WASHINGTON, DC -- May 11, 2000Norcal Wins Company of the Year AwardSan Francisco-based Norcal Waste Systems, Inc. will be awarded the national ESOP Company of the Year by The ESOP Association, a national association of companies with employee stock ownership plans, at their awards ceremony tonight in Washington, DC. Norcal, a garbage and recycling company with more than 1,800 employee owners, provides waste management services through 22 operating subsidiaries to more than 460,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout California. It is the largest waste management company in the U.S. to be 100% employee-owned through an ESOP. The company beat out ESOP companies from all over the US that were also finalists for the national award. The winner of the annual award is selected as the premier company in the United States with a commitment to employee ownership and a commitment to the ESOP Association's vision of employee participation, wealth creation, and individual dignity. The company is dedicated to empowering individuals through ownership, building equity and individual wealth, helping employee-owners understand the benefits of increased productivity and achieving the goal of building a better company. "Norcal consistently tackles the problems of communicating the ESOP concept to a large, diverse workforce that is spread among many locations," said Michael Keeling, president of The ESOP Association. "ESOP companies like Norcal understand that you have to combine communication, education, and fun to be successful. Norcal definitely fits that billing." Norcal has also worked hard to help employees understand the value of how employee ownership can serve as a vehicle to turn hard work completed today into future financial benefits. An active "Employee Ownership Communications Plan" is a valuable tool at Norcal in enabling employees to see the benefits of the employee ownership structure. Senior management leads the corporate communication efforts by conducting "Employee Owners Road Show Meetings" each February to update employee owners throughout the company on issues affecting Norcal's business and its ESOP. Two-way communication is emphasized at each meeting, with managers encouraging employees to ask questions and share ideas. Annual ESOP account statements are also provided to employee owners at the time of these meetings. Nancy Kleppe, Norcal's manager of pensions & ESOP, has been active on association committees, and Mike Murphy, chair of Norcal's Employee Communications Committee, was named as the California/Western States chapter Employee Owner of the Year in 1998. Founded in 1978, The ESOP Association represents more than 1,200 ESOP companies and 750,000 employee owners who believe that employee ownership will improve American competitiveness, increase productivity through greater employee participation and strengthen our free enterprise economy. For More Information: Jim Luetkemeyer at media@esopassociation.org |