ESOP Association Blog

TEA’s National Conference at a Pivotal Moment

The ESOP Association
National Conference 2024_Lunch Keynote

The ESOP Association’s National Conference, held in Washington, DC each May, is not just a great opportunity to bolster your ESOP education, it’s also a vitally important opportunity to share your voice with Congress. While advocacy is important year-round, the stakes for ESOPs couldn’t be higher in 2025. The federal government, including both the U.S. Department of Labor and Congress, are working on issues that will affect ESOPs for years to come, and your voice has never been more important.

Over the past several years, The ESOP Association has broadened and expanded its advocacy activity at National Conference – and together we have achieved real results.  Landmark ESOP legislation passed in 2022 to promote employee ownership and gain crucial regulatory clarity, but now comes the implementation of that law’s provisions.  Make no mistake, these public policy issues affect you.   

Funding for the Employee Ownership Initiative at the U.S. Department of Labor, securing an adequate consideration regulation, and influencing expected tax legislation will affect every employee owner, every ESOP company and practitioner, and the future of employee ownership.  Our members cannot afford to sit out the process while key decisions are being made – instead, we need to show up to educate and advocate, to ensure our seat at the table.

These issues are all coming at a time when there’s a new President and Administration and new members of the House and Senate. Courts continue to hear legal issues that set precedents for ESOP companies and professionals nationwide. And The ESOP Association leads the way not just in securing public policy wins, but also capitalizing on and protecting those wins for the future.  

Without a doubt, the most powerful tool we have to help achieve our public policy goals is your story and your experience with employee ownership. It resonates with elected officials that you took the time to come to Washington and visit with them to share your priorities and those of fellow employee owners back home. Telling your ESOP story to a Member of Congress matters.  Inviting your elected officials to tour your company and talk with employee owners matters.  Showing up matters.  And don’t worry if you don’t know what to do or say, or you’ve never visited Congress before – that’s why we have Advocacy Academy, where we’ll prepare you start to finish.   

And here’s a fact that pretty much anyone who’s done TEA’s Advocacy Academy and ESOP Advocacy Day will tell you – it’s FUN. You meet fellow employee owners from your state or TEA Chapter, you walk the halls of Congress together, eat lunch where the congressional staffers eat, and meet with your elected officials. The really good news is that even in a polarized Washington, ESOPs enjoy strong bipartisan support.

Registration is open now for National Conference, and there’s a $250 discount for the first 300 who sign up for Advocacy Academy and ESOP Advocacy Day. Spaces are already being reserved, so don’t miss out on the fun and importance of these events – something you will only find with The ESOP Association. 

 

Advocacy Academy

Advocacy Academy is TEA’s training program designed to educate our members about how Capitol Hill, the White House, and state and local governments operate.   
During the training, attendees work together to explore how employee owned companies describe themselves to their community, customers, local leaders, and ultimately policy makers.  
This premier educational programming takes place during National Conference and teaches you the best approaches to talking with Members of Congress and other elected officials about ESOPs. Advocacy Academy also provides an online resource library of materials for our members. One-pagers, fly-in materials, toolkits on How to Host Your Representatives, bill summaries etc… all housed on TEA’s HUB network. 

National Conference registrants receive a $250 discount for participating in Advocacy Academy and ESOP Advocacy Day.