Still time to register for the CEO/CFO Dinner on May 21!

Call the OEOC today to book your spot for our…

CEO / CFO Networking Dinner

Columbus, Ohio

Tuesday, May 21

SAVE THE DATE & RESERVE A SPOT
by calling the OEOC at 330-672-3028
or emailing the name, title, company, and email address of anyone in your company who will be attending to oeoc@kent.edu.

More information on the Networking Dinner and the host for the event Star Leasing. 

Time to Reserve a Spot for the May 21 CEO/CFO Networking Dinner

Our Popular CEO / CFO Networking Dinner

Will be in Columbus!

Tuesday, May 21

SAVE THE DATE & RESERVE A SPOT
by calling the OEOC at 330-672-3028
or emailing the name, title, company, and email address of anyone in your company who will be attending to oeoc@kent.edu.

“Visit Star Leasing, have dinner, and network”

Star Leasing Company, headquartered in Columbus, has been providing a quality one-source solution to its customers’ semi-trailer needs since 1974. Star Leasing’s overall objective is to be the “One Solution” (Rent, Lease, Sell, Maintain) for semi-trailer needs for all of their customers. The company provides tailored lease and rental programs for semi-trailers including complete maintenance service with full service locations in Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama. Star also provides trailer maintenance for customer owned equipment. Their typical customers are private & contract transportation fleets and motor carriage companies. Star became 100% employee owned in 1987 and has nearly 200 active employees.

To learn more about Star Leasing, visit its website at www.starleasing.com

This event, always popular with ESOP company executives, will be hosted by Jeff Rosen CFO at Star Leasing. Join your fellow ESOP managers to observe this very unique company and share ESOP ideas. There is no charge for this event. We welcome top management from ESOP companies to attend, not necessarily only those with CEO and CFO titles.

The session will include a company tour, dinner, networking and Q & A.

Tentative agenda:
4:30pm – Arrive, refreshments/networking and Star Leasing tour
6:30pm – Dinner, and Question & Answer Session
8:30pm – Ajourn

For reservations please call the OEOC: 330-672-3028

Bipartisan Bill Introduced in Support of Employee Ownership (S. 742)

On April 17, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) introduced bipartisan legislation based on a survey released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute stating that 28% of Americans worry that they won’t have enough money to retire. According to Cardin and Roberts, Employee Ownership offers a sound solution to this problem.

Far too many Americans are inadequately prepared for retirement. Our legislation is about helping workers save by giving businesses the tools they need to create jobs and promote adequate retirement savings.  It will strengthen a structure that promotes employee-ownership and helps workers build secure retirements…
-Senator Ben Cardin

Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute and CEO of Matrix Global Advisors, argues that employee stock ownership plans have higher productivity and resilience. The bill introduced by Roberts and Cardin would encourage the formation of S-Corp ESOPs, because this type of ESOP has been particularly successful in terms of longevity, wages, and growth.

S ESOPs have also proven more resilient in the face of economic distress, outperforming other private U.S. employers during the recent recession.
-Alex Brill

Among the positive impacts of an S ESOP according to Brill are $77 billion in labor income, $246 billion in output, and $27 billion in tax revenue from 1.4 million jobs. More details on the Brill’s research can be found in his study, Macroeconimic Impact of S ESOPs on the U.S. Economy.

More information on the proposed bill, Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2013 (S. 742):

• Bipartisan Bill Would Help More Americans Save for Retirement
• Making ESOP Easier? New Bill Aims to Do Just That
• Founders Cash Out, but Do Workers Gain?

Center for American Progress Calls for Inclusive Capitalism

Growing the Wealth: How Government Encourages Broad-Based Inclusive Capitalism, a report recently released by the Center for American Progress shows that inclusive capitalism, defined as “…granting workers ownership stakes in the company or a share of its profit based on workers’  collective performance…” has helped companies grown in the U.S.

Inclusive capitalism, when partnered with democratic workplace practices, has a proven record of helping workers and businesses alike in a myriad of ways.

ESOPs are an effective means of rewarding employees and generating wealth and are included in the report;

Douglas Kruse, professor and director of the doctoral program in industrial relations and human resources at Rutgers University, found that productivity improved by 4 percent to 5 percent on average in the year of ESOP adoption and continues after adoption, more than doubling the rate of annual productivity growth of the U.S. economy over the past 20 years.

The report combines basic knwoledge about inclusive capitalism including the types that are currently practiced as well as information on existing and historic legislation and the political landscape of broad-based capital-sharing programs.

For more information, and to download the full pdf of the study, see the Center for American Progress webpage.

