Employee Ownership Blog

Bob Moore, the familiar face on the growing line of Bob’s Red Mill products who sold to an ESOP in 2010, passed away at age 94.

This month’s download for members is something many companies have already adopted (and something that we have heard is a need for many others): ownership rights and responsibilities. 

The Department of Labor (DOL) has posted the latest Form 5500 filing data, which covers plan year 2021 (the most recent available year). The data includes 6,533 ESOPs filing for 2021, covering 14.7 million participants holding over $2.1 trillion in total assets.

A new bill in Colorado, HB24-1157, would provide statutory authority for the Colorado Employee Ownership Office, which Governor Jared Polis created in 2020 through an executive order. The bill would make the office permanent.

At the NCEO, we talk with a lot of people from a lot of creative companies. Here are two of the thought-provoking ideas we’ve heard in the last few weeks. Please borrow and adapt these ideas – and let us know what you do with them!

For those of a certain age (like me), Sears was the Amazon of its day. You could get almost anything but food in a Sears catalogue, and its stores were ubiquitous. My first house in the San Francisco Bay area was built in 1906 with plans from Sears. Early in his life my dad sold shoes for Sears.

Oxfam, a nonprofit focusing on hunger and other poverty-rated issues, issued a report that includes a number of recommendations, one of which is “providing financial support to employee-owned businesses, including worker cooperatives.

The election for the NCEO’s board of directors opens on January 3 for three-year terms that begin on April 1, 2024.

In a potentially important ruling, a district court has dismissed a case against defendants at Inland Fresh Seafood Company because plaintiffs did not first exhaust the remedies for complaints provided by the plan.

We're thrilled to announce our highly anticipated 1.5-day seminar Is an ESOP Right for You? in Dallas, TX, from February 5-6, 2024. This event will provide entrepreneurs, business owners, and HR professionals with comprehensive insights into ESOP transaction structures, plan design, financing, and more in response to the expanding ESOP landscape.

Kerry Siggins, the CEO of Durango, Colorado-based StoneAge, was named CEO of the year by Colorado Biz.

Every company needs a plan for replacing the chief executive, even if the CEO does not have a plan yet. But what about succession planning for other key leaders and roles? More than one cohort of the NCEO’s CEO network dug into this topic last month.