Employee Stock Ownership Plans Fit Low Debt Companies and High-Value Employees

Mankato, MN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/26/2015 -- Manufacturers' Pain Points newsletter reported manufacturing company founders shared that an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) is often the best exit strategy for them and for the company legacy. ESOPs are not for every manufacturing company however companies with high-value employees, low debt, and solid prospects are often great matches for ESOPs. The 1974 ESOP law and later amendments were designed to encourage employee ownership. Company founders who initially sell just part of their stake and stay on as CEO say the best news comes after the deal: employees start to act more like owners. Ideas formerly kept quiet start to bubble up. Costs, once resistant to reduction, come under control more easily. The largest ESOPs include highly competitive companies like Publix Supermarkets and Gortex maker W.L. Gore Associates. As Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw recently told Forbes: "I'm always amazed that more companies don't recognize the power of associate ownership." Publix's 159,000 employees, after they have worked 1,000 hours and been there a year, begin receiving company stock through the ESOP.