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The ESOP Association

ESOP Association Resources

Mar. 14
Washington, DC, March 14, 2022 - The ESOP Association and American Benefits Council jointly filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in support of the belief that ESOP plans need, and have, the ability to require individual arbitration to resolve individual participant disputes.  A previous District Court ruling has the potential to eliminate individual arbitration, which would dramatically increase the litigation costs for companies with employee defined-contribution retirement plans, such as ESOPs and 401(k)s. 
Mar. 11
Yesterday the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2471, an omnibus spending bill consisting of all 12 fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills and supplemental funding to support Ukraine. 
Late last evening, in less than 48 hours after the final text was unveiled, the Senate passed this spending package that will fund the federal government through September 2022. The funding package now heads to the White House for President Biden’s signature.
Most importantly for TEA members, the bill includes some wins for employee ownership.
 
Mar. 10
On March 9th, the House passed H.R. 2471, an approximately $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill consisting of all 12 fiscal year 2022 appropriations bills plus supplemental funding of $14 billion to support Ukraine and other measures.  The legislation passed in two pieces with two votes, each of which had bipartisan support. The Senate is expected to act and pass the bill before week’s end.  Most importantly for TEA members, the bill includes some wins for employee ownership.
Mar. 08
Advocacy Academy, ESOP Advocacy Day, New Town Halls, High Impact Keynote Speakers, and 60+ Learning Sessions. Virtual and In-Person!
Mar. 01
Des Moines Iowa, March 1, 2022 –Today Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds returned to Library Binding Services (LBS Inc.), a 100% employee-owned business, to sign into law legislation to eliminate state taxes on retirement income, including taxes on Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) distributions.  This important change has the power to motivate more Iowa business owners to sell their businesses to their employees as a business succession plan. 
Chapter News, Resource
Jan. 31
Review of 2017 government relations efforts.
ESOP Blog, Resource
Jan. 31
I am hearing increasingly from certain thought leaders that current ESOP laws do not create “good” employee ownership plans.
Anytime we ESOP advocates encounter someone who takes such a view of ESOPs, we need to ask ourselves, “Why does that person think ESOPs are not good employee ownership plans?” When we know the answer, we can counter the ESOP cynic’s point of view.
In my experience, there are three main criticisms of ESOPs. I’ll deal with each one in a separate blog post.
The first criticism maintains that ESOPs are bad retirement plans.
Resource, Press Releases
Jan. 21
For more than 28 years, Employee Ownership Month has been an opportunity for ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) companies across the nation to educate employee owners and the public about the undeniable benefits of employee ownership for employees, their companies, their communities, and the nation.
ESOP Blog, Resource
Jan. 17
For some time now, the data have shown that businesses with employee stock ownership are clearly better than conventionally owned companies at retaining employees. But new insights gleaned from existing research data show that, over a period of 12 years, businesses with employee stock ownership have gotten increasingly and dramatically better than conventionally owned firms at retaining employees.
How much better? Try 235 percent better!