ESOP Industry News

Could ESOPs spell the future of business ownership?

Growing numbers of U.S. companies are giving workers financial stakes via employee stock ownership plans Aritcle by Judy Stringer. Reposted from the original article at Crain’s Cleveland Business There are a few lingering questions when it comes to Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s newly announced employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. How many shares employees will receive,…

Menke Client, Heath Ceramics, Made Its Employees Into Owners. Should You?

Reposted from the original article at Business of Home HEATH CERAMICS, MADE ITS EMPLOYEES INTO OWNERS. SHOULD YOU? JAN 9, 2019 FRED NICOLAUS In 2015, Robin Petravic and Catherine Bailey, co-owners of iconic California ceramics brand Heath, were looking ahead to the 15th anniversary of their tenure. Over the last decade, the couple had transformed the company from a struggling…

SolarCraft becomes 100% employee owned

SolarCraft, a well established Novato solar panel design and installation firm, has become 100% employee owned. With the help of The Menke Group, the principal owners of SolarCraft have extended ownership to their employees by way of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. In addition to helping create financial security for employees, the plan is designed…

New Study Shows Jobs Grew 60% in S-ESOPs While Others Remained Flat

A study released today by Alex Brill, former advisor to the Simpson-Bowles bipartisan deficit reduction commission and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, finds that private employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) organized as S corporations increased employment over the last decade more quickly than the overall private sector. Among surveyed “S-ESOP” companies, the Brill…

Howard's Appliance Celebrates Being 100% Employee Owned

The Los Angeles Times featured an article about Howard’s Appliance & Flat Screen Superstores, which has been 100% employee-owned since 2000. The company, which started as a radio repair shop in San Gabriel, sold nearly half of the company over to the employees when the government approved employee stock ownership plans in 1976. Employees acquired 100%…

Mills James Produces Animated Film About ESOPs

Mills James, a comprehensive creative media production company based out of Columbus, Ohio has made an animated film explaining how their Employee Stock Ownership Plan (and how ESOPs in general) work. Mills James employs about 150 employees and specializes in the following areas: Teleproduction, Broadcast Production, Business Video, Meetings & Events, Web Interactive and Original…

Great Falls Business Owners Explain "ESOPs"

Local business owners say they’re spreading the wealth in Great Falls by offering long term employees stock ownership plans or ESOP’s. It’s a structure that is set up and its federally recognized, so the employees are then part of a trust that then owns either a 100% of the company or some portion of the…

Read about the Cal-Tex Protective Coatings ESOP

Read the original posting at the Cal-Tex Website Cal-Tex is 97% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).As the 2011 Grand Prize Winner of theNational Center for Employee Ownership’s Innovations in Ownership Award and the 2011 ESOP Association’s Best Communications Award (Small Company), Cal-Tex is committed to providing a company structure that will benefit the employee and…

ACG Kentucky panel talks about benefits of ESOPs

Click here to read the original article at bizjournals.com For business owners who want to cash out but still oversee the direction of the company and take care of their workers, an employee stock ownership plan might be the best bet. That was the message from panelists Tuesday morning at the monthly meeting of ACG…

National Van Lines Becomes ESOP-Owned

National Van Lines Inc. said it has changed the company’s structure, selling itself to an employee stock ownership plan entity. The third-generation, family-run business said it has been working on transitioning to an ESOP-owned S Corp. structure since July 2010 effort to “find an ownership and liquidity succession plan that did not disrupt the culture…

ESOP Companies Report Positive 2010 Even Amid Slow Economic Recovery

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Results from the Employee Ownership Foundation’s 20th Annual Economic Performance Survey of ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) companies that are members of The ESOP Association show that ESOPs, while not immune to economic developments beyond their control, have seen an upturn over the past year. The survey shows ESOP…

The Joys Of An ESOP

NOVEMBER 1, 2004 The following article was originally published in Bloomberg Businessweek and written by Amey Stone Employee ownership can be a powerful tool Last November the 100 employees of Superior Plumbing & Heating, a mechanical contractor in Anchorage, Alaska, gathered on the snow-covered ground to celebrate their new status as full owners of the…

