[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 70 (Tuesday, June 6, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1019]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                A REMARKABLE MOVE TO EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP

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                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 6, 2006

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I want to take the opportunity today to 
recognize the remarkable story of Bill Carris and the company he 
formerly owned, Carris Reels.
  Carris Reels, Inc. had been a family owned company. It has been 
supplying wood, metal and plastic reels to the wire and cable industry 
for over 45 years, and it provides the most comprehensive product line 
of any reel manufacturer. Carris Reels has 710 employees, in 15 plants, 
in eight states.
  I said that Carris Reels was formerly owned by Bill Carris. In 1995, 
at a time when the company had sales of $83 million, Bill Carris 
decided that in the future the company should be owned by its 
employees. So the company began an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) 
by contributing about 10 percent of its stock to an ESOP. Since then, 
employee share of ownership has increased--and increased.
  This past December an issue of new shares of stock to the ESOP meant 
that employees owned half--50 percent--of Carris Reels. Also in 
December, a loan to the ESOP enabled it to buy almost a third of Bill 
Carris' remaining shares. That meant that, by the turn of the year 
2006, 65 percent of Carris Reels was owned and controlled by the 
company's employees. The intention is for it to be 100 percent 
employee-owned within 10 years.
  Bill Carris strongly believes in community building and in the major 
role employees should play in running the business in which they work. 
That's why he decided on a long term plan to move his company from 
family to employee ownership. He hoped, and his hopes are being borne 
out, that in doing so he could remake the whole work situation at 
Carris Reels: employees would be--in fact, they are--owners responsible 
for charting the course of the corporation, keeping it a profitable 
business, and securing its long term future. Those who work at Carris 
Reels have moved from employees to owners, from hired workers to 
stewards of the company and its future. They share in the company's 
profits.
  Today, in Vermont, the Vermont Employee Ownership Center is 
recognizing Bill Carris and Carris Reels for taking the enormous step 
to majority ownership by the corporation's employees through their 
employee stock ownership plan. The recognition is well-deserved. I 
believe Bill Carris and his employees, and Carris Reels as well, can 
serve as a model for our Nation.

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