Thread: Largest domestic toddler toymaker partners with ICE

I.C.E. News Release

July 25, 2012
Cleveland, OH

Largest domestic toddler toymaker partners with ICE

CLEVELAND – America's largest manufacturer of preschool and toddler toys became the latest employer Wednesday to be certified with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) employment compliance program, IMAGE, or "ICE Mutual Agreement between Government and Employers."

Step2 Company LLC, which employs more than 800 people in northern Ohio, has pledged and been officially certified by ICE to protect the integrity of their workforce, becoming only the second company in Ohio with the distinction. The certification was marked Wednesday by a ceremony at ICE Homeland Security Investigations' (HSI) Strongsville office.

"More than likely, if you've had a child in the last couple of years, you have Step2 toys in your home and know firsthand the quality of their products," said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of HSI Michigan and Ohio. "This certification adds a level of distinction to the company that says that Step2 is committed to maintaining a quality and capable workforce."

"At Step2, we have a long history of producing high quality, safe toys in the USA," said Jerry McDermott, chief marketing officer. "We are dedicated to ensuring our employees receive the best training and working conditions in a highly competitive manufacturing environment. Today we are proud to accept the ICE IMAGE certification."

The Step2 Company LLC, headquartered in Streetsboro, Ohio, is the largest American manufacturer of preschool and toddler toys and the world's largest rotational molder of plastics. Step2 products are distributed throughout the United States, Canada and over 70 foreign countries.

Businesses that are certified with ICE through the IMAGE program pledge to maintain a secure and stable workforce and curtail the employment of unauthorized workers through outreach and education. ICE recently revamped IMAGE, simplifying program requirements.

To qualify for IMAGE certification, companies must perform the following requirements:
Enroll in the E-Verify program within 60 days;
Establish a written hiring and employment eligibility verification policy that includes internal Form I-9 audits at least once per year; and
Submit to a Form I-9 inspection.


Undocumented workers create vulnerabilities in today's marketplace by presenting false documents to gain employment, completing applications for fraudulent benefits, and stealing identities of legal United States workers. To combat this, ICE initiated the IMAGE program in 2006.

All IMAGE members must participate in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) E-Verify employment eligibility verification program. Through this program, employers can verify that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States. This Internet-based system is available throughout the nation and is free to employers. It provides an automated link to the Social Security Administration database and DHS immigration records.

Companies in the Cleveland area interested in more information on the IMAGE program can call the HSI office at (216) 535-0391, or visit IMAGE.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423 or complete our tip form.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

Largest domestic toddler toymaker partners with ICE

I'm glad to read this although the LLC bothers me when it comes to kids. Limited Liability Company or Corporation.

Originally Posted by nomas

I'm glad to read this although the LLC bothers me when it comes to kids. Limited Liability Company or Corporation.

Limited liability company

From Wikipedia

A limited liability company (LLC) is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions. LLCs do not need to be organized for profit.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Overview

Often incorrectly called a "limited liability corporation" (instead of company), it is a hybrid business entity having certain characteristics of both a corporation and a partnership or sole proprietorship (depending on how many owners there are). An LLC, although a business entity, is a type of unincorporated association and is not a corporation. The primary characteristic an LLC shares with a corporation is limited liability, and the primary characteristic it shares with a partnership is the availability of pass-through income taxation. It is often more flexible than a corporation, and it is well-suited for companies with a single owner.

LLC members are subject to the same alter ego piercing theories as corporate shareholders. However, it is more difficult to pierce the LLC veil because LLCs do not have many formalities to maintain. So long as the LLC and the members do not commingle funds, it would be difficult to pierce its veil.^[1] Membership interests in LLCs and partnership interests are also afforded a significant level of protection through the charging order mechanism. The charging order limits the creditor of a debtor-partner or a debtor-member to the debtor’s share of distributions, without conferring on the creditor any voting or management rights.^[2] Limited liability company members may, in certain circumstances, also incur a personal liability in cases where distributions to members render the LLC insolvent.^[3]
[edit] Flexibility and default rules

The phrase "unless otherwise provided for in the operating agreement" (or its equivalent) is found throughout all existing LLC statutes and is responsible for the flexibility the members of the LLC have in deciding how their LLC will be governed (provided it does not go outside legal bounds). State statutes typically provide automatic or "default" rules for how an LLC will be governed unless the operating agreement provides otherwise.
Similarly, the phrase “unless otherwise provided for in the by laws” is also found in all corporation law statutes but often refers only to a narrower range of matters.
[edit] Income taxation

For U.S. federal income tax purposes, an LLC is treated by default as a pass-through entity.^[4] If there is only one member in the company, the LLC is treated as a “disregarded entity” for tax purposes, and an individual owner would report the LLC’s income or loss on Schedule C of his or her individual tax return. The default tax status for LLCs with multiple members is as a partnership, which is required to report income and loss on IRS Form 1065. Under partnership tax treatment, each member of the LLC, as is the case for all partners of a partnership, annually receives a Form K-1 reporting the member's distributive share of the LLC's income or loss that is then reported on the member's individual income tax return.
An LLC with either single or multiple members may elect to be taxed as a corporation through the filing of IRS Form 8832.^[5] After electing corporate tax status, an LLC may further elect to be treated as a regular C corporation (taxation of the entity’s income prior to any dividends or distributions to the members and then taxation of the dividends or distributions once received as income by the members) or as an S corporation (entity level income and loss passes through to the members). Some commentators have recommended an LLC taxed as an S-corporation as the best possible small business structure. It combines the simplicity and flexibility of an LLC with the tax benefits of an S-corporation (self-employment tax savings).^[6]
[edit] Advantages

