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https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/3383?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22employee+equity+investment+act%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=1

During the 1990s, according to our research here at the National Center for Employee Ownership, the number of employees getting stock options ballooned from less than one million at the start of the decade to about 10 million by the end.

By Corey Rosen, NCEO Senior Staff Member I have had dozens of conversations with business owners who want to share equity with some or all employees over the past several years. I start by asking what they are thinking of doing. With almost unfailing consistency, they say:

Each year, 3% to 4% of all employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are terminated; an unknown percentage are frozen, usually because the sponsor wants to create a different kind of benefit plan, wants to recapture some of the ESOP's ownership or, more rarely, has financial problems.

Corey Rosen ESOPs, profit sharing plans, and stock bonus plans are all governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. They all have the same rules for eligibility, allocation of benefits, and vesting. Contributions to all the plans are tax-deductible.

Updated July 29, 2022

An exploration of the interaction between business certifications, procurement policy, and ESOPs. The intersection between ESOPs and business ownership certifications (such as minority-, woman-, and veteran-owned) is often seen as a tough one to navigate. Though the regulations guiding procurement and contracting policy are strict for a reason, they can become prohibitive when less straightforward business structures are involved, so much so that many businesses fear losing their very valuable certifications should they sell more than 50% of the company to employees. This oftentimes only serves to penalize the populations they're supposed to serve—women, minorities, veterans, and the business owners and employees who belong to aforementioned groups. Thanks to a generous contribution from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the NCEO was able to begin exploring these interactions more in depth. This page will serve as the repository for resources as we continue to work in this field.

In the largest and most significant study to date of the performance of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in closely held companies, Douglas Kruse and Joseph Blasi of Rutgers have found that ESOPs appear to increase sales, employment, and sales per employee by about 2.3% to 2.4% per year ove

By NCEO Senior Staff Member Corey Rosen

This paper provides model language for state employee ownership options. They include setting up a state employee ownership center; allowing professional corporations to be owned by ESOPs; allowing ESOP-owned companies that are majority-owned and/or run by qualifying individuals to qualify for state set-aside programs for women, minorities, and disabled veterans; and creating a tax credit for feasibility assessments for conversion to employee ownership.