Shorr Packaging (Shorr) is a 100% employee-owned packaging distributor headquartered in Aurora, Illinois. Founded in 1922 by Al Weingardner, Ken Dusell, and Al Richmond as the Northern Illinois Candy Company, the business originally sold paper bags, janitorial supplies, and candy. Today, Shorr is one of the largest independent packaging distributors in the nation, with over 600 employee-owners operating across approximately 36 locations in more than 20 U.S. states.   Shorr became employee-owned in 1984 when the Shorr family implemented an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), and the company completed its journey to 100% employee ownership in 2012. The Shorr family chose to make the company employee-owned after attending an ESOP conference and deciding to harness the energy of their dedicated workforce. Once the ESOP was launched, the company experienced explosive growth. Employee ownership reinforces Shorr's core values of ownership, collaboration, and the collective spirit that define its workplace, and the company has earned national recognition for its commitment. For Shorr, being employee-owned means more than annual stock grants: as one employee-owner put it, “because Shorr is an ESOP, our employee-owners don't just walk out the door at the end of the workday — they walk out the door caring.”