ESOP Radio

Bank appetite for ESOP lending has shifted over the past year. Lenders that once treated employee ownership transactions with caution are now competing for them, and many credit teams view a well-run ESOP as a lower credit risk than a typical M&A financing. For owners considering an ESOP, and for ESOP companies already carrying bank debt or seller notes, that shift affects which terms are avai...

Every ESOP company carries an obligation to buy back shares from participants who retire, leave, die, or become disabled. Because the timing depends on participant events rather than company decisions, the repurchase obligation is not recorded as a liability on the balance sheet under GAAP. That makes it easy to overlook, even as it grows with the share price and with the shares employees accumula...

Many companies that already share equity with employees eventually face a harder question: what ownership structure will sustain the business for the next generation? In this episode, the CEO and CFO of ISEC explain why their company, an interior contractor founded in Denver in 1967 with more than 1,200 employee owners today, replaced a long-running direct share program with an employee stock owne...

Many business owners start with an ESOP that owns a minority stake in the company, then later consider selling the rest. This episode covers second stage ESOP transactions: what they are, how they differ from the initial sale, and what owners, management teams, and CFOs should plan for before taking a partial ESOP to 100%. The discussion follows a Northern California specialty grocery company. It...

Many architecture, engineering, and construction firms grow on referrals and the personal relationships of their founders and senior leaders. That approach works until a company sets aggressive growth targets, enters a new market, completes an acquisition, or watches its most connected people move toward retirement. This episode of ESOP Radio looks at what it takes to build a marketing function th...

An owner who sells a C corporation to an ESOP can elect Section 1042 and defer the capital gains tax on the sale, potentially for life. On a $100 million sale with $10 million of basis, a California seller is looking at roughly 37 percent on $90 million of gain — about $33 million — between the 20 percent federal long-term capital gains rate, the 3.8 percent net investment income tax, and Californ...

Owning shares in a company and acting like an owner are two different things, and the gap between them is what separates ESOP companies that outperform from ones that quietly underperform. In this episode, Trevor Gilmore talks with Joe Belsterling, CEO of Certified EO, about what actually distinguishes a strong employee ownership culture from a company that simply has the legal paperwork in place....

Six months into 2026, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spadt sit down together in person to revisit the ten ESOP market predictions they made back in January and check them against what's actually happened in the field. The result is a candid, prediction-by-prediction accounting of where the ESOP market stands at midyear — including which forecasts held up, which are still developing, and what the host...

What does an ESOP look like after 40 years? CCI Systems became employee owned in 1985, when its founders sold 75% of the company into an ESOP at $24 per share. Since then, the network infrastructure firm has grown to more than 1,000 employees, expanded from cable construction into fiber, wireless, energy, and data center work, and reports average share value growth of roughly 10% per year over fou...

Business owners considering an ESOP are operating in a noticeably different environment than they were a year ago. This episode covers three developments reshaping the ESOP landscape in 2026: a major shift in Department of Labor enforcement, several bills moving through Congress that address long-standing valuation and financing gaps, and new flexibility from banks that are lending to ESOP transac...

Many ESOP participants spend years accumulating meaningful wealth inside a retirement plan they cannot easily access or sell. When the time comes to diversify or retire, the decisions made in that window can have significant tax consequences and long-term effects on retirement income. This episode examines what happens after the wealth is built — and how to approach it with clear eyes. Trevor Gilm...

In Episode 23 of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spadt discuss encouraging developments for employee ownership coming out of Washington, D.C. Ben shares insights from the ESOP Association's advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill, including proposed legislation aimed at expanding ESOP access through government-backed lending programs and increased contribution flexibility. The conversation also c...

Do ESOPs actually improve company performance — or is it just theory? In Episode 22 of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spadt break down new research from Rutgers University showing a measurable connection between employee ownership and increased productivity.  Drawing from large-scale Bureau of Labor Statistics data and years of ESOP company analysis, the study found that ESOPs produce meaningf...

