Colorado Aiming to Promote Employee Ownership Model

The State of Colorado is providing incentives and education to businesses considering using ESOPs in their succession planning. In particular, Governor Jared Polis has made promotion of employee ownership owe of his top priorities. His administration is putting together an Employee Ownership Center (the “Center”) to help business owners with the process of creating and selling to an ESOP.

John Kovacs (a program analyst for the Center) stated “We are looking to make Colorado the Delaware of employee ownership.” In addition, two years ago, the Colorado Legislature passed a law which provides up to $10,000 to help a business owner pay for legal and/or accounting fees incurred in setting up an ESOP.

In particular, the State is looking to help businesses in rural areas who may not have as many succession planning options as those in urban areas. You can read more about this initiative here.