R&K Solutions Employee-Owner Receives Charles R. Edmunson Scholarship Award

October 26, 2020 - R&K Solutions is pleased to announce that employee-owner, Michelle Williams, received the Charles R. Edmunson Scholarship from the Employee Ownership Foundation in the Recognition of Achievement Category. Scholarships for this category are awarded to highly qualified individuals within mature employee-owned companies who continue to move forward with their employee ownership journey.

Each year, the Employee Ownership Foundation honors the memory of Charles Edmunson by awarding scholarships for the training of non-management employees of employee-owned companies. The scholarship program honors the employee ownership leader and advocate, Charles Edmunson, who dedicated his life to the belief that all employees should be provided an opportunity to own a piece of the company where they work, and that each employee-owner should be offered the respect and dignity of an owner.

For the past few years, Michelle has invigorated the employee-ownership activities and events at R&K Solutions. She employs ideas learned from ESOP conferences and designs activities from scratch. Thanks to Michelle’s passion and dedication, R&K Solutions enjoys employee-owned education and company sector webinars, employee milestone celebrations, corporate celebrations, and more.  Michelle has also created multiple employee-ownership education documents, to include quarterly newsletters, employee-ownership onboarding guides, cards to employee-owners for their ESOP tenure milestones, and even an in-house R&K Solutions calendar. Michelle strives to promote a healthy and warm working environment. The best companies to work for usually exhibit a high level of engagement that can only be made possible when there is a sense of camaraderie and affinity.  Michelle ensures those cultural values are front and center when welcoming new employee-owners on board, helping them adjust and understand what it means to be part of an employee-owned company.

A strong employee-ownership culture is one of the key strengths that sets R&K apart from its competitors. Employee-ownership means we are all working toward the common goal to improve the value of the company over time and sustain its future. Everyone - customers and employees alike - benefit from working for the greater good. Our employee-owners find opportunities in complexity and transform challenges and obstacles into elegant, sustainable solutions.  As an employee-owned firm, we are committed to a level of customer-centric services and employee-engagement that sets us apart.

Michelle states “I am extremely honored to receive this scholarship. I not only appreciate the opportunity to learn more about how we can continue growing our education and culture, but I appreciate R&K Solutions for considering me for this nomination. Working for an employee-owned company like R&K Solutions is a whole different ball game compared to the traditional companies I’ve worked for. Employee-ownership means we are all committed to everyone’s success, including the success of our clients.  Having a stake in the company changes our perspective, with the best analogy being the difference between renting and owning.  When you rent a car or a home, do you care about its future value or only compliance with an existing agreement?  When you own something, you treat it differently.”

R&K Solutions is thrilled with Michelle’s achievement and is extremely grateful to the Employee Ownership Foundation for sponsoring this worthy endeavor and for recognizing the efforts of our employee-owners.

About R&K Solutions:

R&K Solutions is a recognized leader in facilities and real property management solutions. Founded in 1984, R&K is an employee-owned company that has been delivering solutions to overcome the challenges of facilities portfolio management.

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