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9/23/09 EBO Group Hosts 22 ESOP Companies

EBO Group Hosts Leaders from 22 ESOP Companies and 3 NEO Incubators

EBO Group welcomed leaders from 22 ESOP companies to the semi-annual meeting of member companies from the Ohio Employee Ownership Council (OEOC), which served as co-host of the event. With nearly 50 people in attendance, the evening started with group tours of EBO Group’s 39,400 sq.ft. facility. Each tour was led by an EBO Group employee owner and featured insights into the products incubated at PT Tech, TransMotion Medical and eZEhybrid Drives, all EBO Group companies. Keith Nichols, President, and Dave Heidenreich, Chairman, welcomed the guests, primarily CEOs, CFOs and CTOs, some of whom traveled to Medina County from Columbus, Youngstown and even Dexter, Michigan.

Following dinner, the program centered on presentations from three Northeast Ohio organizations that serve as business incubators. Presenting was Dr. George Newkome of the University of Akron Research Foundation (UARF), Ray Leach of JumpStart, along with Cliff Reynolds and Jim Shanahan of Lorain County Community College’s GLIDE. Using EBO Group as a living example, the thrust of the program was to generate interest in the business incubation potential of employee-owned companies. ESOPs can provide a stable, nurturing environment for young companies. EBO Group has created three new companies since 2002.

The presentations were followed by a question and answer session where it was obvious that the program had sparked some curiosity on the part of a number of the guests. The representatives of JumpStart, GLIDE and UARF offered numerous suggestions including points of assistance beyond that of their own organizations. It was very evident to all that these organizations are actively incubating new companies and, in some cases, the start ups may be good candidates for acquisition by ESOP companies. It was pointed out that all too often these young companies are limited to venture capital options when seeking the cash infusions needed to successfully navigate their way through to achieve sustainable growth. Compared to venture capital which often comes from outside the region, existing ESOP companies can provide an ownership alternative that will serve to anchor the company and its workforce, reducing the risk of outside interests moving the company out of state or overseas.

John Logue, Director of the OEOC which co-hosted the meeting, capped off the evening with remarks encouraging those in attendance to give strong consideration to the message of the meeting: ESOP companies can be ideal incubators.

Figure 1 Dennis Pack, EBO Group employee owner, describes some of TransMotion Medical’s Figure 2: Mike Stafford, EBO Group employee owner, explains the HPTO product lines
products

Figure 4: Dr. George Newkome, University of Akron Research Foundation, responds to a

question about business incubation and ESOPs