October 13, 2012
Recently, the former Virginia Governor and Senator George Allen, who is also a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the upcoming November election, provided the following statement to The ESOP Association.
“I have long been a strong supporter of ESOPs and co-sponsored two major bipartisan ESOP bills when I served in the U.S. Senate – the ESOP Promotion and Improvement Acts of 2004 and 2005. In my view, employee ownership and incentives are truly positive principles. It makes a great deal of sense that having employees actually own part of the company is powerful motivation because they share in its success.
Research continues to confirm the strength of ESOP companies, which have been a bright spot in the current weak economy. Research also confirms what I have observed from the time I was Governor of Virginia and what Ronald Reagan discovered in the 1970s, that the increased productivity of employee-owners helps profitable ESOP companies generate new jobs and build a healthy economy.
From Tidewater to Southside and Southwest Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley and Northern Virginia, thousands of employee-owners of ESOP companies have benefited for many years from a ‘piece of the action.’ If I have the honor and privilege of again serving Virginia in the U.S. Senate, I will work to see that ESOPs play an even more significant role in U.S. economic policy and I will continue to support legislation that promotes and improves ESOPs.”