The founding board for the Indiana Center for Employee Ownership includes:

Mr. Richard Van Doel, PhD, President/CEO of INCEO

Richard obtained his PhD from Indiana Wesleyan University in the discipline of Organizational Leadership.  His dissertation topic Exploring Stewardship Characteristics in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Employee-Owned Companies examined the influence of stewardship on employee owned governance and firm productivity. He was awarded a Louis O. Kelso Fellowship from the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. Rick brings more than 40 years of experience in military, for profit and nonprofit leadership. He is a US Navy veteran, having retired as a Chief Warrant Officer (1993). In 2018, Richard lead the conversion of Performance Validation to a 100% S-Corp ESOP. After 28 years of service, Richard retired as President of Performance Validation

Mr. Andrew Manchir, INCEO’s Treasurer

Andrew is an Active member of The ESOP Association and serves on the Executive Committee of the State and Regional Chapter Council.  He also serves on The ESOP Association’s Valuation Advisory Committee.  In 2010, he received the prestigious national award of “Chapter Officer of the Year” from the ESOP Association.  He is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants.  He is also a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) and serves on the CEPA Indiana leadership team.  Additionally, Andy is a member of the National Center for Employee Ownership and is an accredited member of the American Society of Appraisers.

Mr. Stephen D. Smith, INCEO’s Secretary

Since 1984, Stephen has dedicated his private law practice primarily to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPS) and structuring ESOP transactions.  Stephen has been responsible for structuring over 300 ESOP transactions for public and private companies throughout the United States. He represents ESOP sponsors, ESOP Fiduciaries (including employer-appointed committees) and independent ESOP trustees in ESOP transactions, including the sale of ESOP companies.  Stephen was directly involved in drafting the S-Corporation ESOP enabling legislation contained in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.  He was co-author of the S-Corporation anti-abuse legislation known as the Breaux/Ramstad Bill.