Last month, ESCA member company, Messer Construction, welcomed Congressman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) to their construction site of a new heart tower for Mount Carmel St. Ann’s Hospital in Westerville, Ohio. The four-story addition to Mount Carmel St. Ann’s is expected to officially open for operation in fall 2013.
This $100 million expansion of Mount Carmel St. Ann’s Hospital is an exciting opportunity for the employee owners at Messer. Enhancing and expanding important places in their community is a major area of focus for the company. In fact, during the past 21 years, Messer and its employee-owners have committed over $10.5 million to making our communities better places to live, work and raise families.
During his visit to the Messer site, Congressman Tiberi had an opportunity to meet with employee- owners to discuss the advantages of working for an employee-owned company. As a senior member of the House Ways & Means Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue (subcommittee with jurisdiction over federal tax policy), he understands the vast economic impact that S ESOP companies have on local communities in addition to the substantial retirement savings they provide for their employee-owners.
Congressman Tiberi was an early cosponsor of The Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act of 2011 (H.R. 1244) which allows more S corporation business owners to transfer ownership to their employees in addition to helping more companies become S ESOPs. Congress created the S ESOP structure in 1997 to encourage and expand retirement savings, and it has done exactly that. A study by the National Center for Employee Ownership found that S ESOPS are powerful savings vehicles, creating retirement account balances that are 3-5 times higher than the average 401k.
Policymakers around the country should follow Congressman Tiberi’s leadership, and examine the economic effects of existing tax policies on the economy to ultimately preserve and expand the S ESOP model that has show to be a resounding success – not just for employee owners – but for everyone.