About Employee Ownership
What is Employee Ownership?
At thousands of businesses in the United States, employees own a majority of their company's stock. These "employee-owned" companies employ millions of people who each have the ability to say "I am an owner of this company." To read more about employee ownership, please visit the NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership website.
Why Should New Jersey and New York Businesses Care?
For current business owners looking to retire or sell part of their equity stake, employee ownership is an attractive alternative to selling to a private equity firm or other outside buyer. To read more about why businesses should care, please visit the NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership website.
Why Should New Jersey and New York Communities Care?
Employee ownership keeps businesses and jobs in-state and builds community wealth. To read more about why communities should care, please visit the NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership website.
Additional Information and Research on Employee Ownership
SMLR is building an online library of articles and research on employee ownership. A beta version is currently available, which you can visit at cleo.rutgers.edu.
What does it mean to have employee share ownership? In the documentary film We the Owners: Employees Expanding the American Dream, employee owners from New Belgium Brewing, Namaste Solar and DPR Construction answer this important question. SMLR makes the film and related teaching materials available to assist educators with educational resources for students.
SMLR Professors Joseph Blasi and Douglas Kruse's research shows that the concept of employees owning a share of their company, has a long and robust tradition in American history...read more
Learn more about Equity Compensation in our recent white paper: Thinking Strategically About Your Equity Compensation Program written by SMLR Professors Joseph Blasi, Doug Kruse, and Bill Castellano
Contact
For information about the NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership, please contact the Executive Director, Professor Bill Castellano, at castellano@smlr.rutgers.edu; the Associate Director, Jim Terez, at jim.terez@rutgers.edu; or the Senior Program Coordinator, Bethany Dennis, at bethany.dennis@rutgers.edu.
The 2019 Employee Stock Ownership Plans & Equity Compensation Conference was held on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 in New Brunswick, NJ.
Click here to view conference agenda
Conference topics:
- How to sell your company to your employees
- Ownership succession and ESOP value
- Current trends in equity compensation
- Analyzing your Equity Compensation Plan's return on investment
- ESOP legal and fiduciary responsibilities
- Employee financial wellness
Participatory Management Certificate Program
This five-day comprehensive certificate program is designed for managers and business owners seeking to help grow their business and successfully implement innovative workplace practices that engage and motivate employees to achieve strategic objectives through enhanced productivity, innovation, and improved customer satisfaction necessary to ensure financial success.
In the News
- Participatory Certificate Program Website - learn more and register
- A Rutgers press release discusses Professors Joseph Blasi's and Doug Kruse's research and analysis for the bill
- Long Island Newsday article covers Sen. Gillibrand's efforts to promote the bill
- Corey Rosen's (National Center for Employee Ownership) opinion piece on the bill cites Rutgers research
- Main Street Employee Ownership Act summary
01/08/2018 (Times Union) Employee ownership can boost NY economy, families
11/09/2017 (NJTV News) Why businesses should consider employee ownership
10/15/2017 (My Central Jersey) New Rutgers center aims to save jobs through employee ownership
10/12/2017 (New Jersey 101.5) N.J. Effort To Get Owners selling their companies...to their employees?
10/11/2017 (New Jersey Business Magazine) New Rutgers Center Aims to Save Jobs Through Employee Ownership
10/11/2017 (SMLR) Press Release: New SMLR Center Aims to Save Jobs Through Employee Ownership
Advisory Board Members
Vice President - Client Service Director/Group Manager
SES ESOP Strategies
Webinars
The NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership frequently hosts webinars which are recorded and available here for you to view at your convenience. Please follow the links below to watch the recorded webinar of your choice.
Employee Ownership for Business Succession - 11/5/19
Is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) right for you? In this 30-minute webinar, Corey Rosen, Ph.D., Founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership, talked about how ESOPs are a flexible way for business owners to provide for ownership transition and can also preserve business legacy.
Individual Freedom in the Workplace - Freedom-based Management Models - 9/27/19
Since the Industrial Revolution, management has created hierarchy in organization structures to control assets and employees. The potential negative impacts of hierarchical control on employee performance and engagement have been recognized for a long time. View our webinar recording to gain a better understanding of how an organization can create and adopt a management approach that emphasizes liberating servant leadership.
Top 10 Recommendations to Increase Equity Participation and Ownership - 8/15/19
In this webinar we discussed equity share plan strategies that can increase equity participation and employee share ownership and the key policies and practices that create an engaging ownership culture. Based on a large body of research mostly conducted by the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, these practices can positively impact employee engagement and organizational strategic and financial outcomes.
Employee Ownership Trusts - 5/7/19
Selling to an employee ownership trust (EOT) should be considered as a strong alternative to an ESOP where the cost of an ESOP is a major consideration, as well as where perpetuity of the employee ownership structure is a major goal. View our webinar recording to learn "why" to use an EOT instead of an ESOP, "how" to transition to an EOT, and "where" to look for further guidance.
Creating an Ownership Culture to Enhance Returns on Equity Share Programs - 4/16/19
The Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing has a long tradition researching the impact of equity share plan designs and organizational culture on individual, strategic, and financial outcomes. View our webinar recording and learn how organizations can design effective share plan strategies and create an ownership culture to increase the returns on their equity program investments.
