Oregon Business referred to employee ownership as "the ultimate company benefit" in an article that profiles Swinerton Builders, Charter Mechanical Contractors, and Parametrix. In it, Kim Moore writes:
"Sharing wealth is arguably more egalitarian and powerful than more cosmetic perks, such as ping pong tables and kegerators in the office. In an age when the wealth gap between the CEO/owner and the rest of the workforce is widening, employee ownership can be a compelling gesture to staff of the value employers place on their service." An article in Forbes describes the founding and successful growth of Torch Technologies. CEO Bill Roark says: "It's a natural fit for a services contractor doing business with the DoD, because you can make the ESOP contribution a part of the benefits package [so that it] becomes a billable part of your overhead rates, just like health care or 401k or life insurance." An article in Reader's Digest notes that the largest employee-owned company in the country is not a Silicon Valley heavyweight but the 1,200-location supermarket Publix Supermarkets. They author notes that this fact "may help explain why Publix has a voluntary turnover rate of just 5 percent, when the industry average is about 65 percent."