Davey Among 11,000 ESOPs Celebrating Employee Ownership

KENT, Ohio - During the year they are celebrating 30 years of employee ownership, Davey workers also are recognizing the National Employee Ownership Month of October.

The month provides an opportunity to educate employee owners and the public about benefits of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). As part of its celebration, Davey and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center are hosting the Northeast Ohio Employee Ownership Day Reception on Oct. 16. The event will provide employee-owned companies throughout the region an opportunity to exchange ideas and share stories of success.

According to the ESOP Association:

• Approximately 11,000 ESOPs are in place in the United States, covering 10 million employees.
• Total assets owned by U.S. ESOPs are estimated to be $800 million.

The Economic Performance Survey conducted by the Employee Ownership Foundation earlier this year found:

• 50.9 percent of survey respondents indicated a better performance than the previous year
• 65 percent indicated the ESOP improved the overall productivity of the company's employees
• 88.5 percent of ESOP companies that responded to the 18th annual Economic Performance Survey outperformed the stock market in 2008

The Davey Tree Expert Company, with U.S. and Canadian operations in 45 states and five provinces, provides a variety of tree services, grounds maintenance, and consulting services for the residential, utility, commercial, and government markets. Founded in 1880, Davey is employee owned and has more than 7,000 employees.