Unified AV Systems, a provider of commercial AV technology solutions in the Southeast, announced that its Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) has completed a transaction to purchase the remaining shares of outstanding company stock from the company founders Bruce Banbury and Jim Pressley.
When the company was formed as an ESOP in June 2011, as a merger of two companies, the ESOP owned 34 percent of the company stock and each of the founders retained 33 percent. With the completion of this transaction, the remaining shares were purchased by the ESOP, which will continue to grant shares to employees annually.
“We all owe a debt of gratitude to Jim and Bruce for having the vision and strength to put this plan together, and execute it in the originally planned five-year timeframe” said Barry Goldin, CTS, president of Unified AV Systems. “The employees now truly own this company and together we will grow stronger every day and continue to provide excellent solutions for our clients.”
“It is extremely gratifying to me that we have transferred full ownership to our employees” said Jim Pressley, principal and founding partner of Unified AV Systems. “I love the fact that everyone's hard work and dedication has resulted in ownership of a company where all of the future growth will benefit our employee/owners directly. We work in a fairly tight-knit industry and I would like to thank all of our friends and partners that helped make this possible.”
“We have always been focused on nurturing our employees and looking for that long-term relationship,” said Bruce Banbury, principal and founding partner of Unified AV Systems. “The ESOP gives each employee a unique opportunity to have a rewarding career and build a retirement portfolio that few others will ever see. This incentive gives the company the distinctive advantage of sustaining top-notch employees that few companies can compete with.“
"Transition to an employee-owned company is a vital step toward company maturity,” said KC Schwarz, member of the UAVS board of directors. Unified AV is no longer dependent on a single owner or small ownership group. This clears the runway for long-term stability, growth, and profitability.”
Unified AV is headquartered in Atlanta with offices in Marietta, GA, Greenville and Columbia, SC, Knoxville, TN, and Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh, NC. Unified AV delivers a complete spectrum of innovative audiovisual solutions and technical services for the corporate, education, healthcare, government, military, and worship markets. The company specializes in corporate boardroom and training room integrated systems, collaborative meeting spaces, videoconferencing, and digital signage solutions. Unified AV was recently ranked number 18 in the list of the largest AV systems integrators in the country by System Contractor News.