• Choice of tax regime. An LLC can elect to be taxed as a sole proprietor, partnership, S corporation or C corporation (as long as they would otherwise qualify for such tax treatment), providing for a great deal of flexibility.
• A limited liability company with multiple members that elects to be taxed as partnership may specially allocate the members' distributive share of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit via the company operating agreement on a basis other than the ownership percentage of each member so long as the rules contained in Treasury Regulation (26 CFR) 1.704-1 are met. S corporations may not specially allocate profits, losses and other tax items under US tax law.
• Limited liability, meaning that the owners of the LLC, called “members”, are protected from some or all liability for acts and debts of the LLC depending on state shield laws.
• Much less administrative paperwork and record keeping than a corporation.
• Pass-through taxation (i.e., no double taxation), unless the LLC elects to be taxed as a C corporation.
• Using default tax classification, profits are taxed personally at the member level, not at the LLC level.
• LLCs in most states are treated as entities separate from their members, whereas in other jurisdictions^[which?] case law has developed deciding LLCs are not considered to have separate legal standing from their members (see recent D.C. decisions^[which?]).
• LLCs in some states can be set up with just one natural person involved.
• Less risk to be "stolen" by fire-sale acquisitions (more protection against "hungry" investors).
• For real estate companies, each separate property can be owned by its own, individual LLC, thereby shielding not only the owners, but their other properties from cross-liability.

[edit] Disadvantages

• Although there is no statutory requirement for an operating agreement in most states, members of a multiple member LLC who operate without one may run into problems. Unlike state laws regarding stock corporations, which are very well developed and provide for a variety of governance and protective provisions for the corporation and its shareholders, most states do not dictate detailed governance and protective provisions for the members of a limited liability company. Thus, in the absence of such statutory provisions, the members of an LLC must establish governance and protective provisions pursuant to an operating agreement or similar governing document.
• It may be more difficult to raise financial capital for an LLC as investors may be more comfortable investing funds in the better-understood corporate form with a view toward an eventual IPO. One possible solution may be to form a new corporation and merge into it, dissolving the LLC and converting into a corporation.
• Many states, including Alabama, California, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas, levy a franchise tax or capital values tax on LLCs. (Beginning in 2007, Texas has replaced its franchise tax with a "margin tax".) In essence, this franchise or business privilege tax is the fee the LLC pays the state for the benefit of limited liability. The franchise tax can be an amount based on revenue, an amount based on profits, or an amount based on the number of owners or the amount of capital employed in the state, or some combination of those factors, or simply a flat fee, as in Delaware. Effective in Texas for 2007 the franchise tax is replaced with the Texas Business Margin Tax. This is paid as: tax payable = revenues minus some expenses with an apportionment factor. In most states, however, the fee is nominal and only a handful charge a tax comparable to the tax imposed on corporations.
• The District of Columbia considers LLCs to be taxable entities, thus eliminating the benefit of flow-through taxes by subjecting members to double taxation.^[7] Typically, LLCs will choose to be taxed as a partnership to avoid double taxation, which occurs in corporations. This allows companies to distribute their income among members who then report it on their personal tax returns.
• Renewal fees may also be higher. Maryland, for example, charges a stock or nonstock corporation $120 for the initial charter, and $100 for an LLC. The fee for filing the annual report the following year is $300 for stock corporations and LLC, and zero for non-stock corporations. In addition, certain states, such as New York, impose a publication requirement upon formation of the LLC which requires that the members of the LLC publish a notice in newspapers in the geographic region that the LLC will be located that it is being formed. For LLCs located in major metropolitan areas (e.g. New York City), the cost of publication can be significant.
• The management structure of an LLC may be unfamiliar to many. Unlike corporations, they are not required to have a board of directors or officers. (This could also be seen as an advantage to some.)
• Taxing jurisdictions outside the US are likely to treat a US LLC as a corporation, regardless of its treatment for US tax purposes, for example if a US LLC does business outside the US or a resident of a foreign jurisdiction is a member of a US LLC.^[8]
• The principals of LLCs use many different titles—e.g., member, manager, managing member, managing director, chief executive officer, president, and partner. As such, it can be difficult to determine who actually has the authority to enter into a contract on the LLC's behalf.

[edit] Variations

• A Professional Limited Liability Company (PLLC, P.L.L.C., or P.L.) is a limited liability company organized for the purpose of providing professional services. Usually, professions where the state requires a license to provide services, such as a doctor, chiropractor, lawyer, accountant, architect, landscape architect, or engineer, require the formation of a PLLC.^[9] However, some states, such as California, do not permit LLCs to engage in the practice of a licensed profession. Exact requirements of PLLCs vary from state to state. Typically, a PLLC's members must all be professionals practicing the same profession. In addition, the limitation of personal liability of members does not extend to professional malpractice claims.
• A Series LLC is a special form of a Limited liability company that allows a single LLC to segregate its assets into separate series. For example, a series LLC that purchases separate pieces of real estate may put each in a separate series so if the lender forecloses on one piece of property, the others are not affected.
• Limited liability company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks JD2. I tried to read it, I am very tired and it makes no sense to me... guess that's why I work with horses. I WILL come back and read it when I get up at 3AM to see if it makes more sense...LOL! Good night all.