ESCA and the Foundation for Private Employee Ownership will hold their annual Leadership Summit February 20-22 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This annual summit brings together top executives from S corporation ESOP companies and senior ESOP professionals from around the country.  A key highlight of the conference is hearing from key members of Congress and the Administration on political and policy agendas that could impact S corporation ESOPs.

Mary Josephs, Founder and CEO of Verit Advisors, will facilitate a panel on best practices in governance. Members of the panel are Vaughn Gordy, GreatBanc Trust Company, Bob Grossman, Lathrop and Gage, Michael Eckhardt, Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel of Wawa, Inc.

Mary Josephs is a nationally recognized leader with over 35 years of experience in ESOPs as a specialized solutions-oriented succession and liquidity transaction for middle market companies. Mary founded Verit Advisors in 2009 in Chicago. Verit Advisors unites sophisticated investment banking capabilities with a client centric boutique, fluent in ESOPs, debt and equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions. Integrity, partnership, excellence, commitment to people and innovation are at the heart of the organization, as the Verit team strives to provide unparalleled advice and custom solutions to its clients.  Ms. Josephs was named one of most Influential women in mid-market M&A by Mergers & Acquisition magazine in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

What is an S Corporation ESOP?

A Subchapter S corporation is a business entity that provides flow-through tax treatment to its shareholders.  An employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”) is a qualified defined contribution plan that provides a company’s workers with retirement savings through their investments in their employer’s stock, at no cost to the worker.  ESOPs are regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) just like pension funds, 401(k) plans, and other qualified retirement plans.  Congress authorized the S corporation ESOP structure to encourage and expand retirement savings by giving millions of American workers in all 50 states the opportunity to have equity in the companies where they work.  Today S ESOPs accomplish exactly what Congress intended them to do: create jobs, generate economic activity and promote retirement savings. For more information on ESCA.