WE ARE AN ESOP
Charles River Analytics became a 100% employee-owned company through the introduction of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 2012. This transition set the stage for the next-generation of innovation, service, and growth, enabling employees to take a more active role in the company’s growth and success.
At Charles River, we believe our success relies on the talent and commitment of our employees and their ability to control the destiny of the company over the long haul. By tying long-term individual ownership value to yearly company growth and profitability through successful teamwork, employees can directly share in the company’s overall success. By being employee-owned, the company maintains the freedom and flexibility it’s had for the last thirty years, while capitalizing on the insight and contributions of individuals at all levels of the organization.
The more the company grows, the more the value of our shares goes up. Our ESOP encourages everyone to have an entrepreneurial spirit, come up with ideas to improve the company, and work together to do great things!
What is an ESOP?
An ESOP is an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. In other words, our employees own a small part of Charles River. When Charles River succeeds, we all benefit financially!
What does this mean for our employee owners?
Each year, Charles River Analytics issues shares to employee owners in proportion to their compensation relative to the total compensation of all employees. There is a five-year vesting period, but in the simplest terms, the longer employees work with us, the larger their ownership share becomes. When an employee leaves the company, the ESOP buys back shares, paying the value of the shares over five years. This is an excellent benefit that augments Charles River’s already generous annual retirement contributions.
The more the company grows while an employee is here, the more the value of their shares goes up. Thus, we all have a vested interest in helping each other succeed. Everyone benefits when someone comes up with great new ideas, takes the initiative to pursue new funding opportunities, or creates a new business area. The ESOP encourages everyone to have an entrepreneurial spirit, come up with ideas to improve the company, and work together to do great things!
How does it work?
To oversimplify, there’s a Board of Trustees to oversee the company and pick the CEO. The CEO builds the Senior Management Team (SMT) to lead the day-to-day operations of the company. The SMT builds the team of employee owners who do the daily work of Charles River. The daily work generates the revenue, and when the revenue increases, the company’s value (as determined annually by an independent external assessor) increases (and the value of your shares goes up).
We value doing important, visionary work, doing it better than anyone else, and making our customers and users happy. We want to address important human-systems challenges and create innovative R&D solutions that we’re proud to look back on. We want to be recognized as an industry leader and a great company to do business with.
Company History
1983:
Company founded
1998:
Open Sesame! sale
2000:
VisionKit® released
2001:
Company moved to current office at 625 Mt. Auburn Street in Cambridge, MA
2002:
Charles River Analytics receives Tibbets award
2008:
Third office expansion
2012:
Boston Business Journal places Charles River Analytics on list of region’s largest defense contractors
2012:
Became employee-owned company
2013:
Charles River Analytics 30th Anniversary!
2015:
Karen Harper named President of Charles River Analytics
2016:
Seventh office expansion
2017:
Named one of Boston Business Journal’s 2017 Best Places to Work
2018:
New England Chapter of the ESOP Association named a Charles River Analytics employee the 2019 Employee Owner of the Year!
2019:
Named one of Boston Business Journal’s 2019 Best Places to Work
2020:
First product launch: AutoTRap Onboard®, Awarion®, and Odineye™
2020:
Epic MegaGrant award for VIRTUOSO SDK, an XR development tool
2021:
Dr. Mica R. Endsley joins Board of Directors
2021:
BARRACUDA feature added to REVER app to provide road hazard alerts to motorcycle riders
2022:
Scruff™, hybrid AI system builder, launched on GitHub
2022:
Vineyard Wind employs Awarion® to enhance marine mammal protection
2022:
Named a Boston Globe Top 100 Woman-Led Business in Massachusetts
2023:
Veero® spin-out
2023:
US Space Force deploys KWYN™ SOLAR
2023:
Charles River Analytics 40th Anniversary!
2023:
James S. Cogswell Outstanding Industrial Security Achievement Award
2023:
Popular Science “Best of What’s New” Award for Awarion®
Charles River Analytics conducts leading-edge AI, robotics, and human-machine interface R&D and leverages that R&D to create custom solutions.
At Charles River Analytics, we come to work every day because we want to develop technology for the hardest human-machine teaming problems that impact critical operations and decision-making. In 1983, we began focusing on research that leads to results, initially working for the US government. We became an employee-owned company in 2012, setting the stage for the next generation of innovation, service, and growth.
