Employee Stock Ownership Plans

With ESOPs, once employees become vested in the company’s success, the organization’s prosperity becomes personal. They see work less as just a job and more like a place where they can build their careers, writes guest columnist Chris Whitney.

In 2013, the Pine Tree State had 15 designated ESOPs. By 2024, that number grew to 86 ESOPs, with more expected as interest in the structure continues to grow.

A notable benefit of the ESOP is the by-product of employees thinking like owners, which they now are.

Some of Maine’s best-known names in construction and manufacturing are ESOPs, including Cianbro, Sargent Corp., Reed & Reed, Haley Ward, Zachau Construction, Landry/French Construction, Knickerbocker Group, J.S. McCarthy Packaging and Printing, Woodex-MECO Industries and Lie-Nielsen Toolworks.

As Maine small businesses continue to evolve, the employee ownership model offers advantages for both the owner and the employees.

There are 6,548 ESOPs in the United States, holding more than $1.8 trillion in assets, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership.

An inside look at how Jeff Zachau of Zachau Construction and Laura Pfeiffenberger of Spinnaker Trust worked together to create an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP.

After having been founded in 2018 by four partners, Atlantic Farms cannabis company transitioned this month to an employee stock ownership plan.

The company has been investing in the growing market for folding cartons with the addition of high-tech machinery to accelerate workflow and handles a diverse range of box styles.

Zachau joins nearly 90 companies across Maine that have adopted employee ownership, through Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or ESOPs. The companies employ more than 8,500 people.