Manson Town Halls Provide Transparency to Employee Owners

Manson hosted its first quarterly Town Hall for employee owners in September 2025.

The meeting was a spin-off of the annual Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”) meeting, during which employees get an update about the company’s status and learn more about their available retirement benefits.

I talked with Manson CEO & President Jim McNally to learn more about the intent and impact of the new Town Halls.

John D. Heckel—Corporate Ethics & Compliance Officer

John Heckel (JH): What inspired the creation of regularly scheduled town halls?

Jim McNally (JM): For years we have been having annual ESOP meetings, where the ESOP participants hear an update from the Chairman, the CEO, and the CFO as part of a larger meeting that includes a lot of discussion of retirement benefits.

In April of this year, Chairman of the Board Fred Paup, Chief Financial Officer Jon Rodriguez, Human Resources Director Kristin Troxel, and I went to the National Center for Employee Ownership (“NCEO”) Conference in Salt Lake City. One of our board members, Mary Josephs, was there as well.

It was my first ESOP conference, and I found it very educational. There were a number of presentations from ESOP companies and consultants on a variety of ESOP topics. One of my takeaways was that we—Manson—could and should be doing more to help our employees feel a sense of ownership in the organization. A key benefit of being an ESOP is that it provides an avenue for all the participant employees to benefit financially from growth in the company’s value. The town hall is one simple way to help people feel included and connected to how the organization is doing overall.

JH: What do you hope employees take away from each town hall?

JM: I hope they go home and tell a friend or family member something they learned about Manson that they are proud of.

JH: How do town halls align with our company’s mission and values?

JM: Town halls are a chance for us to remind each other of our purpose, mission, and values.

JH: How do you measure whether a town hall has been successful?

JM: We aren’t requiring people to attend the town halls, but people are attending voluntarily. I think when we see participation drop off, we’ll know we need to switch it up and find a better way to engage the team.

JH: What role do you see town halls playing in fostering transparency and trust?

JM: I think prioritizing communication is important, but, ultimately, what builds trust is following through on the words by applying our core values to our actions day in and day out. That’s how we are going to build trust with each other, and our stakeholders.

JH: How do you decide what topics to cover in each session?

JM: We ask for feedback after each meeting. Other than that, the senior leadership team discusses what we think people would like to hear about.

JH: Do you feel employees are engaging enough during town halls? If not, what could improve that?

JM: I think it is hard to get a sense of how engaged people are with so many people online at once. It’s a big group. Newer employees that likely have the most questions could be uncomfortable speaking up online with the whole company listening.

My hope is that these town halls spark discussion in the offices and conference rooms after the online meeting is over. I plan to encourage offices and teams to watch the town hall together and then have the local managers solicit feedback in person in those smaller groups. My expectation is those smaller group discussions will be beneficial and we stand a better chance of getting honest feedback this way.

JH: What message do you try to consistently reinforce in town halls?

JM: That we are a team. That it will take all of us working safely, ethically, and with an eye towards continual improvement for us to achieve our goals.

JH: How do town halls reflect your leadership style or philosophy?

JM: The town halls have very little to do with me. Like the manager of a winning baseball team, I do very little other than clap from the dugout. It’s the people doing the work that are building the future of this organization.

JH: What do you envision for the future of town halls at our company?

JM: I don’t have any expectations other than that we will react to the feedback we get, and if we are doing it right, people will tune in and provide us more feedback. C