New Issue of Owners @ Work Now Available

Covered in this issue:

• We the Owners: Telling the Employee Ownership Story With Images–An Interview with Mary Ann Beyster
• George Cheney Returns to Mondragon
• The Myth of the ESOP as a Gift
• OEOC Answers Questions About Crowdfunding
• The Cooperative Development Center at Kent State University: Celebrating the “International Year of the Cooperative”
• Ohio ESOP Update: Ohio’s ESOP Companies Regain Ground Lost to the Great Recession, While Paying Almost $16 billion to Retirees and Beneficiaries

Available in 3 web-optimized formats:

• View as a web-based flipbook
• Download for Your Kindle
• Download a pdf for viewing or printing

Bob Cohen on the Potential of Cooperatives w/ A Shout-Out to Select Machine & Evergreen Cooperatives

Bob Cohen via Buckeye Farm News explains how cooperatives can help navigate the difficult economy.

The Cooperative Development Center at Kent State University has worked in the support, training, and development of many cooperatives, including Select Machine and the Evergreen Cooperatives, since the Center was established in 2009.

Three-Part Series of Webinars for ESOP Companies Begins Next Week-Register Now

Our next series of webinars begins next week with a presentation on Department of Labor regulations related to ESOPs, presented by Dale R. Vlasek, Attorney.

Register now to take advantage of this convenient and economical way to learn from some of the most experience, knowledgeable, and dynamic professionals in the ESOP Community.

Upcoming Presentations:

• March 6, 10 AM – DOL Enforcement and ESOPs; Current Issues – Presented by Dale R. Vlasek,  Attorney, McDonald Hopkins LLC. View archived video
• March 8, 10 AM – Explaining Ownership Culture – Presented by Christopher Mackin, President, Ownership Associates, Inc. View archived video
• March 12, 10 AM – An Appraisers Perspective on Acquisitions – Presented by Davin Gustafson,  Principal, Apple Growth Partners. View archived video

Learn more about the webinar series.

To answer any questions you may have, or for further information concerning these events please contact Jay Simecek or Chris Cooper at the Ohio Employee Ownership Center,  330-672-3028.

Crowdfunding 101 Seminar

My colleague Bob Cohen is presenting a Crowdfunding 101 seminar on March 5th at KSU in partnership with the Blackstone Launchpad. Its free and open to the public:

Interview with Graeme Nuttall on the Applications of Employee Ownership

Angela Perry the Chair of Employee Ownership Australia & New Zealand interviewed Graeme Nuttall, expert in Employee Ownership; partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse, UK; and author of Sharing Success: the Nuttall Review.

Topics include:

• Key barriers to employee ownership in the UK
• Essential elements tosuccessful employee ownership
• The connection between employee engagement and employee ownership
• Importance of employee ownership in succession planning and saving companies
• Driving productivity and innovation
• Importance of employee ownership for small to medium enterprises and start-up businesses
• The global application of the developments in the UK

Watch the full video . . .

New Series of Webinars for ESOP Companies Scheduled for March 2013

We are excited to offer you and your employee owners a convenient and economical way to learn. In March, we will be offering three “one-hour” webinar sessions covering a variety of topics presented by some of the most experienced, knowledgeable, and dynamic professionals in the ESOP community.

DOL Enforcement and ESOPs; Current Issues
Presented by Dale R. Vlasek,  Attorney, McDonald Hopkins LLC
March 6, 2013  10 AM (Register Here)

This program will discuss the US Department of Labor regulations that ESOP companies should be aware of. It will also examine the proposed fiduciary definition including appraisers and look at the trend of cashing out participants from company stock when they terminate employment.

Dale R. Vlasek is an experienced ESOP attorney in Cleveland, Ohio and is chair of the Employee Benefits Practice Group.

Explaining Ownership Culture
Presented by Christopher Mackin, President, Ownership Associates, Inc.
March 8, 2013  10 AM (Register Here)

Ownership Culture is a term that most ESOP employers have heard or seen in newsletters for conference brochures. It sounds good, but what is it? This webinar will explain the core foundations of ownership culture, differentiating between Ownership Facts, Ownership Skills, and Ownership Values and explaining how simple structures for employee participation can help make ownership real. 

Ownership Associates (OA) specializes in “after the transaction” consulting to ESOP firms interested in implementing an ownership culture. In addition to his consulting, Chris teaches at Rutgers and Harvard University about employee ownership topics.

An Appraisers Perspective on Acquisitions
Presented by Davin Gustafson,  Principal, Apple Growth Partners
March 12, 2013  10 AM (Register Here)

In this session we will get perspectives of an experienced ESOP valuator on how an acquisition may impact your valuation. He will also provide some strategic thought on structuring an acquisition, discuss some interesting tax and other planning opportunities, point out some of the common mistakes he has made or seen made, and focus on the elements that will help you truly enhance your company’s value.

Dave is a principal in the business valuation and litigation consulting group in Cleveland, Ohio. He has completed over a thousand valuation engagements in his twenty-five plus years in the profession and is a licensed attorney. 

Registration for any of these webinars is only $25 for members of Ohio’s Employee-Owned Network; $50 non-members. Registrants will be invoiced by the OEOC.

To answer any questions you may have, or for further information concerning these events please contact Jay Simecek or Chris Cooper at the Ohio Employee Ownership Center 330-672-3028.