Blue Ridge ESOP Associates Industry News

On August 13^th, a significant pro-ESOP bill was signed into law. The Main Street Employee Ownership Act (S. 2786) was signed into law as part of the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates is committed to staying active in the ESOP Community.  Several of our employees will be doing presentations and attending conferences over the next few months.

The Heart of America's 19th Annual Fall ESOP Conference is coming up next week! There is still time today to register here. At this conference, our professionals Chad Guzinski and Scott Freund will be available to give an overview of the additional services we provide along with our standard ESOP & 401k administration services. On Thursday, you will have the opportunity to hear Anthony Brunsvold present about the Three R's of Distributions and Their Impact on Cash Flow & Repurchase. In this technical session, experienced practitioners will explain the real meaning behind the terms Recycling, Redeeming and Releveraging and how each impacts the ESOP.

The "Main Street Ownership Act" was signed into law on Monday under the "National Defense Authorization Act". In May we shared that this new pro-ESOP legislation is a bi-partisan bill that allows an easier transition for small businesses to become employee owned. Thank you Senator Gillibrand for  drafting a bill that is now law which will  support the future growth of ESOPs.

In the upcoming months, Members of Congress will have several weeks to work in their districts. This is a great time for Employee Owned Companies to plan Congressional site visits which allow Members to see first hand the benefits of employee ownership and the value of pro-ESOP legislation.

Need a basic training course to help you understand the basics, financial issues and operations of an ESOP? Corey Rosen, the founder of the NCEO, has developed a new self-paced study to help participants gain such knowledge. The program is divided into 5 mini-courses which includes 20 webinar recordings and 20 sets of scenario based quizzes covering 18 topics regarding ESOPs. We encourage you to check out this resource and find out more information here.

Congratulations to Wawa for being named by Forbes as one of the best employers in America.

Employee-owned company, NewAge Industries, in Pennsylvania, invited Governor Tom Wolf to their facility. The tour showcased the financial and moral values employees gain when they are a part of business ownership noticed by Governor Wolf as he pointed out "the number of 'employees smiling'." After the tour, a roundtable was held between the executives of NewAge and Governor Wolf which included the discussion about how the Pennsylvania Center for Employee Ownership is exemplary in promoting growth of companies through employee ownership. More highlights about this tour and meeting can be read here. Company tours like this one for key decision makers demonstrate the benefits of pro-ESOP legislation.

New York's junior senator, Kirsten Gillibrand announced that new legislation is set to be presented to help make it easier for businesses to become employee owned. This announcement was made while the senator was visiting Schenectady Steel Company which has been 100% employee owned since 1975 and turning 100 years old in 2024.  "The Main Street Employee Ownership Act" is a bi-partisan bill which "aims to improve access to loans for ESOPs or co-ops and make it easier for small businesses to transition to an employee owned model. It's an effort to retain local business, and reward hard work."