Can you believe it’s October already?! For the folks at Chatsworth Products, Inc. (CPI) that means it’s time to celebrate our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). ESOP month serves as an important reminder and reinforcement that CPI is 100% employee-owned, meaning each and every employee thinks and acts as a business owner.
This year, CPI employee-owners are delighted to join the Chairman of the Board, Larry Moreau, Company President & CEO, Larry Renaud, and Corporate Secretary, Larry Varblow, as they travel to several locations for an enlightening presentation of CPI’s ESOP coupled with a company luncheon. This is an excellent opportunity for seasoned employees to be reacquainted with ESOP knowledge, while newer employees learn and embrace this unique culture of ownership together.
During this special month, our various CPI locations engage in a variety of other special events as well. This morning, Georgetown, Texas employees participated in an ESOP Bingo game, an educational and enjoyable event that emphasizes statistics about the company history and core values. This year’s ESOP theme is “Ownership and Accountability” – a philosophy that all of our events will share.
Of course, ESOP month is just the highlight of our year-round efforts to celebrate and champion this unique company culture. Each month, CPI holds an all-inclusive Owner’s Meeting to collectively review future goals and receive an informative overview of the undertakings in the entire company. In addition to these scheduled meetings, each CPI site has various events to benefit their local communities throughout the year.
In April 2010, employees in Georgetown assembled and donated approximately 120 Easter baskets to at-risk youth at a nearby emergency care children’s center. More recently in August, the “Fill the Bus” fundraiser even exceeded our goal for school supply donations and helped hundreds of students (K through 12) transition into the new year.
For the remaining months of 2010, CPI looks forward to contributing gift cards to underprivileged families in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday. To close out the year, we anticipate raising thousands of dollars for the “Breakfast with Santa” charity from our Annual Silent Auction.
Overall, it is apparent that we are proud to be employee owners and are happy to participate in the growth and development of the company. We’re proud to know that ESOP challenges and encourages employees to take ownership and accountability for all of our actions at Chatsworth Products, Inc. and we continue to bring that high level of pride and craftsmanship to each and every product we produce.
Learn more about CPI’s unique ESOP culture here. Lindsay Klein, Research, Development & Training Center Coordinator