GOLDEN Employees Receive 2008 NY/NJ ESOP Association Chapter’s Company of the Year Award
GOLDEN Employees are Recipients of NY/NJ Company of the Year Award Twice: 2003 & 2008

––– Columbus, NY, November 26, 2007

Employees of Golden Artist Colors, Inc. were recently honored by The ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) Association with the 2008 NY/NJ ESOP Association Chapter’s Company of the Year Award.  The marks the second time since the company became employee owned just five short years ago, that this prestigious award has been received. Several GOLDEN employee owners accepted the award at the ESOP Association Conference held in September in Scranton, Penn.

“We were delighted when we heard the news that we had received this recognition again,” said Golden Artist Colors’ CEO, Mark Golden.  “Since becoming employee owned just five short years ago, our ESOP Committee has worked tremendously hard to better educate their co-workers about the importance of being an ESOP company and the real benefits it provides to each and every one of us.  This award reinforces the strength of our ESOP program and our employees’ dedication to excellence not only in the products we produce, but also in our company values and culture.”

The award recognized the company’s commitment to employee ownership as evidenced by its involvement with The ESOP Association and its programs, its communication skills with employees, and its commitment to the Vision of The ESOP Association which endorses employee participation, wealth creation and individual dignity and worth.

According to Golden Artist Colors’ COO and President, Barbara Schindler, “Since the company’s beginning, employees have always been treated as owners.  This award recognizes the value of empowering staff in such a positive way."

Founded in 1978, The ESOP Association represents over 1,400 ESOP companies and approximately 1 million employee owners who believe that employee ownership will improve American competitiveness, increase productivity through greater employee participation and strengthen our free enterprise economy.  To learn more about The ESOP Association and the benefits in becoming an employee owned company, go to www.esopassociation.org.

About Golden Artist Colors, Inc.
            Founded in 1980 by the Golden family, Golden Artist Colors, Inc. began producing acrylic paint as a result of conversations with artists who needed new materials to help them explore more innovative ways of working with acrylic.  The products that Sam Golden developed as the result of collaborations with these painters became his inspiration and central motif that he carried forward in the creation of GOLDEN.

Now a global brand, GOLDEN acrylics continue to extend the boundaries of painting through quality, innovative products born of a constant dialogue with artists, which drive the company’s innovation.  Located in its recently expanded 100,000-square-foot facility in rural Columbus, N.Y., GOLDEN’s 130 employees are committed to producing materials that encourage exploration of form and concept, while assuring archival integrity.  GOLDEN takes pride in the fact that its Custom Lab is the only facility of its kind, dedicated to designing products to the specifications of individual artists.  Developing paints to meet exacting criteria is the specialty of GOLDEN’s custom operations.  As a natural progression from our initiatives in the fine arts market, GOLDEN established Paintworks, the commercial paint and coatings division of Golden Artist Colors, Inc.  It provides commercial and OEM clients with paint making technology, toll manufacturing and integrated solutions.  GOLDEN Paintworks can design a full solution to a coatings project based on its expertise designing, manufacturing, marketing and selling high performance paints and coatings.  The company also assists customers with complex production, packaging and regulatory issues.  For more information about Golden Artist Colors, Inc. and its comprehensive product offering, call 1-800-959-6543 or visit the company’s Web site at goldenpaints.com.