Companies can be publicly owned (by anyone who purchases stock on the exchange) or privately owned (by a person, family, investment company, or group of people). For companies with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), that group of people is made up of the employees at the company. Every year for the past two decades, the ESOP Association has celebrated Employee Ownership Month during October. Part awareness campaign, part celebration, the month is dedicated to educating people about what exactly …