Are you an Indiana Business that will be attending the 2026 NCEO Annual Employee Ownership Conference April 6-9th in Milwaukie? If YES then use the following discount code AC26IN to obtain a $50 discount on your registration. Rick
In late 2025, Indianapolis-based architecture and engineering (A/E) firm Guidon became the first company in Indiana to transition to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). Founded in 2011 as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, Guidon has grown into a team of more than 90 professionals grounded in stewardship, shared accountability, and steady leadership. As consolidation accelerated…
Are you a business owner? Are you thinking about succession planning? Have you considered an ESOP? Check out Jane in the below video… She found her answer…Have you?
Why do business owners choose an employee ownership model as a partial liquidity event, or as a transition on retirement? The most common reasons for choosing employee ownership are: Remaining independent, keeping the business focus and decision making independent of external drivers or out of region owners. Keeping the culture and legacy you have created…
According to the 2016 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs which enumerated 105,583 Indiana businesses (businesses with paid employees): Business owners aged 55-64 owned 33,974 businesses, and Business owners aged 65+ owned an additional 21,954 businesses. These two age groups account for 53% of Indiana business where their owners are 55 years old or older and are potentially approaching…
Based on review of the 2023 DOL 5500 filings, the average Indiana 401K account balance is approximately 72 thousand dollars ($72,162 assets/participants, or $72,539 assets/participants EOY). A similar review of 2023 DOL 5500 filings for Indiana ESOPs, identify an average account balance of approximately 138 thousand dollars ($137,197 assets/participants, or $139,407 assets/participants EOY). One key…
One way that ESOPs or EOTs may grow in value and size, is through the acquisition of companies. These acquisitions may be bolt on acquisitions that expand existing services in a new geography, or they may be companies that provide a diversification in services and client base as a means to diversify risk of customer…
Many thanks to Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett for recognition and support of employee ownership through the below proclamation!
Ready to elevate your exit planning expertise? Join us for Advisors’ Edge: Unlocking Employee Ownership for Your Clients, a CE-accredited course designed specifically for financial professionals like you. This training, is provided by the Indiana Center for Employee Ownership in partnership with the Employee Ownership Expansion Network and Project Equity. In this free…
Do ESOPs work in Indiana? Yes they do! A review of DOL5500 form data for Indiana companies organized as ESOPs (DOL code 2O, 2P, or 2Q) for the years 2014 to 2023 identifies the following trends… Number of ESOPs increased from 174 in 2014 to 194 in 2023, a 11.7% increase. The number of total…