provide an assessment of it with two years of the program’s sunset.
Corey Rosen
In Walsh v. Bowers, No. 1:18-cv-00155-SOM-WRP (D.C. Hawaii, September 17, 2021), a district court decisively ruled in favor of the trustee and the board of directors of the ESOP company Bowers+Kubota in an ESOP valuation case. The judge ruled that the DOL’s valuation "rests on errors" because its expert failed to follow standard valuation practices, used inaccurate and incomplete information about the company’s finances, and improperly compared the price the ESOP paid to a very preliminary lower offer from another company. The court noted that the preliminary offer was likely just a negotiating tool, analogizing that “an individual who makes an offer of $15,000 for a used luxury car with a Blue Book value of $40,000 does not, by virtue of making a ‘lowball’ offer that is never accepted, tend to establish that the car is worth only $15,000.”
Corey Rosen
Loren Rodgers
The NCEO recently published a table that highlights the main characteristics of four types of employee ownership, found in our web article Employee Ownership for Closely Held Companies: ESOPs, Equity Grants, Trusts, and Worker Cooperatives. The article explores tax treatment, typical uses, financial payout to employees, governance, typical costs, and more. It is a living document, and we welcome your feedback!
