Assets that are free from any liens, debts, or other financial obligations.

Poverty thresholds are the dollar amounts used to determine poverty status. The Census Bureau assigns each person or family one out of 48 possible poverty thresholds. Thresholds vary by the size of the family and age of the members. The same thresholds are used throughout the US. Thresholds are updated annually for inflation using the CPI-U. They are intended for use as a statistical yardstick

A low-profit limited liability company (L3C) is an enterprise with a profit goal that is subordinate to its charitable mission.

A "captive insurer" is generally defined as an insurance company that is wholly owned and controlled by its insureds; its primary purpose is to insure the risks of its owners, and its insureds benefit from the captive insurer's underwriting profits.

Industrial revenue bonds (IRB) are municipal debt securities issued by a government agency on behalf of a private sector company and intended to build or acquire factories or other heavy equipment and tools.

Cooperatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary cooperatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are also organised in a democratic manner.

Cooperatives are autonomous, self-help organisations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organisations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their cooperative autonomy.

Capital gains are the profits realized from the sale of a capital asset, where the tax rate depends on the duration the asset was held.

In worker cooperatives, each worker owns an equal share of the business. By paying a buy-in, and by fulfilling any other requirements outlined in the bylaws, a worker earns a share of the cooperative: Every worker-owner (or member) of the cooperative owns one equal share of the cooperative.

When employees are given an option, and they decide to, laterally transfer 401k assets to finance the ESOP transition. This results in more cash made available to the selling owner at the time of closing.

Purchase price allocation is the process of dividing the total purchase price of a business among its individual assets for tax purposes.

The time it takes for a selling owner to move from exploration of succession options through a finalized sale.

Cost of capital is a calculation of the minimum return that would be necessary in order to justify undertaking a capital budgeting project, such as building a new factory. It is an evaluation of whether a projected decision can be justified by its cost.

An alternative minimum tax (AMT) places a floor on the % of taxes that a filer must pay to the government, no matter how many deductions or credits the filer may claim. The US currently has an alternative minimum tax for taxpayers who earn above certain income thresholds.

A repurchase obligation forecast that begins by using your individual business information and actuarial data to generate a projection of the cash your company will need to satisfy ESOP distribution liabilities following the distribution timing, form, and method requirements articulated in your plan documents and policies

Preferred stock represents ownership in a company with higher claims on dividends and asset distribution compared to common stock

Earnings per share (EPS) is a measure of a company's profitability that indicates how much profit each outstanding share of common stock has earned. It's calculated by dividing the company's net income by the total number of outstanding shares.

the Main Street Employee Ownership Act, which Congress enacted in section 862 of Public Law 115-232, requires SBA to make structural changes in SBA lending programs to ease the challenges faced by employee-owned businesses in accessing financing. This legislation also requires SBA to use Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) to establish an employee-owned business promotion program to provide assistance on structure, business succession, and planning

A buyer cooperative (or purchasing cooperative) is an organization owned and operated by a group of individuals or businesses who pool their purchasing power to buy goods or services in bulk at discounted prices. Members benefit from lower costs, better terms, and increased negotiating leverage that they wouldn't have as individual buyers. Common examples include grocery co-ops, healthcare purchasing groups, and business supply cooperatives.

The Aspen Institute's Job Quality Fellowship brings together leaders from differing lines of work, in communities across the country, who are working to expand the availability of better quality jobs.

Cooperatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.

The degree of influence that second or third parties may have over a seller's ultimate decision to sell their business, for what price, on what terms, etc. When buyer autonomy meets seller autonomy the possibility of selling at a truly fair market value (FMV) is created.

A community based investment vehicle where non-accredited investors can pool capital for the sake of making investments in things like real estate, or other small businesses which align with the values of the investment co-op members

Discount applied to the business valuation when only a minority interest in the business is being sold.

Earnings in a regular corporation are double-taxed—the corporation pays income tax on the net earnings, and then the shareholders pay income tax when they receive dividends on those earnings. In contrast, under Subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code, a cooperative can avoid some of the traditional corporate double-tax.

A consumer-owned co-op, typically a retail grocery store brick and mortar operation.

When starting a business, the founding owner(s) often fund the business before it is bringing in enough money to cover its expenses. They may do this by working unpaid hours and/or using personal money to purchase supplies, uniforms, printing, postage, etc.

Employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) enable employees to buy company stock at a discounted rate, such as 15 percent. The plans offer a potential financial benefit to employees, encourage them to stay with the company for a certain period of time (otherwise they lose the benefit), and can promote employee loyalty to the business.

Types of transactions with an employee ownership plan which, if engaged in, would or could create some kind of legal liability, e.g., "self dealing" or other forms of conflict of interest.

Replicable, out-of-the-box worker-owned businesses that provide a pathway to work for DREAMers and undocumented individuals.