Reliving the 2023 Employee Ownership Summit
For the second year in a row, employee owners from each of our operating companies gathered in Indianapolis to connect and learn from each other, and to plan their companies’ employee ownership culture-building activities. The 2023 Empowered Ventures Employee Ownership Summit included educational and celebratory initiatives and events designed to foster a strong ownership culture throughout their companies.
Organized by Empowered Ventures Chief of Staff Emily Bopp, this year’s Summit included 19 employee ownership (EO) champions from across the EV enterprise. Paramount Plastics Vice President of Finance Ben Haviland called it “the best two-day conference I have ever been to.”
The ability to cultivate a strong employee ownership culture is a hallmark of successful ESOPs, and much of that ability comes from leadership empowering employees to create it. Typically, employee ownership communication committees are formed by volunteers who “get” the power of everyone owning their role and embodying a sense of ownership in how they approach their work. They learn and then teach all aspects of an ESOP. They work to inspire their coworkers to fully understand what it means to be a part of a 100% employee-owned company and to illustrate the significance of everyone’s contribution. They plan parties and fun activities designed to bring everyone together to celebrate each other and their shared mission.
At Empowered Ventures, we provide the necessary tools and inspiration for our operating company employee ownership committees to develop their unique EO cultures. Strong employee ownership cultures can look very different from company to company. Our family of businesses share a commitment to ESOP excellence, which is driven in large part by strong employee ownership cultures built by the employee owners themselves.
“I think everyone left here feeling empowered and connected,” said TVF Learning & Development Director Lori Atone.
This year’s Summit was another step forward for all the Empowered Ventures companies to cultivate their own ownership culture and strengthening the collective knowledge, skills, and – most importantly – relationships across the EV enterprise.
Interested in what we are doing and want to learn more? Please get in touch.
