From Lancaster Online:

The benefits of the program are extraordinary. McPhillips shares some statistics. The 24- to 36-year-old employee population has 30 percent higher wages. Employee owned companies are more productive by eight to 12 percent which more than doubles their profitability over ten years and makes them less likely to lay off workers. 401K plans don’t go away either; 98 percent also have a 401K plan in which employees can diversity if they so choose. And the kicker? Employee owners have two and a half times as much retirement savings as non-owners. What’s also important is that employee-owned businesses stay in Pennsylvania. “They don’t get sucked up by off-shore interests or private equity groups, stripped down and moved out of the state,” says McPhillips, leaving behind an involuntarily separated workforce. Not left out of the equation are the business owners themselves. When they sell the company to their employees, owners receive full fair market value, exactly the same number they would receive if selling to any other entity. An independent assessment is completed by a third party valuation company.

Get the full story here:

https://lancasteronline.com/jobs/what-s-an-esop-experts-say-employee-stock-ownership-plans/article_b753f780-1b67-11e9-bd56-4bc5e09790e0.html