ANNOUNCEMENT OF CAWS/ESOP AWARD WINNERS

December 2, 2013 Contact: Jenifer McDonald, Chapter Administrator The ESOP Association, California/Western States Chapter (916) 333-3280 jenifer@caws-esop.org ANNOUNCEMENT OF CAWS/ESOP AWARD WINNERS The California/Western States Chapter of the ESOP Association announced the winners of its annual awards program during the 2013 Chapter Conference that was held in San Francisco, California. The chapter awards program recognizes ESOP companies in several areas: Communications Excellence, Best ESOP Event, Most Effective ESOP Committee, Company of the Year and Employee Owner of the Year. Employee Owner of the Year Award The Employee Owner of the Year award honors a non-management employee of an ESOP company who has taken the initiative to become an exemplary employee-owner by learning about the ESOP, helping to educate and motivate their colleagues, and actively promoting an employee ownership culture. This year s nominees were: Jill Hutchison, California Boiler Catherine Darcy, California Boiler Kelly Brandow, Dental Health Services Bradley Fernando, Hot Dog on a Stick Catherine Sturm, Gil Morales, LeFiell Manufacturing Andy Foster, RegWilliams, RW Smith & Co. Bruce Bielle, RW Smith & Co. Mark Sanford, RW Smith & Co. Brian Koski, The Sleep Train 1

Each of these nominees has shown great value to their company s ESOP community and all deserve to be awarded for their continued support of the ESOP community, but one Employee Owner nominee stood out: Brian Koski of The Sleep Train, Inc. was recognized as the winner of this year s Employee Owner of the Year award. Brian Koski and Karen Ellis, CAWS Chapter President Brian is a founding member of the company s Employee Ownership Communications Committee, assisted in creating a peer recognition program for the company s ESOP Spotlight award a program where employee owners submit names of other owners who they witness exhibiting ownership behavior - and has designed and presented a PowerPoint presentation on ESOP education to 100 company warehouse workers and delivery drivers. He also helped to organize a Wellness Challenge, a company-wide challenge to promote a healthier ESOP company and lifestyle. Brian presented the Guess the Value contest in front of 519 employee owners at the company s leadership conference and has been recognized as the ESOP Champion of the Year for The Sleep Train. Brian Koski will represent the CAWS Chapter at the May 2014 ESOP National Conference in Washington DC. Company of the Year Award The ESOP Company of the Year is presented to a company for its demonstrated commitment to employee-ownership and its success in maximizing the benefits of the ESOP regardless of company size or maturity of the ESOP. employee owners celebrate their Company of the Year award with Carl Warren & Company CEO Caryn Siebert (second from right) who presented the award. CFO Mark Lomele (far right) is a past TEA chairman. This year s nominees were: AGM Container Controls CMC Rescue Entertainment Partners Hot Dog on a Stick LeFiell Manufacturing Company RW Smith & Co. This year s CAWS Chapter Company of the Year is. 2

became a 100% ESOP in 1986, but as the company likes to say, they were an ESOP before there were ESOPs, when the company was first started back in the 1920s. In the past year, has shown two excellent examples of how the value of their ESOP has been maximized for the benefit of its employee owners. In the summer of 2012, a major contract was set for a public vote. Employee owners volunteered and rallied together on weekends from March to June to help with the campaign. Each weekend, the employee owners gathered from locations throughout California and Oregon to go door to door promoting the company s purpose and values. This opportunity allowed the employee owners to shine giving them the chance to stand up as owners. Knowing how important this was to the future of the company, employees volunteered significant amounts of personal time towards this effort. Voters were made aware is an employee owned company that not only provides superior service, but is also made up of people from their community. These efforts were well received and the campaign was a great success the contract was retained by an overwhelming 77% vote of approval. employee-owners are working on a new strategic plan and the Board of Directors recognizes the value employee owners can provide in assisting with this effort. Instead of hiring a consultant to work directly with the board of directors, a large group of employees have been selected to work on committees to develop a plan. These employees understand that their ideas and ultimately their plan will have a direct impact on their future and their ESOP share value. has a visible and strong ownership culture, has been active at the chapter and national level with The ESOP Association and is a strong supporter of community events. will represent the Chapter at the May 2014 ESOP National Conference in Washington DC. Most Effective ESOP Committee Award The Most Effective ESOP Committee award is presented to the ESOP Committee that has best coordinated activities to educate and motivate their fellow employee owners. The following companies submitted entries for this award: CMC Rescue Dental Health Services Hot Dog on a Stick Rainbow Environmental Services RW Smith & Co. The Sleep Train, Inc. 3

CMC Rescue received this year s Most Effective ESOP Committee award. CMC s ESOP is relatively new but they have focused on introducing the concepts of an ESOP, while working to build a culture of employee ownership. The CMC Communication Committee has worked closely together to bring numerous events and educational material to employee owners including: ESOP Basics Workshop: Designed to introduce the concept of an ESOP, how it is structured and the basics of how the plan works. Development of an ESOP Basics Brochure for new employees to help them understand the plan and engage them from their first day of work on what it means to be an employee owner. A How to read your ESOP statement workshop. A Great Employee Owner Award that is presented quarterly to an employee who exemplifies Employee Ownership. Best ESOP Event The Best ESOP Event award is presented to the company that has recently sponsored an event demonstrating their commitment to employee ownership. This year s nominees were: AGM Container Controls California Boiler CMC Rescue Carl Warren & Company Dental Health Services GH Phipps Construction Companies LeFiell Manufacturing Company Pegasus Building Services Rainbow Environmental Services RECON Environmental, Inc. The Sleep Train, Inc. TravelStore From these submissions, the Ownership Committee chose two companies to receive BEST ESOP Event awards. The first was CMC Rescue. CMC conducted a month long series of workshops during ESOP month. The goal of the project was to foster the concept of "Ownership Thinking" by tying 4

