November 11th, 2019 Menke was formed upon passing of ERISA on Labor Day 1974 to enable business owners to sell their companies to their employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP. 45 years later, our mission remains the same: to make employee ownership available to the largest number of employees. We relate with our…
How can an ESOP help your regional business compete with larger, national firms? The answer: By putting your company’s money where its mouth is. In Q3 2019, Menke & Associates, Inc. assisted innovative landscape architecture and urban design firm MKSK in successfully converting to 100% employee ownership. MKSK was born out of the 2011 merger…
MKSK Inc. has become an employee-owned company through the creation of a new employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. MKSK, a landscape architecture, urban design and planning firm, announced through a news release that it has created an employee stock ownership plan to provide long-term ownership and organizational stability. The move also seeks to “secure…
October 15th, 2019 Victor Alam, Corporate Counsel for Menke, to lead Sessions 1 and 3 on October 17th: – Session 1: Current Issues Facing ESOP Companies: Legal, Financial, Operational & Transactional – Session 3: Special ESOP Administration Issues: Mature ESOPs, Repurchase Liability, Plan Features As an attorney, Victor specializes in the design and installation of ESOPs, as…
Oct. 2nd, 2019 ESOP Distributions: Concepts, Requirements, and Best Practices Michael Pasahow, Senior Counsel for Menke, will present best practices for employee stock ownership plan distributions on October 4th. He will cover the key issues governing ESOP distributions – eligibility, timing, method, form and manner – a critical element of cashflow and share repurchase needs…
Powered by Employees! Learn How To Use Your Employee Ownership To Gain Competitive Advantage Menke has teamed up with Certified EO to help our clients increase employee engagement, attract customers and top talent, and spread the word of employee ownership. During this 30-minute webinar, we’ll cover the benefits of being a Certified Employee-Owned company. Co-presented…
Sept. 16th, 2019 Assessing ESOP Feasibility: What are the financial, strategic, and cultural issues involved in determining if an ESOP makes sense? Chuck Bachman, Senior Counsel for Menke, will lead the ESOP feasibility session on September 17th. He will cover the key issues – financial, strategic, and cultural – that ultimately determine if an ESOP is…
“How New Belgium Brewing Sold the Company – and Became More Successful in the Process” As party of the Return on Values Project, New Belgian Brewing – makers of Fat Tire Beer – produced a video outlining how becoming employee-owned has positively affected both their employees and their profits. New Belgian Brewing started with a…
September 9th, 2019 NewAge Industries established its ESOP in January 2006, when CEO Ken Baker sold 30% of the company to the employees as a way to ensure the company’s continuation. The ESOP added a new facet to the company’s culture, namely the pride of ownership, while it discouraged a buyout from a competitor or…
Friday, September 6 Now that The Game has transformed your organization and everyone is working toward common goals, how do you as the owner or management team ensure a successful ownership transition without disrupting your success? We will discuss the pros and cons of the ownership transition options available to a business owner/management team and…
July 11th, 2019 Davey Tree, one of the largest tree service companies in the U.S., became employee-owned 40 years ago. Since then, its employee count has grown from 2,800 to nearly 10,000, and its stock from 12 cents to $21, a compound annual growth rate close to 14%. Davey Tree has been employee-owned since 1979…
July 8th, 2019 Stewart’s Shops Partners of Saratoga Springs, NY, have received their profit sharing statements. Existing ESOP accounts received approximately 13% growth on their existing accounts including over 6% in dividends. This success is from the service resulting in increased operating profitability and the changes in the Federal corporate tax law. The company has made a…
July 1st, 2019 Consigli Construction Co., selected as ENR New England’s Contractor of the Year. Transforming into a 100% employee-owned enterprise, the 114-year-old Milford, Mass.-based contractor and construction management firm reported $1.09 billion in regional revenue, placing it third among ENR New England’s Top Contractors list. The firm ranks in the Top 60 in ENR’s national…
June 27th, 2019 The company was bestowed the honor of “best employer” by its own employees. With over 1,200 employees Sanderson Farms processes over a million chickens a week. The Forbes list is assembled through an anonymous online survey of 50,000 Americans working at companies with more than 1,000 employees. Sanderson Farms has invested more than $130 million…
June 21st, 2019 Pittsfield, MA based Cianbro, a construction firm with 4,000 employees and operations in 41 states, is expanding its footprint with the acquisition the engineering and construction firm A/Z Corporation of North Stonington, Connecticut. A/Z’s 500 employees will become equity participants in the expanded company through Cianbro’s employee stock ownership plan. Cianbro is…
