Harrell Remodeling Receives National Certification As A Leading Employee-Owned Company

Harrell Remodeling, Inc., a leading design and build remodeling firm headquartered in Palo Alto, CA has earned the accreditation of being named a “certified employee-owned” business by San Francisco-based Certified EO, announced Ciro Giammona, CEO of Harrell Remodeling.

“Harrell Remodeling is a 100 percent employee-owned firm. To be recognized as a successful and dedicated employee-owned business is a very important distinction not only for our 36 employee-owners, but also for our many Bay Area remodeling clients who value working with Harrell Remodeling and appreciate our focus on creating a sustainable business model where everyone in the company is an owner. Becoming certified by Certified EO is a huge recognition of our commitment to that principle,” said Giammona.

Harrell Remodeling created its Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) in 2001 as a method to allow their staff to garner ownership shares through company contributions, with no out-of-pocket expense to the employees. In addition, many business experts believe the ESOP is one of the best strategies to extend the legacy of a firm by broadening the ownership structure.

“When ESOPs started, they were designed for manufacturing firms, but as our economy transitions into a service-based economy, ESOPs fit really well within industries like remodeling,” says John Menke, President and CEO of San Francisco based Menke Group, one of the oldest ESOP advisory firms in the nation. “At a time when so much of our nation’s wealth is concentrated among so few, the ESOP is one of the best ways to reverse this trend,” adds Menke who co-authored the original ESOP legislation.