Mary Josephs to Speak at ESCA Leadership Summit
Mary Josephs, CEO and Founder of Verit Advisors® will participate in the ESCA Leadership Summit in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, February 21 to 23, 2024. This is the 24th year for this conference and Verit has been present since the beginning of this important organization supporting S-ESOP companies.
On Thursday, February 22, Mary will moderate a panel titled, “Leadership, Culture, and Governance: Priorities to Remaining a Privately-held Employee-Owned Company.” Joining Mary on this distinguished panel is John Madej (President and CEO, Web Industries), Trey Winthrop (CEO, Bob’s Red Mill), Sonie Barger (CFO and Senior Vice President, Mathematica) and Jim Staruck (President and CEO, GreatBanc Trust Company). The session will be offered twice, once from 2:30 – 3:45 and again from 4:00 – 5:15 pm.
This session will discuss an often-overlooked foundation to staying private which is strong leadership, governance and culture. Private companies need to proactively and dynamically identify and develop leaders for both growth and leadership succession, especially at the CEO level. As the economy, strategy, and opportunities for a business change, strong partners in governance are important. Keys to staying employee owned often include plan sustainability, growth, and capital planning. This session will share best practices in internal and external governance.
Mary founded Verit Advisors in 2009 and has nearly three decades of experience in corporate finance. She is a nationally recognized leader and has advised structured and closed hundreds of successful capital strategies for middle market companies. Mary is on the Advisory Board ESCA (Employee-Owned S Corporations of America). Mary is a director of Manson Construction and Performance Contracting. Mary was selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A by Mergers & Acquisition publication five straight years. Chicago Crain’s recognized Ms. Josephs as a Notable Entrepreneur in 2019 and Private Board Directors magazine named Mary a Director to Watch in 2019.
About Verit Advisors®
Verit Advisors unites sophisticated middle market investment banking capabilities with a client centric focus, fluent in ESOPs, debt and equity capital markets, M&A, transaction opinions and valuation services, and board advisory services. Integrity, teamwork, service, and innovation are at the heart of the organization, as the Verit Team strives to provide unparalleled advice and custom solutions to its clients. Mary Josephs founded Verit Advisors in 2009 in Chicago and has nearly four decades of experience in the world of corporate finance. Josephs and her team are considered to be the foremost experts in ESOP transactions and middle market strategic alternatives.
ESCA, the Employee-owned S Corporations of America, is the voice in Washington, DC that speaks exclusively for employee-owned S corporations (“S ESOPs”). Since 1998, ESCA’s membership has grown to represent more than 245,000 employee-owners across the country. ESCA company members engage in a broad spectrum of business activities and are a variety of sizes – from 25-person businesses to companies with 22,000+ employee-owners – but all have one thing in common: a commitment to protecting the S corporation ESOP structure and promoting it so that more working Americans can become employee-owners.