Nathan Nicholson
The 2020 ESOP Executive Compensation Survey report is now available. Our thanks go out to our survey respondents, who took time out of a chaotic year to contribute compensation data. We received valid questionnaires from 424 ESOP companies, the largest response in the survey’s 15-year history. Respondents have been emailed a code to receive a 75% discount on purchase of the report.
Loren Rodgers
This video is my look back at 2020. I hope you’ll take a few minutes to join me for a short trip into the recent past, because this video is my way of saying thank you.
Corey Rosen
The issue of whether trustees can and should override participant directions on offers to buy shares in a proposed acquisition of an ESOP company has been one of the most ambiguous areas of ESOP law and practice. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) (29 CFR 2550.404a-1) on proxy voting of shares in retirement plans, including on environmental, social, and governance metrics, includes a brief section addressing this issue, essentially putting into regulatory form what had been just guidance.
Corey Rosen
Many ESOP companies are looking to diversify their board membership but have a hard time knowing where to look. Board members tend to come from existing networks of CEOs, and tend to be older white males. Research shows that cognitive diversity on boards leads to better decisions. Board members who can think differently about issues and who are willing to challenge existing norms can help companies move forward. Demographic diversity does not guarantee cognitive diversity, but it may help. For many companies, of course, diversity is a goal in itself even if it does not lead to different decisions.
Corey Rosen
On December 2, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city would start Employee Ownership NYC, an outreach program to encourage business owners to sell to their workers.
Jaymie Oviedo
It's no secret: here at the NCEO, we love to see members of the ESOP community thrive. In a year that has been challenging in many ways, the NCEO came together in a team collaboration to highlight just a few of our favorite employee-owned companies that are uplifting employee ownership in their own businesses. This season, we hope to spread cheer throughout the entire ESOP community and beyond.
Dallan Guzinski
I was recently joined by Trevor Monnig, CFO at employee-owned PFSbrands, and Patrick Carpenter, president of GRITT Business Coaching, to discuss the importance of rhythm and cadence in communications and internal education initiatives with employee-owners. As part of a series in the NCEO’s new seasonal training program, the Communications Committee Crash Course, employee ownership and business leaders have been meeting for several weeks to learn about what makes ownership culture and communications thrive in an ESOP company. My two guests joined us to focus on what has helped PFSbrands accomplish its goals in the midst of a pandemic and further engage employees in the financials of its business.
Corey Rosen
President-elect Joe Biden has named Jared Bernstein to the Council of Economic Advisers. Bernstein wrote a 2016 paper, Employee Ownership, ESOPs, Wealth, and Wages, for the Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (ESCA) on why employee ownership is important. Bernstein said that he did not support further tax incentives, but did support a federal outreach program on ESOPs and conditioning current corporate tax incentives on sharing ownership.
Timothy Garbinsky
This Thursday I'll be presenting to our friends in the Netherlands about how American ESOP and other employee-owned companies have fared during this pandemic. And though I usually wouldn't be fully awake until the second football game of the day, I'm actually excited at the prospect of waking up at 6:30 am on a holiday.
