Black River Falls, Wis. — To ensure continued local ownership of the company, and to reward the employees responsible for its success, Mike Dougherty, President of D&S Manufacturing, announces that through an additional stock purchase by our ESOP trustee, the company is now majority employee-owned. Dougherty explained that the decision to make D&S Manufacturing majority employee-owned ensures that the facility will stay in Black River Falls and employee owners will continue to be motivated, productive employees. Diligence and commitment have always been the tradition and hallmark of the talented D&S workforce. D&S has been a strong and positive presence in the Black River Falls community and D&S workers are a productive, contributing part of their community.

To maximize employee commitment to ownership, D&S has initiated training programs to reinforce employee-owners' understanding of their individual opportunity to positively impact the bottom line which will in turn increase the value of their stock. "Our talented staff continues to contribute to our success and by becoming majority employee-owned we show our commitment to them while staying strong in the Black River Falls community." By increasing employee ownership, each employee is inspired to continue to look for ways to improve quality and productivity.

D&S 's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) was established in 1993 as a type of employee retirement plan. A trustee company holds employee 's shares of the company 's stock which have been allocated to all employees meeting minimum service requirements. When employees leave the company, through retirement or other reasons, they receive their stock, which the company must buy back at fair market value. Employees do not pay taxes on the contributions into their accounts, and can roll distributions into an IRA or other retirement plan when they leave the company.

For more than 45 years, ISO 9001:2008 certified D&S Manufacturing has served as a custom manufacturer of exceptional quality large scale components, assemblies and complete weldments for a broad cross section of well-respected corporations that include Caterpillar, Oshkosh Corporation, Parkson, The Trane Company and CNH. The company's extensive capabilities include technologically superior machining, laser, high definition plasma and oxy-fuel cutting, as well as manual and robotic welding. These resources are complemented by diverse value-added services ranging from liquid spray painting, powder coating and shot blasting to assembly and testing. A dedicated and highly skilled workforce lives a commitment to superior project management, exceptional quality, accountability, teamwork and continuous improvement, which empowers the company to live its slogan, D&S …. Solid™.

For more information, please contact John Barkley, General Manager, D&S Manufacturing, P. O. Box 279, Black River Falls, WI, 54615, 715-284-5376, ext. 307 or fax 715-284-4084. Send e-mail to jbarkley@dsmfg.com, and visit D&S Manufacturing's Web site at www.dsmfg.com.