ESOP Community Celebrates Employee Ownership Month!

Washington, DC (October 1, 2009) – This October, The ESOP Association and the employee ownership community will celebrate Employee Ownership Month, which is a tribute to the incredible spirit of employee ownership.

Employee Ownership Month is an opportunity for ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) companies across the U.S. to educate employee owners and the public about the tremendous benefits of ESOPs.  Companies celebrate with picnics for employee owners, roundtable discussions with local public officials, and award ceremonies to honor outstanding employee owners.

“The recent Economic Performance Survey by the Employee Ownership Foundation shows that 88.2% of companies believe that ESOPs are good for business,” said J. Michael Keeling, president of The ESOP Association.  “In these challenging times, that is saying a lot about employee ownership.  Of course, these numbers prove what we in the ESOP community have been saying every October for about 20 years, and once again, I’m proud of our members and the work they do to promote employee ownership.”

Employee Ownership Facts:

  • There are approximately 11,000 ESOPs in place in the U.S., covering 10 million employees.
  • Total assets owned by U.S. ESOPs are estimated to be $800 billion.
  • The Economic Performance Survey conducted by the Employee Ownership Foundation earlier this year found:
  • 50.9% of survey respondents indicated a better performance than the previous year
  • 65% indicated the ESOP improved the overall productivity of the company’s employees
  • 88.5% of ESOP companies that responded to the 18th Annual Economic Performance Survey outperformed the stock market in 2008

For more information on ESOPs and Employee Ownership Month, please visit The ESOP Association’s website at www.esopassociation.org.

Founded in 1978, The ESOP Association represents over 1,400 ESOP companies who believe that employee ownership will improve American competitiveness, increase productivity through greater employee participation and strengthen our free enterprise economy.

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