Employee-owned businesses on the rise in Florida

Southwest Florida financial executive and entrepreneur George Cassiere is something of an evangelist for a specific kind of exit strategy for businesses — the Employee Stock Ownership Plan. 

Cassiere has specialized in these kinds of plans, known as ESOPs, for some 35 years, working on hundreds of transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars. ESOPs, he says, are “incredible for the employees,” given the slew of benefits, particularly the financial freedom of owning a piece of a company you work at. Those benefits, he says, also make ESOPs “incredible for America.” And finally ESOPs, he adds, are great for business owners, who can exit with confidence their legacy will continue.