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At the National Employee-Owner Summit, we spent time with an amazing and diverse group of employee-owners from around the country. Here are three things we learned: (1) getting back together in person was powerful; (2) sharing challenges, not just successes, is valuable; and (3) diversity is one of our superpowers.

Now that a month has passed since our annual conference in Seattle this past April, my colleagues and I have a renewed gratitude for just what it means to host these events.

The Certified Equity Professional Institute (CEPI) at the University of Santa Clara offers the only certification for people involved in running equity compensation plans. The deadline for the June 9 exam is April 27.

We invite you to join us on April 20 and 21, 2021, for the NCEO's virtual Annual Employee Ownership Conference. Register before November 30 to be entered into a raffle for a #bettertogether box filled with fun items from an employee-owned company.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced an update of a policy launched one year ago intended to reduce high-risk loans for corporate acquisitions.

One of the trickiest issues for ESOPs has been how to value different kinds of investments in multi-investor transactions. If the ESOP borrows money to be repaid out of future earning, while other investors put in cash, should each get a dollar's worth of stock for each dollar pledged?

David Ackerman of Morgan Lewis, who passed away this year, was one of the most respected NCEO authors and most loved advisors in the ESOP community. We have been touched by people's desire to remember him.

If you have not already considered attending the Great Game of Business conference May 4-6 in St. Louis, I would strongly encourage you to do so. The NCEO and the Great Game have a long history of working together, and I have been to all their conferences.

As it has in the past three years, the NCEO will sponsor the 4th annual Ownership Thinking Conference, to be held in the Denver area on September 16 and 17.

A new review of existing research on ESOPs by Steven Freeman of the University of Pennsylvania finds that the plans generally lead to improved corporate performance, although primarily when combined with high-involvement management systems.