Consolidated Minerals, Inc., parent company of CL Industries, is now owned by its employees.
Leesburg, Fla.-based CMI, which produces pool plaster, quartz and pebble finishes through its subsidiaries, CL Industries, Aquavations and Universal Aggregate, recently transitioned to a Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
All 80 of its employees now have a vested interest in the company's growth.
“Through our ESOP, our employees … will share in the financial and operational success of CMI in ways that few employees do,” CMI’s President and CEO Fred Horton stated in a press release.
The arrangement is precipitated by an unusual decision made years ago by F. Browne Gregg who founded the company in Leesburg in 1987. When Gregg passed away in 2014, he named two nonprofit organizations as the beneficiaries of his estate. That’s how the Leesburg Medical Center and the local chapter of Hospice Foundation of America came to own CMI, which also includes a subsidiary called Mallard Global Logistics.
"Yes, it is unusual," Randy Simpson, CMI chairman, said of the bequethment. "But I think it’s an indication of how Browne cared deeply about the community."
The organizations sought to liquefy the assets, but were committed to keeping CMI locally owned and operated and agreed to sell ownership back to the company.
Ultimately, officials say this will be a good thing for CMI’s customer base of distributors and applicators.
“Becoming an employee-owned company ensures stability for all of our customers, vendors, employees and local communities where we operate,” Horton stated.
