February 2-3 | Fort Lauderdale, FL
JACOB COOK
Mr Cook is a Director at BDO Capital Advisors, LLC, bringing over nine years of diverse experience across tax structuring, capital raising, corporate finance, assurance, operations, marketing, and compliance He has developed deep expertise in ESOPs, with more than seven years of specialized experience in this area. At BDO Capital, Jacob plays a key role in transaction execution and structuring within the ESOP Advisory Group. He also provides technical guidance on GAAP and tax matters through BDO USA’s Tax Technical Desk, supporting both BDO USA clients and BDO Alliance member firms.
TIM GARBINSKY
Ch i ine Hurt
Timothy Garbinsky is the communications director at the NCEO In his role, Tim works with volunteers, allied organizations, and the press to creatively and effectively disseminate information about employee ownership and advance the NCEO's mission. He earned his BA from Duke University in 2009 and has since worked as a content creator and an educator, skills which he transfers to the NCEO. Originally from the D.C. metropolitan area, Tim now lives in California's Central Valley with his wife and son.
MATT DENNISON
Christine Hurt
Matt is a recognized leader in Chartwell’s corporate finance practice, known for delivering strategic, solutions-focused advice to shareholders, boards of directors, and management teams of privately held middle-market companies. Drawing on extensive experience, Matt specializes in developing and executing comprehensive strategies that enable shareholders to achieve their goals and objectives. His deep expertise spans a range of investment banking services, including strategic alternatives analysis, ESOP transactions, sell-side M&A, and debt capital raising. By aligning financial strategies with overarching business goals, Matt provides tailored, impactful guidance
STEVE RYAN
Christine Hurt
Steve is an S VP at GreatBanc, managing client relationships and ESOP transactions He has 25+ years ESOP experience and helped many privately-held companies to assist them in growth initiatives, business transitions and liquidity events Steve has helped business owners transition their business via either an internal transition (ESOP/MBO/ Family) or external (strategic/PE/ Family Office) He has run commercial banking teams and investment banking experience Steve is a Board Member on VGM Group & PMR Mortgage & the Missouri Center for Employee Ownership. He also Chairs the National ESOP Committee for the Private Directors Association.
EVENT SPONSORS
THANK THIS POSSIBLE!
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS FOR MAKING THIS EVENT POSSIBLE!
MEMBER RESOURCES
ESOP TRAINING PROGRAMS
The NCEO offers live remote training programs for boards and fiduciaries. The programs are presented by NCEO Founder Corey Rosen or NCEO Executive Director Loren Rodgers Customizable training is 90 minutes long and costs $500.
We also offer an online training program on how ESOPs work. Based on a series of recorded webinars, it uses adult learning model-based quizzes to turn test takers into knowledgeable ESOP committee members and fiduciaries This training costs $100
PUBLICATIONS
Beyond Engagement
ESOPs and Corporate Governance
Executive Compensation in ESOP Companies
Selling Your Business to an ESOP
The ESOP Company Board Handbook
Understanding ESOPs
LIVE WEBINARS & REPLAYS
Stay up to date on ESOPs and equity compensation with online presentations on legal, governance, HR, communications, and financial topics from our Compass online learning series. Both live and recorded webinars are free for NCEO members.
We offer approximately 45 live ESOP webinars every year. Each webinar is recorded and then placed into our Replay Library for you to re-watch at your convenience NCEO live webinars offer continuing education credit for CPE and SHRM. Find out more information about webinars at www.nceo.org/livewebinars.
Additional Resources
1.Understanding ESOPs by Corey Rosen & Scott Rodrick: A general introductory guide to ESOPs for public and private companies
2.Who Should Own Your Business After You?: This 8-page, full-color booklet answers frequent questions, describes the sale process, and features critical research findings on the impact of employee ownership.
3.Finance Toolkit & Lender Directory: This toolkit helps NCEO member companies secure financing, either for an ESOP transaction or commercial lending, and includes guidelines on best practices when seeking funding and a directory of bank and non-bank lenders with ESOP experience.
AGENDA: FEBRUARY 2
TOPIC TIME
9:30 - 10AM 10-11AM
11-11:10 AM
11:10-12:15 PM
12:15-1:15 PM
1:20-2:05 PM
2:10-2:50 PM
2:50-3:25 PM
3:30-4:30 PM
4:40 -5:20 PM
5:30-6:30 PM
The Garden Patio 9 - 9:30AM
Registration & Refreshments
Welcome! What is Employee Ownership?
