williamsburg blog

GOLDEN Employees Receive Two Awards from ESOP Association 
2011 Company of the Year & 2011 Employee Owner of the Year

-- Columbus, NY, October 20, 2010

Employees of Golden Artist Colors, Inc. were recently honored by The ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) Association with the 2011 NY/NJ ESOP Association Chapter's Company of the Year Award. This marks the third time since the company became employee owned just eight short years ago, that this prestigious award has been received. In addition, the company also received the 2011 Employee Owner of the Year Award, for which Jonie Bassett was nominated. Several GOLDEN employee owners accepted the awards 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. "Our ESOP Committee has worked incredibly 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. These awards reinforce 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 company award recognized its commitment to employee ownership as well as its vision of the value of employee ownership and the GOLDEN ESOP Committee's involvement with the ESOP Association, which endorses employee participation, wealth creation and individual dignity and worth.

Bassett was recognized for her leadership skills, creativity in the development of communication tools for fellow employees, and her continued excitement about employee ownership.

According to Golden Artist Colors' COO and President, Barbara Schindler, "It's been an exciting year for employee owners here at GOLDEN. This past April staff became the majority owners of the company and now all of their hard work has been recognized by the ESOP Association with these awards; what an accomplishment!" 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.

Located in its 100,000-square-foot facility in rural Columbus, N.Y., GOLDEN's 147 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 its 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. The company is not only committed to its customers and local community, but to its employee owners as well. In April 2010, GOLDEN employees became the majority owners of the company and in 2008, the company became a 100% Tobacco Free Campus for staff and visitors. In May 2010, Golden Artist Colors purchased Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors. 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 www.goldenpaints.com. For more information about Williamsburg, go to www.williamsburgoils.com.