Gibbs Smith employees have purchased the half of the company they did not already own, making the Layton, Utah, publisher 100% employee owned. The deal was finalized on August 31 between Catherine Gibbs, a co-founder, and the company's employees, who had purchased half the company in 2015.
Organized as a Benefit Corporation (B Corp) and using an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan), Gibbs Smith consists of a Book & Gift division whose books are sold worldwide, and Gibbs Smith Education, which offers textbooks, cross-curricular literacy resources, and professional development books and services. With its own warehouse, Gibbs Smith distributes its titles as well as those of other publishers, including Lil' Libros, F. Ferguson Books and Angel City Press.
Catherine Smith, who founded the company in 1969 with her husband, Gibbs Smith, who died in 2017, said, "It has been 53 years since two humanities majors decided to start a publishing company. We chose a lofty motto: 'to enrich and inspire humankind.' Being a publisher can be a great life, not necessarily for amassing wealth, but in finding and exploring the essential fascination to be found in people, places, and events around us and sharing it. I congratulate the new owners, the remarkable people who have made the company a success."
CEO Brad Farmer, representing the executive management team, said, "We are excited to fulfill Gibbs and Catherine Smith's dream of becoming a fully employee-owned company. Being 100% ESOP owned is a dynamic change in the company's status and is in complete harmony with our triple-bottom-line focus on people, planet, and profits. We are proud, as employee owners, to carry Gibbs and Catherine's legacy into the next generation of ownership and evolution."
Moneka Hewlett, director of proprietary sales and new business development, added: "I am grateful for the stock benefits that come from being a part of an ESOP, but what I notice daily is the sense of team and can-do attitude that is created by our shared ownership. We all have a focus on making the company as successful as possible and we work together to achieve that."