Nine months ago, the ESOP landscape looked very different.
Six months ago, it looked different again. Even three months ago, there were issues we could not have predicted would be part of today’s status quo.
That’s how quickly the world of employee ownership is changing. For ESOP leaders, that’s both a case for heightened optimism and a call to action.
Look at what’s happening in Washington. There is more bipartisan enthusiasm for employee ownership than we have seen in years. The Retire Through Ownership Act, one of The ESOP Association’s top legislative priorities, has already passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House Education and Workforce Committee unanimously, and now needs a vote on the House floor. Other pro-ESOP legislation is moving as well, addressing everything from employee ownership representation at the Department of Labor to transparency and accountability in ERISA enforcement.
Just last month, the Senate HELP Committee took another important step by approving $78 million in additional mandatory funding for the Department of Labor’s Employee Ownership Initiative and extending the program through 2035. That would bring total funding for the initiative to $180 million through fiscal year 2035 if enacted.
The message from Congress is becoming increasingly clear: employee ownership matters, and there is growing bipartisan support for policies that can help it grow.
At the same time, we are seeing a dramatic posture shift at the Department of Labor. When Daniel Aronowitz became Assistant Secretary of Labor and head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), he vowed to “end the war on ESOPs”. He has kept his promises, and more. In January, EBSA ended its longstanding National Enforcement Project against ESOPs, which had been in place since 2005. In April, the Department issued new enforcement guidance emphasizing fair and even-handed enforcement and moving away from the kind of “regulation by enforcement” that has created uncertainty for ESOP companies and fiduciaries and for decades had a chilling effect on new ESOP formation.
This is the kind of regulatory clarity The ESOP Association has advocated for over many years. And we are highly encouraged by what we are seeing, but greater certainty does not mean that ESOP leaders can stop paying attention.
Quite the opposite.
Consider the recent Shipp v. Central States Manufacturing, Inc. decision. The case raises important questions about the responsibilities of ESOP trustees and fiduciaries and could have significant implications going forward. (For a closer look at that decision, please read the analysis by our friends at Groom Law Group in this issue of The ESOP Report.) The broader lesson is an important one: even as the regulatory environment becomes more predictable, the legal and fiduciary landscape surrounding ESOPs continues to evolve. Staying current isn’t optional. The rules, interpretations and best practices that shape our decisions today are not necessarily the ones we will be operating under tomorrow.
And then there is artificial intelligence.
Few forces are changing the workplace faster. AI is already reshaping how companies operate, how employees do their jobs and the skills businesses will need to succeed. For employee-owned companies, that creates an especially important leadership challenge: How do you embrace the opportunities AI creates while making sure your employee owners are prepared to adapt? These aren’t theoretical questions anymore. They are leadership, business, and ownership questions that will help determine your future success.
All of these factors are why I am particularly excited about Employee Owned 2026.
When we gather at ARIA in Las Vegas November 1–4, we will be meeting at a remarkable moment for employee ownership. We designed EO26 to help ESOP leaders understand what is happening now, and more importantly, prepare for what comes next.
That means digging into the latest developments in Washington and understanding what the changing political and regulatory environment means for your ESOP. It means hearing the latest thinking on the legal and fiduciary issues that matter to trustees and company leaders. It means looking beyond today’s challenges and thinking about how economic conditions, technology and changes in the workplace will affect our companies in the years ahead.
That is why we have also built a dedicated Artificial Intelligence track into EO26, with seven sessions designed to help leaders move beyond the hype and start thinking practically about how AI can be used in their businesses.
And there will be one event at EO26 that none of us can predict in advance: Election Day.
The midterm elections will take place right in the middle of our conference, and we will provide a first look at what the results mean in the immediate term and what they could mean for employee ownership and the ESOP legislative agenda over the next two years.
Think about that for a moment. We will gather in Las Vegas as an ESOP community at the precise moment when the political landscape is changing, the regulatory environment is changing, technology is changing and the workplace itself is changing.
That is not a reason to be overwhelmed. It is a reason to be prepared.
One of the greatest advantages of being part of The ESOP Association is that you don’t have to navigate all of this alone. Our community brings together the people who are shaping employee ownership, leading ESOP companies, advising trustees and fiduciaries, developing policy and advocating for the future of the model.
EO26 is an opportunity to tap into all of that knowledge in one place. If you are an ESOP leader or a professional serving the employee ownership community, this is one of those years when you simply cannot afford to miss it.
Because the pace of change is accelerating. And the best way to stay ahead of it is to be part of the conversation.
I’ll see you in Las Vegas.
