I love to advise businesses through moments of change and transition with the toolkit of employee ownership. At Weaver, I advise our clients and prospects about the advantages and considerations of moving from traditional forms of business ownership to employee ownership. I’m happiest connecting companies and business owners with professionals that may help advise and guide them through every step of the journey of employee ownership from the initial discovery period of determining whether an employee-owned model, such as an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or worker cooperative, may be the best option for them in a business transition, to the transaction to create employee ownership, to the sustainability of employee ownership. In my day to day though, I not only make connections and provide resources, but perform ESOP valuation work for ESOP trustees advising them on the structure of proposed transactions, valuation, and transaction terms. I’m thankful my day to day gets to impact what I love to do – creating owners. There is a sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from ownership that resonates with me and that I hope all employee-owners come to know through their employee ownership experience. To highlight my role, below are some examples of the variety in my world. • Recently, I helped a company transition from a single business owner to over 1,000 employee-owners in a 100% ESOP transaction. By advising the trustee, I was advocating for the employee-owners related to the valuation and certain clawback provisions of the proposed transaction which ultimately resulted in a fair market value price per share, a clawback, and a corresponding earnout. Throughout the negotiation, I focused on ensuring a fair deal is made on behalf of the new employee-owners. • A mature ESOP client brought the problem of redemption vs recycling to me in their quest to be a sustainable ESOP. Through consultation with a referral to a trusted professional, our client has confidence in the decision they made and through expanding their scope to include bi-annual sustainability studies they’re ensuring they continue to make informed decisions. The gift they gave themselves was peace of mind so they may tackle the business operations that make their ESOP truly successful. • Through LinkedIn, I connected a fellow ESOP professional with our ESOP audit professionals to discuss the intricacies of accounting for an ESOP transaction. As a firm, Weaver wants to provide you with trusted guidance – check out our Executive Resource Center.