Blue Ridge ESOP Associates Industry News

With the 116th Congress now in session, we would like to encourage you to invite your representatives for tours of your company. On-site tours allow members of Congress to see first-hand the value of employee-owned companies. ESCA has given an update below of the 10 new members from the House Democrats who have been appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee.

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.