Tim Garbinsky | NCEO
An ESOP Company Perspective
Juanpablo Wright
Coffee Break
ESOP Transaction Structures & Assessing Feasibility
Ed Renenger | SES ESOP Strategies
Lunch with Experts | Roundtable Topics
Plan Design & Operations
Matt Dennison | Chartwell
Determining Stock Value
Tim Jamison | Prairie Capital Advisors
Afternoon Break
Financing an ESOP
Jacob Cook | BDO
Roundtable Discussions
Networking Cocktail Reception
Learning Objectives: You will learn how to assess whether an ESOP suits your company and, if so, how to finance it. You will also learn how to make choices concerning allocation, vesting, distribution, voting rights, and what to do with sale proceeds. You will gain the necessary information for setting up a plan, including critical legal, valuation, and administrative issues. You will also learn about creating an influential ownership culture and why that is important.
S P E A K E R S S P E A K E R S S P E A K
TIM JAMISON
Christine Hurt
Tim Jamison is responsible for business development and growth initiatives and focuses on advising business owners about ownership transition alternatives including employee stock ownership plans and mergers and acquisitions, among others. Services include feasibility studies, transaction financing, adequate consideration analyses, fairness and solvency opinions, post-transaction cash flow analyses and annual valuations
ED RENENGER
Ed is president and CEO of SES ESOP Strategies and co-chair of the ESOP Group and the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Group at Stevens & Lee, an affiliated company of SES ESOP Strategies He concentrates his practice on helping companies navigate the complexities of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) In this capacity, Ed advises business owners on ESOPs, which typically involves working with the company to first determine the feasibility and impact of creating an ESOP, consulting on whether the ESOP accomplishes the goals of the relevant stakeholders, designing the appropriate structure to accomplish those goals, implementing the transaction, and then assisting the company with the ongoing administration and compliance of the ESOP.
TIM RETTIG
Christine Hurt Hurt
Tim Rettig is a second-generation serial ESOP entrepreneur Tim started Intrust IT in 1992 while in college at the University of Cincinnati As the company grew, it was ranked on the Inc 500|5000 list six times and has been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Cincinnati twelve times. Tim transitioned the company to be employee-owned via an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2019, just like his father Jay Rettig did with his company Software Solutions in 2004 Tim has a life goal to create over 10,000 employee-owners through his advocacy of employee ownership.
KAVEH GILANSHAH
Christine Hurt
As a member of The Capital ESOP Group, Kaveh is responsible for creating financial analyses comparing the taxable sale of privately held businesses with §1042 tax-deferred sales to Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). Kaveh is committed to client service and doing whatever it takes to help clients make an educated decision on what is best for them and their families He also assists the team in managing the 1042 QRP allocation process taking into consideration and analyzing different ESOP bond terms.
JUANPABLO WRIGHT
Talking about employee-owned businesses always gets Juanpablo’s blood pumping Great EO companies consistently and continually educate their employee-owners on the fundamentals about what it means to be an owner. Recently, Axia Home Loans, an ESOP established in 2016, was acquired. This experience provides Juanpablo a unique full-cycle perspective to discuss his experience from the start of an ESOP to the successful exit of one As the director of growth and strategic planning for Axia Home Loans, Juanpablo strived to solve problems and drive value for the company by assessing challenges, collaborating with others to establish a clear path forward, and ensuring people were connected to relationships that generated solutions
AGENDA: FEBRUARY 3
TIME
7:30-8:30 AM
8:40-9 AM
9:05-9:45 AM
9:50-10:30 AM
10:30-10:40 AM
10:40-11:20 AM
11:25-12:05 PM
TOPIC
Breakfast Roundtables
Welcome & Recap
Tim Garbinsky | NCEO
My Multi Generation ESOP Story
Tim Rettig | Intrust IT
Fiduciary Responsibilities
Steve Ryan | GreatBanc
Coffee Break
Investing in the 1042 Rollover
Kaveh Gilanshah | UBS Capital ESOP Group
NCEO Led Q&A / Debrief
2026 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Milwaukee, WI
Baird Center
April 6-9, 2026
2026 FORUM
Phoenix, AZ
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown
August 26 - 28, 2026 upcoming events
We invite you to join us in Milwaukee!
Use code ESOP to save $50 on your Annual Conference registration.
Learn more at annualconference.nceo.org.
