Blue Ridge ESOP Associates Industry News

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.

As a mature company delivering essential services to clients like you, we have long had a plan in place for dealing with issues such as this pandemic. Under normal business conditions, over 60% of our employees work from remote locations outside of our headquarters in Charlottesville, VA.  When the governor of Virginia executed the Shelter at Home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of our remaining office staff had already transitioned to work remotely from home.  The limited number of employees remaining in our home office are essential to handle physical office-based operations such as handling of incoming and outgoing mail. 

This week, DAI celebrated their company's 50th year in living out their mission, "to make a lasting difference in the world by helping people improve their lives."  Even today, they are on the frontlines worldwide working with the pandemic preparedness and response to Covid-19. Congratulations, DAI, for fifty successful years!

During this pandemic season, ESOP companies are making a difference, and Blue Ridge wants to recognize those companies and their impact.

Blue Ridge ESOP Associates was founded on principles of accuracy, integrity, and exceptional client service. We are also committed to continual improvement. Our dedication to doing what is best for you, our clients, prompted us to engage CEFEX, the Centre for Fiduciary Excellence, LLC to audit our processes. In 2011, Blue Ridge was certified for adhering to the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) Standard of Practice for Retirement Plan Service Providers.

The ESOP Association is diligently working in Washington on behalf of all ESOPs.  Below is the information that they shared to all of their members* today.