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

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.