Asheville's Moog Music now employee owned

ASHEVILLE — The fate of Moog Music now belongs to someone other than the company's CEO and President Mike Adams.

It's not a venture capitalist, and it's not a music industry aficionado.

It's people like Siobhan Robinson and Jim DeBardi.

On Wednesday, the Asheville company announced its employees now own 49 percent of Moog Music, which makes electronic instruments that are used by musicians like Beyonce, the Beastie Boys and U2.

Adams shared the news with the company's 62 employees Tuesday at Moog Music's synthesizer factory just blocks away from downtown Asheville.

"I called you all here to let you know that I sold the company," he told employees Tuesday afternoon. "The good news is I sold it to all of you."

The employee stock ownership plan will not change the way Moog Music operates. Adams will remain the president and CEO, and will hold the remaining 51 percent of shares.

However, this ownership opportunity for full-time workers at Moog Music is significant, Adams said.

"The employees at Moog Music Inc. are what make this company successful," he said. "I feel the best way to recognize their passion and hard work is to give them ownership."

According to the National Center for Employee Ownership, about 9,000 employee ownership plans like the one at Moog Music existed at the end of 2011.

Founded by inventor and sound engineer Bob Moog almost 50 years ago, Moog Music has influenced the world of music and sound since it began in New York.

Moog was an early pioneer of electronic music, and his name has become synonymous with the field. For the last 27 years of his life, Moog lived and worked in Asheville.

In addition to running his company, Moog presented workshops and lectures at UNC Asheville, where he became a visiting research professor.

When Adams joined Moog Music in 2002, the company had only eight employees. However, the two believed it would grow.

Today, Moog Music employs 62 full-time workers. One of those people is Siobhan Robinson.

Robinson started at Moog Music as an office manager 10 years ago. Now a production coordinator, Robinson said this ownership opportunity would change her life.

"This provides for my family; this is all we have," she told The New York Times.

Adams said employee ownership is what Moog always envisioned. As Adams worked on the fine print to make it possible, he said he kept remembering a lunchtime conversation the two had in 2004.

"He said, 'Mike, I'm so proud of what we've accomplished. I've always wanted to have a successful company.' And, to Bob, a successful company was defined as one that could take care of its employees and their families," Adams said.

Moog died of an inoperable brain tumor in 2005 — the same week Moog Music moved to Asheville.

"We always feel his presence in our building," Adams said. "I'm sure he's big-time smiling down on us right now."

The company's first Asheville operations were in a warehouse on Riverside Drive and later in its current location, 160 Broadway St.

The local company has experienced significant growth in recent years, including an average 18 percent revenue growth every year for the past 12 years. Already, the company's year-to-date revenue is up 46 percent over 2014.

According to Moog's widow, Ileana Grams-Moog, this is everything her late husband would have dreamed for the company he founded.

"Bob and I consulted an expert in worker-owned businesses in 2001, but we weren't able to make employee ownership at Moog a reality," she said. "Bob would be thrilled that Mike Adams realized this shared dream 14 years later."

Other Asheville companies that are employee owned include New Belgium Brewing Company and Plasticard Logitech International.

Adams said being able to make this happen for Moog Music employees comes down to one word: blessed.

"It's an amazing opportunity to be able to stand in front of this group, many of which have worked with us since the beginning, and tell them this," he said. "We plan to be in Asheville for a good long time and this just reinforces our commitment."



