The Cornerstone Experience: Employee Ownership Month (October 2023)

The Cornerstone Experience EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP MONTH

In honor of employee ownership month, we recognize the bold decision Cornerstone’s leaders made for the future of our firm in choosing to entrust each of their colleagues with the ownership of the firm in 2016. Recognizing the importance of our collaborative culture, our commitment to team approach, our desire to maintain independence, and in order to properly recognize the value of our professionals now and into the future, Cornerstone sold the company to the employees and established the Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc..

Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP). The ESOP provides every employee owner of our firm equity in the business and ensures a more secure financial future for each member of our team.

The establishment of the ESOP allows us to stay focused on, and remain true to, our vision and philosophy, while at the same time creating equity and leadership opportunities for all employees and keeping everyone invested in the long-term success of the business. As owners of the business, our employees share in the future growth and prosperity of Cornerstone for years to come. It also allows us to adequately reward people for their commitment, loyalty and performance and create a platform for growth, diversification and sustainability.

Learn what the ESOP means to our employee-owners

PROUD MEMBER OF & PARTNER TO

Cornerstone became a member of The ESOP Association (TEA), the largest employee ownership advocacy organization in the world, in 2021. The mission of TEA is to educate and advocate for employee ownership - with an emphasis on Employee Stock Ownership {Programs (ESOPs) - to improve American competitiveness, increase productivity in the workplace, strengthen our free enterprise economy, create a broader distribution of wealth and maximize human potential by enhancing self-worth, dignity and well-being of employees everywhere. As a member, we support these objectives and participate in conferences, panel discussions and other events related to promoting ESOPs nationwide.

Cornerstone’s ESOP has provided an inherent benefit to every one of our employees when they join the firm. The ESOP further emphasizes our dedication to practicing a team approach in all aspects of the business day in and day out.

This past July, TEA decided to partner with Cornerstone to enhance its current federal government relations strategy. Cornerstone’s team, co-led by Dao Nguyen and John Sandell, is working alongside TEA to build out a bipartisan federal engagement plan to increase the Association’s visibility in front of key federal policymakers on both sides of the aisle.

Cornerstone will also facilitate engagement with key actors at the Department of Labor, Small Business Administration, among others.

Visit our Twitter and LinkedIn to hear from our employeeowners on what the ESOP means to them and why they see value in being part of an employee-owned company!

ALL CORNERS: Perspectives from a Cornerstone Employee-Owner Cornerstone Principal and Member of the ESOP Committee Todd Webster reflects on the signicant impact of the firm’s ESOP in Cornerstone’s All Corners Blog, also featured in TEA’s ESOP Report!

“During my years as a Senate staffer I met and knew plenty of multi-client lobbyists from various firms. But when I decided to leave the Hill, I chose Cornerstone due to its people and its reputation. Unlike other firms that often rely on the name recognition of former Members of Congress, Cornerstone has built a government relations practice around smart, hardworking, reliable, and effective former staffers covering every aspect of the political and policy landscape. Why? Because these are the people you call upon when you are in a pinch, and they know how to roll up their sleeves and get things done.

While Cornerstone has grown significantly since its founding in 2002, and since I joined in 2016, its ethos of teamwork has never wavered. Our becoming an ESOP – Employee Stock Ownership Plan – was a major step in strengthening our Team approach and reinforcing our collaborative spirit. At the time, Cornerstone examined a range of financial options to help the firm grow. In the end, the partners realized that the best option to reinforce the spirit, culture, and philosophy of teamwork that had made it so successful was an ESOP. It also allowed leadership to create a model of sustainability and reward those who were contributing to the success of the business.

Under an ESOP, all employees are owners. We are all invested in the success of the firm, in helping each other, in maintaining our culture, and in building a business. At Cornerstone, we can and do cheer for our chosen political party and hope for wins on election day. But elections come and go, bringing changes to the parties in power. To operate successfully, clients need a team with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which we are fortunate to have at Cornerstone. But having strong players isn’t enough. A successful team requires collective effort that results in a sum greater than its individual parts.

Being an ESOP has reinforced our commitment to support each other and work collaboratively to achieve client success. Every Cornerstone employee wants our clients to succeed, and, under the employee ownership structure, we are financially incentivized to help achieve that success.

There may be bigger government relations firms in Washington, and there are law firms and lobbying firms who have chosen different financial and organizational models. But there is only one firm which incentivizes its entire staff to help its clients succeed by organizing itself around a teamwork model that brings everyone together on behalf of our clients. I am proud that Cornerstone is an ESOP, and I look forward to working hard on behalf of our clients and my fellow employee owners now and into the future.”