May 13, 2008 (Washington, DC) – Rita Tucker of Lewis Tree Service, Inc. of West Henrietta, New York, has been named the 2008 Employee Owner of the Year by The ESOP Association at the Association’s 31st Annual Conference in Washington, DC. 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.
Ms. Tucker joined Lewis Tree Service in 2000 and immediately joined a special team of employees to gather financial and legal information needed in order to close the deal to make Lewis Tree Service 100% employee owned and has been involved with the ESOP Committee ever since. She was one of the first employee owners to join the company’s ESOP Communications Committee and, shortly after, became the first Chairperson. She has officially served a total of three and one half years on the Committee. With the help of her Committee Co-Chair, she authored the by-laws and mission statement of the Committee and assisted in developing the monthly ESOP newsletter, “Ownership & You,” which she still contributes to regularly. In addition to her work with the Committee, she also took the initiative to set up meetings in Washington, DC with her member of Congress to talk about Lewis Tree Service and why the ESOP is important to the company and the employee owners. Following her example, all ESOP Committee Chairpersons now meet and correspond with their member of Congress. She has been actively involved in the New York/New Jersey Chapter of the Association and was the driving force behind a company-to-company meeting at Lewis Tree Service.
“Rita Tucker is an example of true leadership in the way she has helped Lewis Tree Service transition to 100% employee ownership. She is a leader, a supporter, and an employee owner of the company,” said J. Michael Keeling, President of The ESOP Association. “I am honored to be able to present her with this award.”
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.
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