Business View Magazine Feb 2023

147 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 2 THE ESOP ASSOC I AT ION company or retire, they cash out with a significant monetary benefit they haven’t had to pay for. Today, approximately 7,000 U.S. companies are fully or partially owned by more than 11 million employees through an ESOP, and ESOPs can be found in all kinds and sizes of companies. “The concept of ESOPs existed before ERISA, but that was the first codification of ESOPs into law,” explains Jim Bonham, President & CEO of The ESOP Association, the national trade association representing employee-owned businesses and the professionals who provide services to them. Founded in 1976, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., and 19 state and regional chapters, The ESOP Association has been, according to Bonham, “the nationwide leader in protecting the ESOP structure in federal and state law, expanding the benefits of the programs, and helping to formulate sound regulation and sound policy around employee stock ownership plans.” Bonham, a recognized expert in public policy, issue advocacy, and executive leadership with years of experience in both government and politics, believes that ESOPs will continue to proliferate at an accelerating pace as their advantages become better known. “One of the biggest things that you’re hearing from employees nationwide is that they want a stake in their business,” he relates. “Folks are no longer satisfied with just being paid a salary or a wage; they’re looking for the ability to share in the growth and value of the company. They’re also looking for better workplaces and better job preservation. When employees own the business, they don’t outsource or leave the country; they don’t move it to Mexico or India, or China. And ESOP businesses tend to participate philanthropically in the places where they’re doing business, so there’s a lot of good that’s being done via employee ownership.” But in order to get the most out of an ESOP, Bonham stresses that a company needs to focus on its culture. “If you’re simply throwing shares of stock at employees, but not putting the work into creating an ownership mindset among them, Cindy-Turcot CEO and President at Gardener’s Supply Company James-Bonham President & CEO, The ESOP Association