ShopBot Tools

ShopBot Blog


Enter keyword(s) to search Blogs


Click here to be taken to the original blog

Most Recent


Categories

← Older Newer →

Press Release: ShopBot Tools Transitions to Employee Ownership Trust

By ShopBot Tools, Tuesday, July 20, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                 

July 20, 2021             


Contact:

ShopBot Tools, Inc.

888.680.4466 

marketing@shopbottools.com 


 

ShopBot Tools Transitions to Employee Ownership Trust 

Innovative CNC firm restructures creatively to promote long-term success for the company, its employees, customers, and shareholders 



 


Durham, NC
ShopBot Tools, a leading producer of computer numeric controlled (CNC) machines that help make small manufacturers and individuals more productive, innovative, and creative, has recently restructured as an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). Founder and Board Chair Ted Hall said the move was designed to position the company for long-term success by empowering employees while providing liquidity for shareholders. 

 

ShopBot is only the 14th company in the U.S. to establish an EOT, a relatively new form of employee ownership in the US that has long been popular in the UK. “The EOT is a vehicle to keep ShopBot thriving, innovating, and active in the community while rewarding the people who have built it over the years including recognizing shareholders' investment." 

 

Hall founded ShopBot 25 years ago. A professor of neuroscience at Duke University, Hall built plywood boats in his spare time, but he was frustrated by the amount of time it was taking to cut the panels with hand power tools. Even a used CNC router was very expensive, so Hall designed his own affordable CNC tool and began spending more time designing tools than building boats. The company he founded has grown to 35 employees. ShopBot has manufactured over 10,000 CNC tools that are now in the world producing for small and medium manufacturers, providing tech education at all levels, and serving the creative needs of a dedicated community of makers. 

 

Like all founders, Hall began to think about ways to create liquidity for himself and other shareholders. Wanting the company to thrive for the long term, Hall began exploring employee ownership options. He ultimately decided on an EOT with help of consultant Anne-Claire Broughton, Principal of Broughton Consulting and founder of the North Carolina Employee Ownership Center (NCEOC), and Chris Michael of EOT Advisors, who has been instrumental in bringing EOTs to the U.S. Attorney Bill Kaluza of Fahrenheit Advisors also played a key role in structuring the transaction. 

 

The Employee Ownership Trust is a relatively new model for employee ownership in the United States but has a long history in the UK, where the most well-known EOT is the John Lewis Partnership, a department store chain that became employee-owned in the 1920s. An EOT is a trust that holds the stock of a company for the benefit of all employees as a group, not as individuals. Employees participate in the financial benefit of ownership by regularly receiving a payout of a portion of the company’s operational earnings, much like a dividend. Unlike in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), the most common form of employee ownership in the United States, employees will not receive their own individual equity in the company as part of a retirement program. EOTs offer flexibility in terms of employee involvement in governance; the ShopBot EOT creates an Employee Governance Committee that helps structure employee voice and engagement.

 

“EOTs are a great option for companies that are too small for an ESOP. They are a flexible and dynamic way to engage and reward employees,” says Broughton. “We are thrilled that ShopBot has become this first EOT in North Carolina, and hope that other companies will consider this model as their founders look to exit.”


The EOT helps position ShopBot for long term growth and success, affirms Jeanne Taylor, ShopBot CEO, and will build on the company’s efforts to create an engaged employee culture. “We’ve had strong growth coming out of the pandemic, and we have a fantastic team of employees making it happen,” says Taylor. “The EOT will only make our culture stronger.”  

 

About ShopBot Tools, Inc. (www.shopbottools.com) 

Founded in 1996, ShopBot's mission is to make the empowering technology of digital fabrication widely accessible and usable. ShopBot's CNC tools, working across a range of sizes, deliver the power, precision, and reliability of digital tools costing thousands of dollars more. ShopBot tools are designed and built in Durham, North Carolina, USA.  


Please reach out to marketing@ShopBotTools.com with questions, to request photos, or to request additional information. 


###


← Older Newer →

ShopBot Tools, Inc.

Toll Free: 1-888-680-4466

Phone: 919-680-4800
Fax: 919-680-4900

ShopBot Tools, Inc.
3333-B Industrial Drive
Durham, NC 27704
USA

Office Hours
Monday–Friday: 9am–5pm EST

After Hours Tech Support
Monday–Friday: 5pm–9pm EST
Saturday–Sunday: 10am–5pm EST

Office Closure
ShopBot Tools, Inc. is closed New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the following Friday, and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Outside of normal office hours, we regularly check for support requests, email and phone messages. To make sure we can get back to you as soon as possible, leave a phone number or return email address where you will be available.