As a member of multiple national and regional Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) associations, Lampin Corporation’s employee-owners announced they will be participating in the Northeast Regional ESOP Conference in Mystic, Conn. on October 2 and 3. These regional conferences are led by executives from ESOP-member organizations, each of whom put a great deal of time and effort into keeping chapter members well informed about issues that help build and strengthen their businesses.
As anyone can imagine, an ESOP presents challenges for the employee-owners and there is typically a need for continued professional development in:
- Developing best practices
- Building strong, team-oriented cultures
- Setting up committees for employee involvement
- Managing with transparency and trust
- Discussing what an ESOP is and how it works
- Reviewing Department of Labor ERISA laws governing ESOPS
- Understanding new legislation effecting ESOPS
- Learning more about valuations and how they affect employee share prices
The conferences are structured with several one-hour sessions held over a two-day period. Each conference focuses on the review of a different topic, so employee/owners can attend those that are most important to them. This flexibility provides attendees with an efficient method for gaining the knowledge they need in order to better understand the roles and responsibilities of the jobs they perform.
“It is an amazing educational experience,” said Lampin’s President Bill DiBenedetto. “It gives me the ability to create a vision for the Lampin of the future both structurally and culturally.” With this in mind, DiBenedetto is encouraging all of Lampin’s employee/owners to get more actively involved in the development, training and exposure to best practices that other successful companies have developed and are willing to share.
DiBenedetto has himself made a significant commitment to ESOP training. This includes studying at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania. There, he teamed up with several other CEO’s of ESOPS from across the United States, taking the opportunity to visit their companies and witness their structures, practices and cultures.
Today, there are upwards of 10,000 ESOPS in the United States and, of that number, approximately 3,000 are 100% employee-owned – and Lampin is one of them. Our enthusiastic participation in events like this is yet another reflection of our commitment to a long-term sustainable future for our company and its employee-owners.
