Blue Ridge ESOP Associates Industry News

Research continues to show the benefit of employee-owned company, and we are pleased to share this article written by Non Profit Quarterly which highlights multiple research studies that show the impact ESOPs have on job stability - https://nonprofitquarterly.org/employee-ownership-shows-its-dramatic-impact-on-job-stability-again/

Blue Ridge is proud to be a supporting sponsor for the Northeast Regional Virtual Meeting on September 29-30, 2020 hosted by The ESOP Association for all states included in the Pennsylvania/Delaware, New York/New Jersey, and New England Chapters. This is a great opportunity for your employee-owned company to "send" multiple owners at an affordable price, as content will be geared towards "middle managers, employee owners and members of company ESOP committees".

Blue Ridge is proud to be a supporting sponsor for the Southeast Regional Virtual Meeting on September 24-25, 2020 hosted by The ESOP Association for all states included in the New South, Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic Chapters. Tom Roback, Carla Klingler, and Jon Williams will be attending this conference. This is a great opportunity for your employee-owned company to "send" multiple owners at an affordable price, as content will be geared towards "middle managers, employee owners and members of company ESOP committees".

Blue Ridge is proud to be a supporting sponsor for the Great Lakes Regional Virtual Meeting on September 22-23, 2020 hosted by The ESOP Association for all states included in the Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio/Kentucky Chapters. Tom Roback will be attending and speaking at this conference. This is a great opportunity for your employee-owned company to "send" multiple owners at an affordable price, as content will be geared towards "middle managers, employee owners and members of company ESOP committees".

The Fall ESOP Forum - September 14-16, 2020 - Join Blue Ridge at this event sponsored by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). While COVID-19 prevents us from attending in person, the NCEO has done an excellent job converting this forum into a virtual event. "Join employee-owners and ESOP experts for the Fall ESOP Forum, a three-day seminar featuring up-to-date best practices with over 40 immersive and educational sessions led by experts in the latest in employee ownership legislation, research, and communication and culture."

Blue Ridge is proud to be a supporting sponsor for the Midwest Regional Virtual Meeting on September 17-18, 2020 hosted by The ESOP Association for all midwest states included in the Iowa/Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota/Dakotas, Wisconsin and Heart of American Chapters. Our professionals, Chad Guzinski and Pam Themar will also be attending this conference. This is a great opportunity for your employee-owned company to "send" multiple owners at an affordable price, as content will be geared towards "middle managers, employee owners and members of company ESOP committees".

Blue Ridge is proud to be a supporting sponsor for the Western Regional Virtual Meeting on September 10-11, 2020 hosted by The ESOP Association for all western states included in the California/Western, Northwest, Southwest and Hawaii Chapters. Our professionals, Marie Sherlock and Randy Shrake will also be attending this conference. This is a great opportunity for your employee-owned company to "send" multiple owners at an affordable price, as content will be geared towards "middle managers, employee owners and members of company ESOP committees".

We are pleased to announce that several of our earlier conferences Blue Ridge sponsored in the  Spring & Summer 2020 were rescheduled and converted to virtual conferences. Blue Ridge professionals will be presenting at three of those conferences next week.

Dolores Lawrence will be speaking at next week's 2020 NAFE Amplified Conference. This conference is hosted by NIPA & WPB&C. Dolores will be speaking twice during this conference:

• Monday, August 17: 11:45-12:35 p.m. "Eligibility & Coverage" - Who's the Participant? What seems like a straightforward question can, in reality, be a complicated issue. Dual eligibility and job or division classification exclusions can be effective plan design tools, but also add to the complexity of administering plans. Add in rehires, seasonal employees, controlled group and affiliated service group considerations and you can have additional challenges. In this session, the speaker will provide insight into dealing with eligibility and coverage issues.
  
• Tuesday, August 18: 11:-05-11:55 a.m. "Considerations When Sponsoring an ESOP and a 401(k) Plan" - Many companies share ownership with their employees through the sponsorship of an ESOP. Most of those companies also sponsor a 401(k) plan. This type of combined retirement program can produce complications, pitfalls and special considerations for sponsorship and administration. This session will explore the key issues for the joint administration of both plans and their cohesiveness through a review of: plan design; compliance testing; and, situations unique to an ESOP as part of the benefit program.

On July 21, 2020, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) introduced a bill to provide grants to businesses who either establish an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) or expand an existing ESOP.

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates (“Blue Ridge”) is pleased to announce it has acquired Benefit Concepts Systems, Inc. (“Benefit Concepts Systems”). The acquisition allows Blue Ridge to continue as the leader in ESOP and 401(k) administration and assist a larger client base in effectively managing their plans. The acquisition bolsters Blue Ridge’s efforts to grow through strategic acquisitions and partnerships in the ESOP and 401(k) markets.