Services
Blue Ridge ESOP Associates can provide everything you need to administer your ESOP, 401(k) or combination ESOP/401(k) plan. Our full service outsourcing, which can include participant on-line services, provides worry-free assistance for your HR or Benefits staff, leaving them free to concentrate on other responsibilities.
We are very impressed with the IT department and how easy they made the set-up of our ESOPConnection™. They were so helpful throughout the entire process. We love ESOPConnection™ and think it is the best communication tool we could possibly have for our participants.
ESOPConnection™
Making Administration Easier for You
We built ESOPConnection™ to make your job as a Plan Sponsor easier handling employee inquiries, distributions, employee addresses, financial planning and benefits management related to your ESOP. ESOPConnection™ can function as a part of your corporate web site or intranet. You can post documents, forms, newsletters and other relevant information online, enabling your employees to obtain the Plan information they need without taking up your staff time.This tool also allows your designated internal point of contact to view, sort and document participant information for all employees, such as individual account activity and balances.
Saving You Time Internally
- Interactive Summary of Accounts (SOA) by year, detailing all participants, their census data, account beginning and ending balances, and transactions for the year. The SOA is sortable by any field and searchable by Social Security Number and/or Name; it can be downloaded into Excel for further manipulation, and directly into a format consistent with repurchase obligation planning software widely used in the marketplace. From the SOA page, you can select any individual participant and click through to their individual demographic information and ESOP Statement.
- Interactive Distribution, Diversification, Dividend and Voting Processing. These tools allow the processing of distributions, diversifications, dividends and ballots between Blue Ridge ESOP Associates and the client. The information is first prepared and posted by Blue Ridge and the client then reviews and approves the transactions, which are then processed by Blue Ridge. The client can follow along through-out the process and view the progress of transactions.
- Archiving Function. Archived Documents stores copies of the following documents in a well-organized, easy-to-retrieve format:
- Executed Legal Documents such as Plan Documents, Amendments, Restatements, Loan Documents, Modification Agreements, etc.;
- Regulatory Filings such as Forms 5500, Forms 1099, Determination letters, etc.;
- Annual Valuation Reports
- Annual ESOP Reports such as the Annual Allocation and Compliance report prepared by Blue Ridge ESOP Associates; Trust Financial Statements; Summary Annual Report; and Summary of Material Modifications.
- Executed Legal Documents such as Plan Documents, Amendments, Restatements, Loan Documents, Modification Agreements, etc.;
- On-line, secure file transfer. The File Manager allows the client to upload and submit necessary files in a secure environment, directly to their Blue Ridge Administrator; and vice versa.
- E-Consent. When participants give consent to be notified electronically you save time and money by using ESOPConnection™ to inform them of new certificates, SARs and other Plan-related notices. E-Consent saves you time by streamlining distribution, diversification and beneficiary form electronic processing which eliminates incomplete forms follow up.
- Getting Started Checklist and Year End Letter. We ask each year for you to review a questionnaire about provisions of your Plan and to note any changes that may have occurred.
Our electronic process makes this easy and helps us to be proactive in administering your ESOP.
Keeping Employee-Owners Engaged
With ESOPConnection™, your employees can:
- View their account balances with interactive definitions of ESOP terminology
- Download copies of their individual participant statements
- Review their census information and submit update requests
- Access participant notices, such as the Summary Plan Description and Summary Annual Report
- Process administrative forms electronically, such as distribution and beneficiary election
- Get answers with Plan-specific FAQs and engaging learning tools
- Learn more about ESOPs and their own Plan
Communicate the Value of Your ESOP
Blue Ridge ESOP Associates can provide you with communication services that are cost-effective and targeted to your employees, such as:
- Preparation of news releases, letters from company executives and other content to be posted on ESOPConnection™
- Development of communication and/or promotional campaigns to inform your employees about ESOPConnection™ and encourage them to frequently visit the site
- Post announcements, videos and news about your ESOP to promote the value of employee ownership
- Ask employees to RSVP online for company functions
- Automate a “Guess the Stock Price” contest for employees
- Conduct electronic surveys of participant viewpoints on a variety of topics
- Offer an online Certified Employee Owner exam for your employee-owners
