Patent ID: 7590580

Claim:
A method comprising the steps of: electronically inputting, to a computer system, data defining parameters of an employee stock ownership plan; electronically processing said data with said computer system to trigger; obtaining, to an extent determined by the computer system, with an equity-issuing commercial entity, a commodity to meet ongoing requirements over a specified period of time, the commodity having a commodity cost; obtaining, to an extent determined by the computer system, with the employee stock ownership plan, incremental funding from said commercial entity through a contribution of its profits and a contribution equaling a percentage of payroll, and purchasing, with said employee stock ownership plan, said commercial entity equity incrementally over a predetermined time period by utilizing said profit and percentage of payroll contributions; purchasing, to an extent determined by the computer system, with a commodity trust, the commodity requirements of said commercial entity and causing to be transferred said commodity to said commercial entity in exchange for a predetermined percentage of the commodity cost, and holding, with said commodity trust, a substantial equity interest in said commercial entity in trust in the name of an investor entity; and incrementally selling, to an extent determined by the computer system, with the investor entity, said commercial entity equity to said employee stock ownership plan over said predetermined time periods as said equity is earned by the investor entity and released from the trust.