Blue Ridge ESOP Associates Industry News

Thank you Capital Trustees for hosting Tom Roback for your upcoming podcast which features Blue Ridge ESOP Associates. They recorded during the final day of the Annual Conference for The ESOP Association in Washington D.C. Here is a preview!

Blue Ridge professionals, Tom Roback, Scott Freund and Dolores Lawrence, will be attending The 42nd Annual ESOP Association National Conference next week.

Blue Ridge is proud to be an exhibitor next week at NIPA's 2019 NAFE in San Diego, CA. Marie Sherlock and Bev Schoonover look forward to seeing you at our booth to show you the best services we offer for your ESOP & 401(k) Plans. The 2019 NIPA Annual Forum & Expo (2019NAFE), April 28 - May 1 in San Diego, is an event designed exclusively for retirement plan professionals. The 2019NAFE offers enriching, relevant, world-class education to enhance the services you provide to your organization's clients. Every year, this four day event helps attendees discover innovative solutions for strengthening and expanding their businesses.

• Anthony Brunsvold and Chad Guzinski will be attending the Heart of America 2019 Spring Conference in St. Louis, MO on April 23^rd. Chad will also be attending the Heart of America 2019 Spring Conference in Kansas City, MO on April 24^th.
• Renee Stadmueller and Tom Roback will be attending the annual Ohio Employee Ownership Center's 33rd Annual Conference in Akron, OH on April 25^th. Renee will be presenting on the topic of "ABC's for ESOPs for Employee Owners".

Scott Freund and Chad Guzinski will be attending the Michigan 2019 Spring Conference next week in Lansing, MI. Scott will be a part of the panel for "Ask the Experts - A Technical Q&A for ESOP Management". If you are responsible for managing your company’s ESOP, then this is the session for you! Whether there is a technical issue you’ve been wondering about for months or there is something that came up in a breakout session during the conference, bring your question(s) to this session to get your answer(s). 

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates is committed to staying active in the ESOP Community.  Several of our employees will be doing presentations and attending upcoming conferences this spring.

• Jon Williams and Tom Roback will be attending the New England 2019 Spring Conference in Burlington, MA on March 29^th. Jon will be presenting on the topic of “ESOP 101”. 
• Tom Roback will be attending the Pennsylvania/Delaware Spring ESOP Conference in Sate College, PA on March 27th-28th.

• Kevin Rusch and Chad Guzinski will be attending the Southwest Chapters 2019 Spring Conference in Grapevine, TX on March 29^th. Kevin will be presenting on the topic of “Repurchase Obligation Studies: How to Avoid Garbage In/Garbage Out”.

Our Blue Ridge professionals will be attending multiple conferences this week.

On Monday, Jon Williams and Tom Roback are attending The New England Chapter Spring Conference in Burlington, MA. Jon shared more about ESOP 101 to help those who are new to the whole ESOP world and to give guidance to those who needed a refresher about the basics. The session highlighted how an ESOP works, why ESOP companies are so great, and what a company can do to make theirs better.

At the Wisconsin ESOP Spring Conference this week, our Blue Ridge professionals, Beth Bauer and Pam Themar, will be speaking together about the "Administrative Top 10 Reasons your TPA gets Called". In this session, a discussion will be led on a list of hot topis that can occur through the life of an ESOP.

At the Illinois ESOP Spring Conference last week, Kevin Rusch presented on a panel that reviewed the roles of "Trustees & TPAs". The panel was able to answer questions from basics like what do they do and why does your company need them to more complex such as share allocations and limiting liability. The purpose of the session was to help companies manage the day-to-day operations of their ESOPs.

Today, Kevin Rusch presented "Repurchase Obligation Studies: How to Avoid Garbage In/Garbage Out" at the New South spring event today. The key to a successful Repurchase Obligation Study is the assumptions that are used. Assumptions regarding company value, future contributions/dividends rates, employee turnover rates, distribution policy provisions all play a key role in projecting future obligations. In this session, Kevin and co-presenter, Kelley Finnell of Executive Financial Services, discussed the selection of reasonable assumptions and considered how the three distribution methods (Recycling, Redeeming, and Releveraging) can be used to manage a company’s future repurchase cash flow obligations. The presentation  included case studies, planning tips, and audience participation.