Entrepreneurship often begins with one major challenge: access to capital. In Episode 21 of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore sits down with Jeremy Ames, CEO and co-founder of Guidant Financial, to discuss how business owners are using retirement assets to launch and acquire companies through rollover structures commonly referred to as ROBS (Rollovers as Business Startups). Guidant Financial has helped l...

What does it take to build a company that lasts—and a team that truly owns it? In Episode 20 of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spadt sit down with Dave Odell, CEO of MedBridge and CFO of Tynan Group, a 100% employee-owned company managing high-profile real estate development projects across the West Coast. Dave shares the story behind Tynan Group’s ESOP transition, including why a traditional...

What does an ESOP transition look like when a company starts planning early? In Episode 19 of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spadt sit down with Jeff Bradley and Heather Hines of M-Group , a Bay Area urban planning firm that helps cities and counties shape long-term growth, land use, infrastructure, and livability  Because urban planners think in decades, M-Group approached succession the same...

AEC firms—architecture, engineering, and construction—are seeing a clear trend: ESOP companies are outperforming their peers on valuation. In this episode, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spadt break down the 2026 data and explain why ESOP-owned companies are commanding higher valuations—and what that means for owners considering succession. In this episode:  Why ESOP companies see ~25% higher value relati...

In this episode of ESOP Radio , we sit down with Art Hoover , CEO and Co-Founder of Matrix HG, to talk about his journey from starting a company with just $2,000 to building a successful HVAC business—and ultimately transitioning to 100% employee ownership through an ESOP .  Art shares why he chose an ESOP over private equity, how the transition reshaped his role as CEO, and what it takes to build...

A new trend is emerging — and it’s not limited to one region. In this episode of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spade discuss the growing demand for employee ownership, highlighted by recent activity in California’s Central Valley. Employees are no longer satisfied with traditional compensation. Increasingly, they expect “skin in the game” — and companies are responding by implementing ESOPs a...

What happens when an ESOP company implements EOS? In this episode of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spadt sit down with Dave Jaeger, CEO of Legacy Utility, and Craig Hettrich, EOS Implementer at The Hetrick Group, to explore how ownership structure and operating discipline work together. Legacy Utility is a growing underground utility contractor that paired employee ownership with EOS to align...

As we begin 2026, what’s ahead for the ESOP market? In this episode of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spade share their Top 10 predictions for the year — from AI-driven owner awareness to partial liquidity strategies, private equity exits, lending trends, and the growing premium on employee ownership culture. In this episode: Why AI and online tools will accelerate ESOP education The continued...

What happens when a fast-growing contractor reaches a crossroads: private equity… or employee ownership? In this episode of ESOP Radio, Trevor Gilmore and Ben Spade sit down with Dave Jaeger, CEO of Legacy Utility Group, to unpack the real-world decision between selling to private equity or transitioning to an ESOP. Dave shares: • Why private equity didn’t align with his long-term vision  • How an...

Why do some business owners choose an ESOP—and why do others decide it’s not the right solution? In Part 3 of the ESOP Boot Camp series , Trevor Gilmore, CEO of Menke, and Ben Spadt, ESOP Investment Banking Consultant at Menke, walk through the real reasons owners pursue employee ownership, as well as the situations where an ESOP may not make sense. This episode is structured around three core dec...

What are the real tax advantages of an ESOP—and how do they actually work in practice? In Part 4 of the ESOP Boot Camp series , Trevor Gilmore, CEO of Menke, and Ben Spadt, ESOP Investment Banking Consultant at Menke, break down the three primary tax benefits available to ESOPs and selling shareholders. This episode explains the Section 1042 rollover , the differences between C corporation and S c...

How are ESOP transactions actually financed? In Part 5 of the ESOP Boot Camp series , Trevor Gilmore, CEO of Menke, explains the two primary ways ESOPs are financed: outside bank financing and seller financing —and how those approaches are often combined in practice. Using real-world examples, this episode walks through how lenders evaluate ESOP transactions, what makes a company “bankable,” and h...