American List Counsel, Princeton, NJ, recently added 11 participants to its list of partners by granting stock options to these key employees.
“We are trying to create a total culture where our key people are empowered, are challenged, see a career path and are rewarded in many, many ways, and a component of that is this option plan,” said Fran Green, executive vice president at ALC.
It is uncommon for a privately owned company to offer stock options to employees, Green said. She was one of the first four employees who were made equity partners several years ago.
Green was also instrumental in the continuation of the initiative this year as well as two years ago, when eight employees were added.
“We may have been a little ahead of the really tough times that are going on in recruitment right now when we said, ‘Let’s do this,’ ” Green said. “It’s definitely been a good strategy; we are not losing key people to dot-coms.”
The company did not start the program as a ploy to foil dot-coms from enticing ALC’s employees, Green said.
The new stockholders include eight Princeton-based employees and three employees who work in the ALC/West office in Corte Madera, CA.
