ALBION, Maine — Johnny’s Selected Seeds announced that it will be a 100 percent employee-owned company.
The company, which is provides seeds, tools, information and sales, will hold an event celebrating the move at 5 p.m. Thursday, July 12, at its research farm in Albion.
An employee stock ownership plan was put in place in 2006 with the intention of the trust owning 100 percent of the shares by 2016. The trust has acquired 100 percent of the company from its founder, Rob Johnston.
“This is a wonderful retirement benefit and I am so grateful to Rob and [his wife] Janika [Eckert] for making this decision,” Mary Gomane, employee and trustee, said in a statement.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds was established in 1973 by Johnston and now has more than 130 full-time employees. It’s headquartered in Winslow and sells products through catalogs and its website.
Congratulations to you all, this is GREAT !
Another reason my seed comes from Johnny’s!
Very cool. Glad to see that they are a company that’s taken the Safe Seed Pledge, I’ll be sure to order from then next season. If anyone from Johnny’s reads this, that pledge – combined with being a small Maine employee owned company – is why you stand out and why you will earn my dollars.
Aww, heck, front page ad for Fall Crops, I guess I’ll be ordering for this season!
This is a model that should be replicated and replicated. Even crunchy granola types can learn and benefit from capitalism.
As long as it the alternate to the more common corporatist model, right ?
lol
Worker owned cooperatives are the way to go!
Excellent news.
When we order seeds from other companies, most don’t come up and they are old seeds. When we order from Johnny’s, almost every seed comes up and they are fresh as can be had. Plus, it feels good buying from a Maine business that cares about the quality of what they sell. Thank you Johnny’s, keep up the great work!