How ESOPs Can Increase Employee and Sales Productivity -1/17/19
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) are not just a vehicle designed to enhance the value of a business or to transfer ownership. View our webinar recording and explore how employee and sales productivity can increase in companies after they establish their ESOPs.
Creating a Culture of Ownership - 12/18/18
What do most companies on the Fortune lists of best workplaces have in common? A culture of ownership - they share ownership widely with employees and many are majority owned. View our webinar recording and learn what makes these ownership cultures tick.
Understanding the Research for Enhancing the Return on Your Equity Compensation Program - 9/13/18
How can a company measure the ROI of their equity compensation program? Dr. Bill Castellano discusses this topic and provides effective strategies that can enhance the impact of your equity compensation program. Plus, learn how to apply research findings into practice and communicate the value of your company’s equity compensation program.
ESOPs as a Succession Planning and Wealth Creation Tool for Business Owners - 7/18/18
Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) can offer significant succession planning and wealth creation benefits. They are also prized as the ultimate in employee motivation, as they make the employee into a vested owner of the company. In this webinar, we examined the key features and considerations, as well as instances where ESOPs make sense. View this recording and learn what factors about the business, owners, and business timeline make it attractive to use an ESOP. Also, determine whether an ESOP is appropriate to accomplish a business owner’s succession planning and wealth creation goals, understand the succession and tax planning opportunity, and outline considerations and steps to implement an ESOP.
Many closely held firms want to provide employees with a stake in the company's outcome through some form of equity compensation. But who should get how much? With what rules? And what forms of actual equity or synthetic equity make sense? View our webinar recording and gain an understanding of the way closely held companies can provide equity compensation to employees. Topics such as stock, options, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights, and phantom stock were discussed, as well as their counterparts in limited liability corporations.
Employee Ownership for Business Succession - 3/13/18
Events
Past Events
Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Equity Compensation Conference - October 26, 2018
Our Second Annual Conference, Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Equity Compensation took place on October 26, 2018. View the conference agenda.
Thank you to our speakers for sharing their expertise and to our sponsors for making this event possible!
View the conference presentations below.
Conference Welcome and General Session
Thinking Strategically about Your Equity Compensation Program
William Castellano, Ph.D., Department Chair/Professor, Executive Director, NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations
ESOP Track
Business Succession, the ESOP Value Proposition, and Alternatives
John Vitucci, Principal, Employee Benefit Services, PKF O'Connor Davies
Valuation and Financial Fairness Considerations in ESOP Transactions
Aziz El-Tahch, Managing Director, Valuation Advisory, Stout Risius Ross, LLC
Legal and Fiduciary Responsibilities
James G. Steiker, President and CEO, SES ESOP Strategies
Company Panel
Phil DeDominicis, Managing Director, Menke & Associates, Inc.
Chris Rausch, Chief Financial Officer, Turtle & Hughes, Inc.
Paul Theodore, President and CEO, Visual Graphic Systems Inc.
Equity Compensation Track
Trends in Equity Compensation Programs
Sharmon Priaulx, Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, People and Organization
Maria Robins, Vice President, Morgan Stanley
Offering and Employee Stock Purchase Plan Your Participants will Value
Charles Russo, Vice President, Regional Manager, Computershare
Sponsors
Computershare
Eagle Rock, A Greenberg & Rapp Company
National Center for Employee Ownership
Menke & Associates, Inc.
Morgan Stanley
PKF O'Connor Davies
SES ESOP Strategies
Stout
UBS
ESPP Day - February 8, 2018
The NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership co-sponsored with Computershare an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) conference on February 8, 2018 in New York. The ESPP Day conference provided a comprehensive introduction to the important aspects of employee stock purchase plans. Please click here to view the conference presentations.
Keynote speaker was Dr. Joseph Blasi, Distinguished Professor and Sociologist at Rutgers. One of the leading academic experts on employee share ownership in the world, Dr. Blasi has written several books, including The Citizen’s Share, which traces the history of employee share ownership in the U.S. from its earliest days to today. He also regularly speaks at industry conferences and has written for numerous publications, including Fortune Magazine, where he is a regular commentator.
The conference included presentations from stock plan professionals at Computershare, AON Hewitt, Baker & McKenzie, ISP Advisors, HighTower Advisors, myStockOptions.com, and the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals.
Employee Ownership Strategies Conference - July 31, 2017
The NJ/NY Center for Employee Ownership’s first Employee Ownership Strategies Conference took place on July 31, 2017.
Thank you to our speakers, sponsors, partners, and participants for making the conference a success!
View the conference presentations and learn more about our speakers below.
Sponsors
Employee Ownership Foundation
National Center for Employee Ownership
SES Advisors
Menke & Associates, Inc.
Morgan Stanley
Stout
American Working Capital
About
The New Jersey/New York Center for Employee Ownership (NJ/NYCEO) promotes better understanding of the values of employee ownership among business leaders, public officials, employees, members of the media, students, teachers, nonprofit leaders, consumers, and other persons and organizations in New Jersey and New York. The NJ/NYCEO is a center at Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations.
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