Modern Group Ltd. (Bristol, PA)

Taking stock of what's important discusses Modern Group Ltd., a 600-employee distributor of mobile powered products, and their annual company meeting:

" Every November, the employees and their spouses are invited to an annual meeting at Burlington County College in New Jersey to discuss the company's position and strategy for the next year. A luncheon follows the meeting.

"They really get to see what's going on," Wilkinson said."

NewAge Industries (Southampton, PA)

The article also discusses NewAge Industries, a tubing and hose manufacturing company that we discussed in In the News: Celebrating Employee Ownership Month. CEO Ken Baker discussed the ""joyfulness" in the workplace" since the ESOP purchased 30% of the company in January 2006 and talked about how an ESOP makes it easier to sell a company:

"It's a lot easier to sell the company to someone else," Baker said. "It's a lot cleaner."