WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)introduced Mr. Bill Roark of Huntsville, Alabama, as a witness appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The hearing was about empowering workers by expanding employee ownership.
Read excerpts from the hearing below or watch on YouTube or Rumble.

INTRODUCTION:
TUBERVILLE: “I’m proud to introduce an Auburn man and a constituent, Mr. Bill Roark. Mr. Roark is the Co-founder of Torch Technologies Inc., Founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of Starfish Holdings, Inc., and Founder and Chair of the Board of Freedom Real Estate and Capital LLC, so he stays pretty busy. He’s a champion for employee ownership, and he has led multiple companies to national recognition [thanks] to his core values.
As CEO of Torch Technologies, Mr. Rourke implemented an employee-owned ownership program from the company’s inception with the goal of becoming a 100% S corp employee stock ownership plan. His company achieved that goal in just under 10 years. Torch and Mr. Roark gained national attention for being named on the inaugural list of best of America’s best small companies by Forbes. During his tenure, Torch received multiple business awards and was named the number one fastest-growing, privately-held defense contractor in the southeast region. Torch Technologies provides superior research development and engineering services to the Department of Defense. Mr. Roark recently led Torch to become a certified evergreen company, achieving its long-term commitment to 100% employee ownership and its pledge to remain privately held to ensure enduring stability and opportunity for its workforce. This milestone came as Torch celebrated its 20th anniversary.
A true believer in company culture and employee well-being, Mr. Rourke has prioritized top-tier benefits and working conditions throughout his career. Mr. Rourke also founded Starfish Holdings Incorporated, a holding company that provides beneficial ownerships to employees across all its portfolios through an ESOP structure. Starfish Holdings companies now include Torch Technologies Inc., Freedom Real Estate and Capital LLC, and SIMVANA [LLC]. Mr. Roark has a proven track record with a common denominator of building companies where employees can thrive, retire with dignity, and find lasting purpose in their work.
Thank you for being here today, Mr. Roark.”
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKPLACE DIGNITY:
TUBERVILLE: “Important topic. Mister Roark, it’s got to be pretty mind calming to know if you work in an ESOP and you have some of the owners exit the company that everybody’s not gonna lose their job. So, what kind of security does an ESOP structure have for all employees? What that you’ve seen? Some examples.”
ROARK: “Well, you know, we work real hard to build a succession plan in that it prepares our employees as people retire to step forward. You know, that is a challenge. One of the biggest challenges we’ve had is the success of the ESOP has led to people retiring early, so we have to work that problem a little harder and be training people ready to step into the role. The departure of employees that are retiring actually creates lots of opportunities for the other employees to accelerate in their careers quicker. So, a successful ESOP actually creates a lot of successful careers.
It also creates the ability for employees to retire with dignity. In fact, the announcement of this hearing went out on our social media last night and one of the posts this morning, I’ll quote for you. […] Jim Deal, one of our retiring employees seven or eight years ago, he says, ‘Tell them how much you helped us retire with dignity.’ That is to me the essence of why I wanted to do this. You know, some 25 years ago, a company bought the company I worked for. And a few months after it was bought, I’d had a successful career. I went from being an entry level person to an executive. I was president of an operating segment. In that time, I’d had one of the most successful careers of anyone at that company. As that acquisition evolved and I was there, I was shortly thereafter, walked to the door and asked, told as I was handed my severance check that ‘We’ll pack your office and send your stuff home.’
When I started this company, at the core of what I wanted is I wanted people to retire with dignity. When I walked out and stood on that corner, I didn’t feel very dignified. When I meet an employee in the grocery store, I want them to come hug me, not run from me. With the ESOP, I get lots of hugs. Every year when the ESOP statements come out, I get lots of hugs.
This is a different way of doing business. I never wanna see an employee walk through the door in such an undignified manner. I put my whole life into that company. Several times, I worked 24 hours straight to get a delivery out on time.
Was that respected? No. My stuff showed up in boxes with a bunch of crap that I didn’t really want, was not dignified at all. I hope that answers your question, Coach.”
TUBERVILLE: “So, how can we help on the federal level to make ESOP structure more viable for that?”
ROARK: “No. I think there’s lots of ideas being proposed here in in several of these bills, you know, making this easier, making it clearer in what we’re supposed to do. There’s a lot of murkiness in the bills, you know, one of the things for us in the last few years, we’ve been in a position where we could contribute more than the maximum allowable to our employees, and that creates an issue with the ESOP itself. Rf the limit is at 25%, I can only give 25%. If it were higher, we in some cases would have given higher, including this year. So, there are some pieces there where we could just fine tune some things. The ESOP is a wonderful tool and it provides stability for the employees and provides a retirement path for them as well. So, I think the more that we can refine the regulations around it to encourage people to be able to do this, clear up the rules on how the evaluations are done so that it’s clear what needs to be done. I think those would be great helps.”
TUBERVILLE: “Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, HELP and Aging Committees.
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