How an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Works
This short web article introduces how an ESOP works, rules, and tax advantages.
Guidelines for Equitable Employee Ownership Transitions: How Investors, Founders, and Employees Can Share in the Value Created by Broadly Held Enterprise Ownership
These Guidelines for Equitable Employee Ownership Transitions are a collaborative work of practitioners and thought leaders in the fields of investment management, employee ownership, and socially responsible business who believe deeply in the promise of shared enterprise ownership to build a more just and inclusive economy.
National Van Lines, Inc.
How National Van Lines retained its culture and success through employee ownership, guided by the ESOP advisory services of Verit Advisors.
As National Van Lines’ ESOP CEO Maureen Beal Nears Retirement, She Sits for an Interview with Mary Josephs
For nearly a decade, I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Maureen Beal, the third-generation owner and chairman and CEO of National Van Lines, the national company whose brand is synonymous with “moving.” Maureen, who began as a teen switchboard operator at the company and then in 1993 took the helm after … Read More
Level Headed – ESOP of Sundt Construction, Inc.
J. Doug Pruitt talks about the Sundt ESOP program.
Using an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for Business Continuity in a Closely Held Company
Congress designed ESOPs to be the most cost-effective means for both owners and companies to provide for business transition. One of the most difficult problems for owners of closely-held businesses is finding a way to turn their equity in a business into cash for retirement or other purposes. The decision to sell is more than … Read More
Becoming Employee-Owned: A Small Business Toolkit for Transitioning to Employee Ownership
Transitioning your small business to employee ownership can have positive impacts on employee engagement, productivity, and retention; anchor a lasting legacy for your efforts building the business; and offer a financially rewarding exit path that can be supported by experienced professional assistance. Small business owners throughout the United States are increasingly seeing employees as highly … Read More
Is an ESOP Right for Your Remodeling Business?
In this podcast Anthony Mathews discusses succession planning, exploring questions including: What type of company sets up an ESOP? What is the process of establishing an ESOP? What are some of the challenges companies face? What makes an ESOP different than a 401k or other plan? What are the tax advantages? How does having many … Read More
Employee Ownership: Building a Better American Economy
This easy-to-read guide to employee ownership introduces what employee ownership means and how it works, interspersing information with company profiles. Also see the companion website at www.esopinfo.org.
Succession at Berrett-Koehler Publishers: Institutionalizing the “BK Way” and Protecting BK Values for Future Success
The Berrett-Koehler (BK) case highlights the efforts of a competitively successful, mission-driven, socially responsible publishing company to preserve its values, culture and practices while ensuring continued future success. The case provides an opportunity to cover corporate governance topics such as: ownership structures, shareholder relations, CEO and organizational succession planning, and board roles and responsibilities.
Critical Mass Radio Show Featuring Keith Molchan and Martin Staubus
This Critical Mass Radio Show discusses why, when and how business owners should choose the ESOP path as the correct succession strategy…
Taking an Employee-Owned Company to the Next Level
All employee-owned companies must pay attention to succession planning. BL Companies has elected to face this challenge head-on…
Sometimes EXIT is Spelled ESOP
In this 20-minute radio interview, Martin Staubus, executive director, Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management is interviewed by host, Bill Black on ExitCoachRadio.com.
The Better Exit Strategy: ESOPs Satisfy Business Owners And Preserve Their Legacy
On Chicago’s North Side, decades after other manufacturing companies went bust, migrated to the South or outsourced everything to China, S&C Electric – a $700 million-a-year maker of equipment for utilities – stood independent, profitable and debt free. Then, its controlling stockholder, John C. Conrad, died at age 89, and like so many family companies … Read More
Selling Ownership to an ESOP: An Attractive Route to Cashing Out
Any business owner who evaluates their succession options without investigating the concept of an employee stock ownership plan will be making a mistake. What is an ESOP, and how does it work?
Sundt Construction Company
Sundt had its share of ups and downs, but in 1992 when J. Doug Pruitt took over as the company’s COO, the company was headed toward bankruptcy. Today, the 100 percent ESOP-owned company operates out of eight offices located in Arizona, California, Texas, and North Carolina, and works on large construction projects in both the public and private sectors…
CHART Rehabilitation of Hawaii
Frieda Takaki took a deep breath, filling her senses. She was about to make a very difficult decision. She took off her shoes, placed them next to her desk and started pacing her office barefoot as she was thinking aloud. “I can’t let this business close down,” she whispered. “I have to do something about it.” The answer was now abundantly clear: why wouldn’t the employees buy the business from the owners?
Using an ESOP to Liquidate a Portion of the Value of a Family Business
Technically, an ESOP is a retirement plan and serves the purpose of accumulating retirement savings for the company’s employees. In practice, however, they can act as a cash buyer of private company stock, thus creating a source of liquidity for the company’s owners.
The Origin and History of the ESOP and Its Future Role as a Business Succession Tool
The first ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) came into being in 1956. This article describes the origin and history of the ESOP and explains why ESOPs will increasingly become the business succession tool of choice for many owners of privately held businesses.
Topics in Corporate Governance: Techniques of Equity Compensation
This course is designed to give students the capacity to understand and evaluate the various tools and techniques available under current law and practice for applying corporate equity as a compensation and motivation vehicle for employees.
An Owner’s Guide to Business Succession Planning, 2nd Edition
An Owner’s Guide to Business Succession Planning is a basic roadmap to assist owners of small and medium-sized business as they begin to plan for ownership and management succession. Inside you will find: A simple six-step process that will help business owners plan for succession. An overview of the more common strategies and tools from … Read More
Ohio’s Oldest ESOP: Alloy Engineering’s Success Story
Extending ownership to all employees, involving all in managing the business and tying the compensation to profits brought a renaissance to Alloy Engineering twenty years ago.
The ABCs of ESOPs: Employee Stock Ownership Plans Are Making Ownership Succession a Success
An increasing number of engineering firms are adopting ESOPs because of their many benefits. “We’re seeing a resurgence in them,” says Matheson, managing director of Matheson Financial Advisors in Falls Church, Va. “There’s a growing trend.”
Transitioning Ownership in the Private Company: The ESOP Solution
Using a leveraged ESOP to buy out a departing or retiring business owner is a strategy with considerable benefits for all involved.
Ottawa Devices, Inc. (B)
The Rollins family assembly was meeting to choose between several business strategies, including an employee stock ownership plan.