ESE Moves Toward Employee Ownership

MARSHFIELD, WISCONSIN - ESE founder and CEO Mark Weber today announced the formation of an Employee Stock Ownership Program, or ESOP, for the 20 year-old Marshfield, WI engineering firm. Begun in 1986, ESE has grown to be a leading provider of engineering systems for the food and dairy manufacturing sectors. A 2-year Inc. 500 company, ESE has seen significant expansion in the last ten years, broadening its offerings to include analytical equipment, consulting, and project management services that have enabled the company to achieve record growth through the tough economic times of recent years.

Fueled by ESE's recent growth, Weber and company president, Tom Walther instituted the ESOP to enable their employees to share more meaningfully in the success of the company. Walther outlined the two primary reasons for creating the ESOP. "First, our future growth is directly related to the quality of our team. We wanted to create an incentive that would retain and reward our current team members and enhance our ability to attract the high caliber professionals we will need moving forward. Second, we created this as part of our strategic planning to develop comprehensive management and ownership transition capabilities".

Employee Stock Ownership Programs have recently gained popularity in the US because they give employees a larger stake in the everyday workings and long-term viability of the company. ESE’s 30 eligible employees have been allocated shares in the company, making ESE, Inc. one of the few Central Wisconsin employers to move to an ESOP. Nationwide, nearly 11,000 companies have instituted ESOPS, encompassing over 8 million employees.