2024 Great Lakes Regional Conference
“What is an ESOP? Is it a good move for our company? What does it mean for our employees? What does it mean for the future of our company?”
On October 7-9, 2024, members of the Banning Engineering team attended the ESOP Association’s Great Lakes Regional ESOP Conference in Sandusky, Ohio. There, we met with more than 300 other individuals who wanted to learn and support each other in their ESOP journey, no matter how far along they were in that journey.
With around 40 possible breakout sessions and only eight time slots, it was difficult to choose what we would learn more about from the experts in the field. The options ranged from ESOP 101, where attendees learned the basics of becoming an ESOP, to learning about sustainability, repurchase obligations, and succession planning.
One of the sessions I attended was all about Preparing Projections. We covered topics such as whom to include in the projection process, when projections should be prepared, what to include in the projections, how to deal with unexpected difficulties, reasonableness, and what exactly our trustee and valuation company are looking for in our projections. As the new Controller for Banning Engineering, learning from seasoned professionals I was able to gain a deeper understanding how Banning Engineering can be strategic in its future growth opportunities.
One of my coworkers, found the topic around retention and how to leverage our ESOP culture pertinent in today’s recruiting environment. Her main take away from the conference was “Getting lost in the quest for success is easy, a leader must not forget to take care of what enables success – the culture.” Culture was a main thread at many of the sessions. At Banning, our culture is the key factor that allows us to continue to retain great employees, who work hard every day for our clients. Our leaders are encouraged to actively seek cultural training to maintain focus on what is our greatest success, the success of our employee owners.
If your company is an ESOP or is considering becoming an ESOP, I would highly recommend attending one of the many conferences put on by ESOP Association such as the Great Lakes Regional Conference.
~ Derek Harbeson, with additional content contribution by Tammy Dickison