By Robert Laurie ——Bio and Archives--June 30, 2014
American Politics, News | CFP Comments | Reader Friendly | Subscribe | Email Us
Closely held firms are those in which a small group of shareholders control the operating and managerial policies of the firm. Over 90 percent of all businesses in the United States are closely held. These firms differ from most publicly traded firms, in which ownership is widely disbursed and the firm is administered by professional managers. Most—but not all—closely held firms are also family businesses. Family businesses may be defined as those companies where the link between the family and the business has a mutual influence on company policy and on the interests and objectives of the family. Families control the operating policies at many large, publicly traded companies. In many of these firms, families remain dominant by holding senior management positions, seats on the board, and preferential voting privileges even though their shareholdings are significantly less than 50 percent.So, a closely held business is pretty much what you would assume it is. Everything from a mom & pop shop to a large chain like Hobby Lobby can qualify. Family ownership is possible but not required. ....although, if you're in a family business that decides not to offer contraception, it'll be nice to be surrounded by people you trust when HHS retaliates by sending the IRS to your door. According to the Census bureau there are roughly 30 million businesses in the United States today. Obviously, that number rises and falls, but it's a solid ball park figure. While not all of those businesses will have the requisite number of employees necessary to trigger Obamacare's employer mandate, the impact of today's ruling can't be understated. This was a huge decision.
Support Canada Free Press
View Comments
Robert Laurie’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain.com
Be sure to “like” Robert Laurie over on Facebook and follow him on Twitter. You’ll be glad you did.