June 20th, 2019 ESOPs increase the probability of creating a happy workforce for Financial Advisory firms. A report by InvestmentNews sheds light on the practices that play the biggest role in setting the Best Places apart from the competition by taking a deeper look at the data firms provide in order to be considered for the list. Read…
June 17th, 2019 Menke client and 100% ESOP owned Delta Consulting Group is listed in the 2019 Global Arbitration Review (GAR) 100, which is a publication that identifies the top law firms and expert witness firms in the international arbitration discipline. Read More at: https://delta-cgi.com/professionals/who-s-who-legal-gar-100 Employee Stock Ownership Plans or “ESOPs” are a viable tool…
May 21st, 2019 Wilson Electric Services Corp. of Tempe, AZ announced that the company’s ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) has purchased the balance of the company shares, making it 100 percent employee-owned. Wilson Electric, a leader in the electrical contracting industry, has been a partial ESOP since 2005 when the plan previously held a 47%…
May 17th, 2019 Did you know? #1 – Four in 10 adults, if faced with an unexpected expense of $400, would either not be able to cover it or would cover it by selling something or borrowing money? #2 – 28% of senior citizens in the United States retiring between 51 and 61 had zero…
May 2nd, 2019 Springdale-based Walker Brothers Insurance Inc. has been acquired by The Hilb Group LLC (THG). Walker Brothers was previously owned by Mike Luttrell (President) and other employees of the company through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). THG is a middle market insurance agency headquartered in Richmond, Va., and is a portfolio company of Boston-based private equity firm,…
April 25th, 2019 Wisconsin has approximately 185 ESOP owned businesses. Van Horn Automotive Group was recently recognized as the Wisconsin ESOP Company of the Year. The Van Horn has been a family owned business for over 50 years. Joe Van Horn moved from Chicago, IL to Plymouth, WI to open his first store; and since…
Monday, April 22, 2019: 8:00 AM PDT Course Description — This webinar will describe the tax and financial benefits benefits, structure, and process of selling a privately held business to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Designed for CFOs and business owners, this informative course first describes the ABCs of ESOPs but will then cover: Special…
April 11th, 2019 Founded in 1959, Cleveland, Ohio based architecture and engineering firm Richard L. Bowen + Associates announced it will become 100% employee owned on April 1st through its Employee Stock ownership Plan (or “ESOP”) . Bowen’s ESOP was established in 2007, but in 2019 the ESOP will purchase the remaining 60% of the…
April 7th, 2019 Berkeley, Ill.-based KI Industries Inc., a supplier of decorative plastic and die-cast components, ranked No. 2 on the 2019 Best Places to Work list. It also happens to have an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (or ‘ESOP”). Getting employees more engaged after adopting an ESOP means different things for different companies. For KI,…
Attending the 2019 Employee Ownership Conference? If so, there are 3 easy ways to connect: #1: On Tuesday April 9th, hear Chuck Bachman speak about The 2018 Main Street Employee Ownership Act and its Impact on SBA Lending. Chuck is our Senior Corporate Counsel. As a CPA and attorney, he specializes in the design and…
In 2018, Menke & Associates, Inc. assisted a unique, deeply relationship-driven service business with its successful transition to 100% employee ownership. The company’s two shareholders had built a $40 million-dollar entity with a worldwide, disparate supplier network, multiple Fortune 100 clients, and global operations in a heavily-regulated industry and were ready to continue their ownership…
April 2nd, 2019 Evapco, an employee owned company (ESOP) and an international manufacturer of cooling and refrigeration products, celebrated 40 years in southwest Madera, California. Evapco Madera was the second manufacturing plant that Evapco created having being founded in Baltimore in 1976. Read More at: http://www.maderatribune.com/single-post/2019/03/27/Evapco-West-marks-40-years-in-business Employee Stock Ownership Plans or “ESOPs” are a viable tool…
March 29th, 2019 For Crafts Technology of Elk Grove Village, Illinois, building an innovative culture required asking for intellect, sharing ownership, and rewarding good ideas. The company, one of the oldest continually operating tool companies in the U.S., has expertise in cutting, tooling, and shaping ultra-hard materials. Their precision tools are used in the manufacture of…
March 28th, 2019 Vermont-based Chelsea Green Publishing is now fully employee-owned, marking the completion of an eight-year transition initiated by founders Margo and Ian Baldwin. Through an employee stock-ownership plan (ESOP), the company purchased ownership shares from the Baldwins on behalf of the 25 employees of the owners of the independent publishing house. Read More:…
March 27th, 2019 Democratic Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ administration is putting together an Employee Ownership Center within the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade The center will work with law firms and accountants to simplify the process and reduce costs associated with converting to an ESOP or Employee Stock Ownership model. Read more at: https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2019/03/26/colorado-says-it-wants-to-be-the-delaware-of-employee-ownership/ Menke & Associates,…