May 14, 2004 (Washington, DC) – The Chilcote Company of Cleveland, Ohio was named the 2004 ESOP Company of the Year by The ESOP Association at the Association’s 27th Annual Conference in Washington, DC. The ESOP Association is the national trade association for companies with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and the leading voice in America for employee ownership.
Established in 1906, the Chilcote Company will celebrate 98 years of service in 2004. Today, with 450 employees in four locations, the company is a world-wide industry leader of photographic packaging products with scores of employees who call Chilcote ‘their company.’
Since the ESOP’s inception in 1984, Chilcote has nurtured its culture of employee ownership and has shared the ESOP concept with other companies and vendors. Chilcote’s ESOP has played a vital role in the company’s growth and its value has risen five fold since the plan was adopted and is considered an instrumental role in the business’s success.
“All one has to do is drive up to Chilcote’s main facility near downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and step through the door to know it is a very special place,” said Association President, J. Michael Keeling. “From top to bottom, Chilcote’s employee owners are ‘getting it,’ while it continues to make ownership through an ESOP real.”
Founded in 1978, The ESOP Association represents over 1,300 ESOP companies and 750,000 employee owners who believe that employee ownership will improve American competitiveness, increase productivity through greater employee participation and strengthen our free enterprise economy.