Exciting Transitions Happening With New, Reimagined ESOP Association Events

A few weeks ago, during Employee Owned 2024, The ESOP Association announced several major changes that are underway for the future of the Employee Owned conference in Las Vegas. 

Perhaps the biggest of these changes is an all-new location starting with EO25. After a long and very successful run at Caesars Palace, the growth of the conference in recent years meant that we had outgrown the space available to us there. However, this problem quickly bloomed into an opportunity, as it allowed us to set a new direction for the conference going forward

The Association’s selection committee spent months visiting potential sites and negotiating with several properties. After the process was concluded there was one venue that met all our needs, both in terms of accommodating our current and future requirements and being a willing partner to help us elevate Employee Owned to new levels.

EO24 attendees who attended our big reveal were very excited to learn the new home of Employee Owned: The Aria Resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The Aria’s convention center is world-class in all aspects: it’s visually stunning, the facilities are state-of-the-art technologically, and give The ESOP Association the flexibility to adapt the conference as the needs of our members evolve.

It also means that all our members will benefit from this change. Employee owners will enjoy the hotel and all the features and amenities of the Aria outside of the conference. Our professional members will appreciate the greatly improved options for holding meetings and entertaining clients. And our sponsors will gain more value from the increased and more varied branding opportunities that our new venue offers. 

But our decision to relocate Employee Owned was not simply a matter of having outgrown the conference space at Caesars Palace. The Association’s Board and leadership team have thought long and hard about the future of the EO conference, and what kind of experience our members would derive the most value from. Those conversations led to a reimagining of Employee Owned for 2025 and beyond, as we strive to continue innovating and investing in ESOP education for all our members.

Education is the heartbeat of the Employee Owned conference, and indeed for all our chapter and regional events as well. That will continue being the case moving forward. In fact, the much more spacious and modern event facilities we’ll have at the Aria beginning next year allow us to move Employee Owned into new directions, providing our members with more and diverse options to continue their ESOP and professional education.

This could involve, for example, inviting professional organizations like the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) the American Institute for Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and similar associations to offer dedicated content and workshops. It also opens up opportunities for more intensive and specialized workshops, so participants have access to a greater mix of breakout sessions covering broader topics and more intimate deep dives on key ESOP topics.

Our move to the Aria also offers opportunities to help more companies become ESOPs by inviting trade associations in industries where ESOPs can be a great business model. Some examples could include the Associated Builders and Contractors in the construction industry, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the National Manufacturers Association. What better way to get more businesses interested in ESOPs than having them come to the largest employee-owned event in the world that is attended by the best and strongest advocates for ESOPs: our members.

A new home and conference format for Employee Owned is not the only change happening for The ESOP Association’s events and educational programs. The Association has also recently announced an expansion and modernization of our best-in-class executive education as well, with our new partnership with the University of Virginia’s Darden Executive Education and Lifelong Learning.

Beginning in 2025, the Employee Ownership Foundation’s Leading in an Ownership Setting™ program, which has matriculated hundreds of ESOP CEOs over the last 20 years, will also include a CFO cohort. And both the CEO and CFO programs are being expanded to include a much greater focus on ESOP-specific topics that today’s ESOP executives must be experts on, like M&A and repurchase obligations. In addition, our partnership with Darden means participants will be instructed by faculty members of the #1 public MBA program in the United States. Preregistration for the 2025 class is already underway, and I hope executives take advantage of this one-of-a-kind opportunity to enhance their leadership skills and ESOP knowledge base.

Lastly, we will be adding a CFO Summit beginning in June 2025, which will have a very similar format to our highly popular summit for CEOs. The CFO Summit will provide an intimate setting for ESOP financial leaders to discuss the most pressing and challenging topics, while building their peer networks. Follow our updates through our email, HUB, and social channels, as we will be announcing a date and location for the CFO Summit in the coming weeks.

These are just a few of the many changes happening at The ESOP Association as we constantly look to provide you with the greatest value for your membership. Please stay tuned in 2025 for more exciting changes to come.