Independent publisher Gibbs Smith is now entirely employee-owned, after workers finalized a deal to purchase the second half of the company on August 31. In 2015, cofounders the late Gibbs and Catherine Smith sold half of the company to employees, and in the new deal the company’s employees purchased Catherine Smith’s 50 percent share via a third-party trustee. “We are excited to fulfill Gibbs and Catherine Smith’s dream of becoming a fully employee-owned company,” ceo Brad Farmer, representing the company’s executive management team, said in a release. “Being 100% ESOP owned is a dynamic change in the company’s status and is […]