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The ESOP Association

ESOP Association Resources

ESOP Blog, Resource
Apr. 24
At Entertainment Partners, with our 1,100 employee owners spread out across more than 10 locations nationwide, we rely heavily on technology to help us communicate and connect with each other. To us, “social media” encompasses any technology that enables us to create and share content and make those connections. It could be software specifically geared toward fostering collaboration in the workplace or it could be the same website you use to share hilarious cat videos or that perfectly angled selfie.
Resource, Press Releases
Apr. 15
Gardener’s Supply Company of Burlington, VT, has been named the 2018 ESOP Company of the Year by The ESOP Association. The announcement was made at The Association’s Annual Conference.
“Gardener’s Supply is a prime example of an ESOP company that actively engages its employee owners, the employee ownership community, and elected officials at the state and federal levels,” said ESOP Association President J. Michael Keeling. “Its commitment to sharing with others the power of ESOPs is an example all ESOP companies can proudly seek to replicate.”
ESOP Blog, Resource
Apr. 02
Most businesses wrestle with their health care costs. Being an ESOP does not make us immune to this challenge.
Travel and Transport is a 1,400-person company with offices from Boston to Seattle. We have a self-insured health plan in which approximately two thirds of our employee owners participate. Our plan has run large deficits the past several years and, as a result, we are in the midst of making some major changes.
Resource, ESOP Report, Legal Update, Ownership Advantage, Washington Report, President's Page, ESOP PAC, Distribution, SBA, Foundation, Stock Sale, Asset Sale, Voluntary Correction Program
Apr. 01
Congress takes two actions in support of ESOPs.
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!
Resource, ESOP Report, Legal Update, Ownership Advantage, Washington Report, DOL, Foundation, Compliance Testing, Communication, EBSA, Employee Ownership Month
Jan. 10
Shifting views on personal property just might open the door to greater employee ownership.
ESOP Blog, Resource
Jan. 03
It would be easy for us to sit back and bask in the comfortable knowledge that the Congressional tax committees did not draft tax reform measures that negatively affect ESOPs.
Certainly, that is good news. But we can’t let that recent success cause us to remain ignorant of the fact there remain plenty of people who do not believe in the things that we believe—that ESOPs are good for our nation, our companies, and employees.
Sometimes that dislike for ESOPs can be harder to spot, because it is hidden under an apparent love for different forms of employee ownership.