The Will-Burt Company Celebrates its 25th Anniversary as an Employee Owned Company

For additional information, contact: Angie Lamielle, Senior Marketing Associate 330-684-4002 alamielle@willburt.com For Immediate Release: Monday, June 06, 2011 The Will-Burt Company is celebrating its 25th year as an Employee Owned Company. Will-Burt employees have been participating in the Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) since its inception on December 31, 1985. Will-Burt will be holding a…

WinSystems, an Employee-Owned Corporation on Youtube

Here is a video posted by one of The Menke Group’s Clients: WinSystems, an embedded PC designer and manufacturer, provides a high level of quality and customer service through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This leads to employees holding a direct stake in maintaining a high level of customer service. Here is the full…

ESOP plans let founders cash out and employees cash in

By Nancy Mann Jackson, contributing writer June 17, 2010: 4:45 AM ET (CNNMoney.com) — On his 81st birthday, entrepreneur Bob Moore signed the papers to hand nearly a third of his company over to his 200 employees. But it’s a gift Moore and his three partners hope will pay off for them as well: By…

ESOP: A New Tax Savings Tool for Owners of S Corporations

“A new dawn greets ESOP companies!” “The Holy Grail of business opportunities beckons: ESOP companies can now operate tax free!” Not since 1984, when the §1042 tax-free rollover was enacted, has the ESOP community bubbled with such enthusiasm. Under the provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, (“EGTRRA”), the ESOP’s…

ESOPs as Retirement Benefits: An Analysis of DOL Data

Fall 2010 Written by Loren Rogers In a project funded by the Employee Ownership Foundation, the NCEO did an extensive analysis of ESOP companies using data from the US Department of Labor. Unlike prior research, the study carefully compiled data from multiple plans within a single company and used multiple years of data for each…

The ESOP Association and the Employee Ownership Foundation Release Results of the 2010 ESOP Company Survey

August 11, 2010 The ESOP Association and the Employee Ownership Foundation released today the results of a survey conducted among the Association’s 1,400 corporate members in the first quarter of 2010 which confirms positive benchmarks for ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) companies. The company survey is conducted every five years and was last completed in…

Ross Group Inc. Rewards Employees With Stock Ownership Plan

Ross Group Inc of Dayton, Ohio announced that the company has formed an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and has joined the growing list of companies whose employees are stockholders. “When the transaction is completed,” said Mr. Mark Ross, President and CEO, “the employees of Ross Group Inc will own just under 25 percent of…

Clif Bar Announces ESOP Program

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 Clif Bar & Company announced the selling of family owned common stock to its employees through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). Employees through the ESOP own 20% of the company, while husband and wife owners Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford retain the remaining 80%. No change in management structure will…

RESILIENCE AND RETIREMENT SECURITY: Performance of S-ESOP Firms in the Recession

Written by Phillip Swagel and Robert Carroll Executive Summary A study of a cross-section of Subchapter S firms with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan shows that S-ESOP companies performed better in 2008 compared to non-S-ESOP firms along a number of dimensions, including job creation, revenue growth, and providing for workers’ retirement security. The S-ESOPs paid their workers higher…

ESOP: Employee Ownership of Companies on the Rise

The ESOP – Employee Stock Ownership Plan – is, slowly, on the rise. These worker-owned businesses are more productive and could benefit the American economy. Shoppers eye goods at the bakery of King Arthur Flour Co. in Norwich, Vt. The employee-owned firm was able to expand from its niche to deliver a broad product line.…

ESOPs on the Rise Among Small Businesses

Small companies are rushing to reward workers with employee stock ownership plans as low valuations make awarding shares more attractive By Karen E. Klein Bob Moore gathered three employee shifts together last month for pizza parties to celebrate his 81st birthday. But Moore, the founder and president of Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods in Portland, Ore., also…

New Study Documents ESOP Account Balances

The NCEO has just completed an analysis of Form 5500 retirement plan filings filed by ESOP companies. The Form 5500 data are prone to considerable reporting and transcription error and should be used with caution, but many of the results described below are in accord with prior research, with our experience, and with best estimates…