ESOP Community Celebrates Employee Ownership Month!

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This October, The ESOP Association and the employee ownership community will be celebrating 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 employee stock ownership plans. 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 89% of companies believe that ESOPs are good for business," said J. Michael Keeling, President of The ESOP Association. "These numbers prove what we in the ESOP community have been saying every October for almost 20 years -- employee ownership creates better companies. I can't think of a better reason to celebrate than that."

    Employee Ownership Facts:
    -- There are approximately 10,000 - 11,000 ESOPs in place in the U.S.,
       covering 10 million employees.
    -- Total assets owned by U.S. ESOPs are estimated to be $600 million.
    -- The Economic Performance Survey conducted by the Employee Ownership
       Foundation earlier this year found:
       * 72% of ESOP companies indicated a better performance in 2006,
         relative to 2005
       * 82% indicated that revenue increased in 2006
       * In terms of profitability, 72% indicated that profitability did
         increase in 2006

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

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