ESOPs, Job Quality, and Wealth Inequality: The Potential of Employee Stock Ownership Plans
About This Event
Economic inequality and lack of good jobs have left many workers, particularly women and people of color, without a fair share of the US’s economic prosperity. Despite the significant rise in corporate profits, front-line workers continue to experience low wages and see little returns for their contributions. Research shows that employee ownership, such as employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), can be a valuable tool in creating better jobs, building wealth for workers, and increasing businesses’ resiliency while reducing employee turnover. ESOPs are the most prevalent form of employee ownership in the US, with nearly 14 million workers participating in them.
The growth of ESOPs has plateaued over the past decade, but the next decade presents a unique opportunity to expand ESOPs as many business owners retire and sell their companies. Low awareness of ESOPs and the benefits they offer, insufficient assistance and support to help businesses convert to ESOPs, and some regulatory policies pose potential barriers, however, to growing ESOPs. How can we take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to meaningfully grow the number of ESOPs? What impact could this have on job quality, wealth inequality, and our economy? What policies, supports, and assistance do businesses, including publicly traded companies, need to convert to an ESOP? Join the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on April 11th, 2023, from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. Eastern for “ESOPs, Job Quality, and Wealth Inequality: The Potential of Employee Stock Ownership Plans,” the second discussion in a three-part series, “Employee Ownership’s Moment: Conversations to Advance Policy and Practice.”
Join The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program on April 11th, 2023 from 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm Eastern for ESOPs, Job Quality, and Wealth Inequality: The Potential of Employee Stock Ownership Plans, the second discussion in a three-part series, Employee Ownership’s Moment: Conversations to Advance Policy and Practice.
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Tweet I enjoyed hearing @sean_tamba, Noelle Montaño @EmployeesOwn, Corey Rosen @theNCEO, Cindy Turcot @GardenersSupply, and @talmonsmith #talkopportunity about #employeeownership. Check out the video by @AspenJobQuality.
Tweet What policies, supports, and assistance do businesses need to convert to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan? Find out in this event hosted by @AspenJobQuality.
Tweet As many business owners retire and sell their companies, the next decade presents a unique opportunity to expand #employeeownership. Hear @AspenJobQuality and guests #talkopportunity in this video.
Tweet #EmployeeOwnership — like ESOPs — can be a valuable tool to create better jobs, build wealth, and increase businesses’ resiliency while reducing employee turnover. Hear @AspenJobQuality and guests #talkopportunity in this video.
Tweet Video: ESOPs, #JobQuality, and Wealth Inequality. Hear @sean_tamba, Noelle Montaño @EmployeesOwn, Corey Rosen @theNCEO, Cindy Turcot @GardenersSupply, and @talmonsmith #talkopportunity with @AspenJobQuality in this video.
Speakers
Sean-Tamba Matthew @sean_tamba
Shareholder, Stevens & Lee, SES ESOP Strategies @SESESOP
Sean-Tamba Matthew is a shareholder of the law firm Stevens & Lee, and he works with its affiliated business, SES ESOP Strategies. He advises companies, business owners, boards of directors, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) trustees on transactional, corporate governance, and formation matters related to the design and implementation of ESOPs. Sean is a frequent guest speaker on a range of ESOP-related issues.
Sean is also a Kellogg Fellow at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations. There, he coordinates the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing’s W.K. Kellogg Foundation program, which helps minority and female business owners and their advisors learn about employee ownership transitions. In addition, Sean is a member of the board of directors of Empowered Ventures, an ESOP-owned holding company headquartered in Indiana, an advisory board member of Talley Management Group, an employee-owned company based in New Jersey, and a member of the executive committee of The ESOP Association’s Public Policy Council.
In addition to his professional work, Sean serves as a member of the board of directors of Independence Mission Schools, a network of 14 independent Catholic schools providing a transformative education to children of all faiths across Philadelphia, and Nutritional Development Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, an organization dedicated to alleviating food insecurity in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Sean was named among the 2021 Greater Philadelphia Region’s “40 Under 40” honorees by the Philadelphia Business Journal. He received his law degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
Noelle Montaño
Executive Director, ESCA @EmployeesOwn
Noelle Montaño is the executive director of ESCA, the Employee-owned S Corporations of America. She has represented ESCA for more than twenty years. ESCA is the Washington DC voice for nearly 200 employee-owned S corporations whose mission is to advance and protect S corporation ESOPs, and which support and sustain employee ownership in every state in the nation.
A former associate with a major Washington DC law firm, Noelle most notably served as legislative director for then-chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Bill Archer. She holds a law degree from the George Mason University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Duke University.
Corey Rosen
Founder, National Center for Employee Ownership @theNCEO
Corey Rosen is the founder and an active staff member of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a private, nonprofit membership, information, and research organization. The NCEO is widely considered to be the authoritative source on broad-based employee ownership plans. He co-founded the NCEO in 1981 after working five years as a professional staff member in the US Senate, where he helped draft legislation on employee ownership plans. Prior to that, he taught political science at Ripon College. He is the author or co-author of over 100 articles and numerous books on employee ownership, including “Equity: Why Employee Ownership is Good for Business” (Harvard Business School Press, 2005), co-authored with John Case and Martin Staubus, and “Ownership: Reinventing Companies, Capitalism, and “Who Owns What” (Berrett-Kohler, 2022), co-authored with Hohn Case. He has lectured on employee ownership on six continents.
He has a doctorate in political science from Cornell University. He previously served on the board of directors of the Great Place to Work Institute, creators of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” list. He currently is on seven ESOP company boards, with fees going to support the work of the NCEO. In 2009, he was awarded the Txemi Cantera Social Economy Award, given annually in Spain.
Cindy Turcot
CEO and President, Gardener’s Supply Company @GardenersSupply
Cindy Turcot is the CEO and president of Gardener’s Supply Company (GSC), headquartered in Burlington, Vermont. GSC is the leading online retailer and cataloger of home gardening products and has four retail garden centers. GSC has had an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) since 1987 and became 100% ESOP-owned in 2009. Cindy has been with the company since its inception and has held many roles. She was instrumental in the ESOP transition and is a driving force for a strong employee ownership culture.
Cindy is currently chair of the Employee Ownership Foundation, past chair of the national ESOP Association, and past president of the New England chapter of the ESOP Association. In addition, she was the founding chair of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center and is currently the treasurer. Cindy also serves on the board of directors of three ESOP-owned companies.
Moderator
Talmon Joseph Smith
Economics Reporter, The New York Times @NYTimes
Tal is an economics reporter at The New York Times on the Business desk, covering labor, macroeconomics, and financial markets. Before, he commissioned and edited coverage of business, public policy, and culture as a staff editor for the Times’ Sunday Review and Opinion sections.
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