Walsh Bishop Cleans Up!
On Saturday April 19, Walsh Bishop participated in the Minneapolis Earth Day Watershed Clean up at Lake Nokomis. Our group met early in the morning, clad in blue in support of Architect 2030’s No Coal Initiative; signed up, got our gloves and yellow bags and set out to clean up the park. Walking along the waterfront and along the beach the trash was plentiful. We picked up empty bottles, twist ties, cigarette butts and other various items.
One fitting, yet unexpected, benefit of doing the clean up was being treated to some excellent birding. We saw a variety of species that included Black-Crested Night Herons, Great Blue Herons, Terns, Gulls, Mallards, numerous diving duck species, and a Minnesota favorite - common Loons (who serenaded us all morning.) We also received many thanks from park users and were photographed by both the news media and the Minneapolis Park Board.
After our clean up efforts, those who braved the cold were treated to an all-organic bar-b-que sponsored by the WBA LEAP Task Team. The menu consisted of bratwurst, Kettle Chips and delicious homemade treats. And no, we did not use coal - it was a propane grill! A special congratulations to Paul Hand for picking up the most trash in our group! He received the winning prize basket consisting of a tire gauge, energy efficient light bulbs, and a DVD of CNN’s Planet in Peril.
See you in 2009!
ESOP Conference Energized and Educated
At Walsh Bishop, we think we’re pretty special for a variety of reasons, one of which is that on January 1, 2008 we became a 100% employee owned company.
Studies consistently show that companies that combine employee ownership with participation perform better than they did prior to implementing their ESOP and better than other similar companies without an ESOP. To encourge and foster this culture of ownership, an ESOP Committee has been appointed at Walsh Bishop. The committee’s first step is educating themselves on the implications, legalities, and possibilities of being an ESOP because like everyone at Walsh Bishop, they are new to the ESOP world.
Last week, three members of the ESOP Committee, Tina Brown, Andrea Samuelson and Joe Wagner, travelled to Chicago to attend the annual conference held by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). This conference was designed to provide learning and networking opportunities for ESOP companies and completely energized the three about the possibilities for Walsh Bishop. “We need to educate our ESOP Committee so that we, in turn, can educate everyone else” Joe said. “We are in the process of setting this commitee up in manner that will best serve our fellow employee-owners and foster a culture of ownership and leadership at all levels of Walsh Bishop.”
Attending events such as the national conference is just one of the many ways our ESOP Committee can connect with other ESOP companies and learn more about what it really means to be an ESOP company.