together how each individual job contributes to the success of the Company, thereby enhancing the value of the ESOP. They developed a customized "Line of Sight Worksheet" for every employee in the company. The Worksheets included the Company's Goals, photo and title of the employee, a section where they wrote up how their job supports their department goals and therefore contributes to the overall success of the Company, which in turn increases the value of the ESOP. Small departmental workshops were held that encouraged employees to work together. The first step in the workshop was to have everyone write on post-its, "What does it mean to think like an owner"? These were all placed on a wall when finished. Next, employeeowners wrote on post-its, "What does it mean to act like an owner"? The post-its were then put on another wall. Once completed, the things written on the post-its were discussed and ideas of how to apply this at work and what it means individually were shared. From there, everyone was given a worksheet where they came up with their personal line of sight indicating how their contributions lead to the success of the company. After completion of the workshops, the company held a special ESOP event to roll out the project results. All of the worksheets were posted on a new Line of Sight Wall in the company break room giving all employee owners the opportunity to see all of the jobs and how each job contributes to employee ownership. The results were unveiled on Halloween and the company even went so far as to have the final event include a costume contest, where one of the committee members dressed up as the Line of Sight project. The second Best ESOP Event Award was presented to for its Flight to Success event. used the event as a tool for uniting employees and enforcing a culture of teamwork a valuable reminder that every person is on this same "Flight to Success" and each owner plays an integral part in 's plan for future growth. invited its employee owners to a live worldwide webcast at the kickoff meeting or as they titled it Flight To Success. Prior to the Flight to Success, all employee owners received a Boarding Pass personalized with their name. The Boarding Pass was required for access to the Flight To Success. The Committee carried the flight theme throughout the event. At the event, employee owners were greeted by flight attendants, seated employee owners with CAWS Chapter President Karen Ellis in a conference room arranged to replicate the interior of an aircraft and were given a carry-on bag and luggage tag for their flight. Once they were seated, peanuts and water bottles were distributed. All of s sites were on board for the Flight to Success: California, Connecticut, Florida, United Kingdom, France, Amsterdam, Spain, Singapore, and China and well as off-site sales representatives in Utah, Kansas, and Tennessee. 5

With everyone ready for take-off, the Captain welcomed everyone to a new year of ESOP celebration. CEO Andrew Todhunter introduced the new theme for the year and discussed its importance as it represented a commitment to employee ownership and success in the aerospace industry. Owners were introduced to a new Flight Manual and discussed how they could use this tool to learn more about the ESOP and gain educational credits through completing quizzes in the handbook. Also introduced was the new Passport Program. A Passport was distributed to every employee owner and they were given instruction on bringing their Passport to every ESOP event in order to receive a stamp in their book. At the end of the ESOP year, stamps can be redeemed for great prizes! s employees were very excited about the new program. Communications Excellence Award The Communications Excellence award recognizes the benefits to ESOP companies of all sizes, achieved through their communication of the value and importance of ESOPs, using a variety of media. The Employee Ownership Committee had some amazing communications award submissions to review from: AGM Container Controls Carl Warren & Company Dental Health Services Entertainment Partners Harrell Remodeling, Inc. Hot Dog on a Stick The Sleep Train, Inc. From these submissions, two Communications Excellence awards were presented. For Overall Excellence in Communications, AGM Container Controls was recognized for submission of a video that captures the essence of the company s annual ESOP Induction Ceremony where the company president talks to all employees about the importance of being an ESOP company. This ceremony is followed by a Minute to Win it game. AGM Container Controls communication submission captured what it's like to be an ESOP company, how it can be fun, yet informative. Karen Ellis with Gabriela Cervantes, AGM Container Controls 6

The second Communications Excellence Award was presented to Hot Dog on a Stick. This company is known for being colorful and fun. Hot Dog on a Stick created a project to launch its new Mission Statement and Values. Each store was sent two glossy and colorful posters, one presenting the Mission Statement and the other introducing the new company values. The goal was for all employees to be reminded of the pride the company takes in Ownership. The Mission Statement poster features photos of real employee owners, including one of the ESOP committee members. By using photos of recognizable Hot Dog on a Stick faces instead of models, it reinforced the idea Hot Dog on a Stick is a 100% employee owned company. The ownership culture at Hot Dog on a Stick is what motivates the employees to achieve its values of Excellence, Integrity, Fun, and Teamwork. Photo credit: The CAWS Chapter thanks Lauri Veverka of Entertainment Partners for capturing the photos of this year s award winners. About the CAWS Chapter Awards Program: Winners are chosen by a panel of judges, both management and non-management, from different companies, each of whom has demonstrated active experience and interest in the field of ESOPs. About The ESOP Association: Founded in 1978, The ESOP Association is the national trade association for companies with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and the leading voice in America for employee ownership. The core cause of The ESOP Association is the belief that employee ownership will improve American competitiveness, increase productivity through greater employee participation, and strengthen our free enterprise economy. The ESOP Association represents approximately 1,400 ESOP companies. More information: website - www.esopassociation.org and blog www.esopassociationblog.org. 7