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Press Release
Beyster Institute at UC San Diego’s Rady School & National Center for Employee Ownership Host Conference in San Diego March 21-23
Business Leaders from Across the Nation Gather to Share Best Practices
March 21, 2007
The Beyster Institute and the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) are sponsoring one of the largest employee ownership conferences in the country this week, drawing business owners, executives and employee ownership practitioners from a wide range of industries. The conference is being held from March 21-23 at the Westin Hotel in downtown San Diego.
The keynote speaker for the conference is William Taylor, co-founder and founding editor of Fast Company magazine and co-author of the new book “Mavericks at Work,” which offers insight and profiles of “the most original minds in business.” Other speakers are from a large variety of employee ownership companies, ranging from small closely held companies to major national firms. Leading ESOP professionals will speak as well.
Also during the conference, the Beyster Institute and NCEO will present the second annual “Innovations in Employee Ownership Awards” sponsored by TEOCO, which recognize organizations that use creative strategies in employee participation, entrepreneurship, communications, education, or plan design to make employee ownership programs more successful. The award winners will present their winning program elements on Thursday morning. This year’s grand prize winner is Cal-Tex Protective Coatings of Scherz, Texas for its unique employee ownership program. Cal-Tex employees “earn” ownership of the company by setting and meeting their own production goals based on the company’s financial data, which is shared with employees on a daily basis. Other awards were given to New Belgium Brewing of Fort Collins, Colorado; North Highland of Atlanta, Georgia; Paychex of Rochester, New York; and Pizzagalli Construction of South Burlington, Vermont.
“This conference brings companies from across the country to San Diego, which is home to many employee-owned companies,” said Beyster Institute Executive Director Ray Smilor. “We are happy to partner with NCEO to bring others to our city for this annual event.”
“The workshops and speakers allow participants to take best practices from one another, expanding and improving employee ownership, which is a goal of both NCEO and the Beyster Institute,” said Corey Rosen, executive director of NCEO.
Over 700 are attending the conference, including company CEOs, presidents, owners, officers, employees and employee ownership practitioners from across the country. Attendees are from mostly private companies in various industries including manufacturing, financial services, business services, construction and food services.
The conference agenda covers a variety of topics, with more than 50 workshops in five learning tracks: Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Essentials, ESOPs in Depth, Equity Compensation, Communications and Culture and Leading the Employee Owned Company. Workshops will address topics such as open book management, Internal Revenue Code Section 409A, S Corporation ESOPs, corporate governance, succession planning, innovation and leadership.
The NCEO is a nonprofit research and education organization established in 1981 by Corey Rosen. The NCEO is based in Oakland, California and is widely recognized as the source for accurate, unbiased information on ESOPs, stock options, other forms of equity compensation and ownership culture. Visit www.nceo.org for more information.
The Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management, University of California, San Diego focuses on training, education and consulting to advance employee ownership and entrepreneurship. The Institute actively assists individual companies in creating or enhancing employee ownership and participation programs, and is extensively involved in promoting entrepreneurship and regional economic development worldwide. The Beyster Institute serves as the key center for entrepreneurial thought and activity at the Rady School and is the only such university-based center to integrate both employee ownership and entrepreneurship. Visit www.beysterinstitute.ucsd.edu for more information.
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