Business View Magazine - Dec 2023

CONTINUED SUCCESS ON THE HORIZON As ESCA looks to the future, the emphasis remains on sustained growth, education, and legislative support. The organization has already secured big wins and, from the looks of it, will continue to do so. One of its recent victories includes getting Congress to instruct the Department of Labor to issue adequate consideration regulations for companies transitioning into ESOPs to help eliminate any unnecessary investigations or audits within the process. There was even a portion of the tax incentive for transitioning businesses it has been advocating for that was included in a recent legislative package. So, it’s clear that ESCA’s efforts are steadily leading to the desired results in both organizational growth and political outcomes. “We can’t just sit back and be passive and say because Congress did something good, it will always be there. So, this is something important that is worthy of protecting,” Montaño says. If there is anything that existing S-Corp ESOPs should knowabout ESCA,it’s that,as an organization, ESCA exists solely to protect the model that means so much to them. “We’re [your] insurance policy, [your] eyes and ears in Washington,” Montaño says. In the next decade, ESCA envisions a landscape where the ESOP model continues to flourish, supported by bipartisan initiatives and a growing awareness of its transformative potential. It’s a future where employee ownership isn’t just a business model but a community-driven movement with lasting implications for businesses, employees, and the communities they serve. 142 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 12