Twenty years ago
today, 44 employees banded together to form a 100% employee-owned
company called Chatsworth Products, Inc. (CPI). Today, CPI has
grown to staff hundreds, extend our presence worldwide and enjoy
over 1,000% sales growth since inception.
So how did CPI become one of the leading global manufacturers
providing voice, data and security products and service solutions that optimize, store and secure
technology equipment? When the Chatsworth Operation of the Dracon
Division faced divestiture, 44 employees purchased the company,
adopted an Employee Stock
Ownership Plan (ESOP), and made a commitment
to being a company of the highest quality in every aspect of
business: Quality Products, Quality Services and Quality
People.
Thanks to this ESOP structure, all employees of CPI
become beneficial owners. This motivates each and every CPI
employee to think and act like an owner, creating a strong desire
to attain our core purpose: delighting the customer.
And just how well did CPI adapt to employee ownership and the
ESOP structure? Only two years after inception, the California
Chapter of the ESOP Association recognized us as the ESOP Company
of the Year - a prestigious honor we took home a second time in
2008.
Yet CPI's success isn't merely measured in accolades and
anniversary celebrations, it's fostered in the trust, reliability
and satisfaction of the customers, contractors and colleagues we
serve each and every day.
In addition to our U.S. operations in California, North Carolina
and Texas, CPI is now represented with dedicated office staff in
Mexico City, Mexico, Buckinghamshire, England, Shanghai, China and
Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
As CPI prepares to enter its third decade as an ESOP company,
employees reflect with a sense of gratitude and pride at the
success and growth that has been experienced during our first two
decades. CPI's pride of ownership and mutual trust and respect felt
for one another is reflected in the company's motto: We're All in
This Together.
And on June 24, 2011, we certainly were - with a special
luncheon celebrated company-wide to recognize and reflect on all
the achievements and successes of CPI over the past 20 years.
Later in the week, be sure to look for a special article from
CPI that will give many of our employee owners a chance to share
what the 20-year anniversary means to them. Stay tuned! Jeff Cihocki, eContent Specialist