Thanks to Dan Davis and The Fabricator for letting me share my knowledge and experience about the power of Employee Owership and how it can help make manufacturers like Sentry Equipment so successful and a great place to work! This article digs in to Sentry’s transition from the Henszey family to being an employee owned company, as well as what it takes to build an ownership culture. Check it out!
Last fall, Robinson, Inc., a De Pere, Wis.-based metal fabricator with nearly 600 employees and more than $200 million in annual revenues, announced that it had become 100% employee-owned. For those involved in the transition, it made total sense, writes Editor-in-Chief Dan Davis. “It was really attractive to be able to add another benefit to the team and really reward them for their hard work," said Sam Thomas, Robinson’s VP and COO. "And that’s something that can go on for decades.” Robinson is not alone in its interest in the ESOP framework. Manufacturing is the largest industry sector for ESOPs, with 20.9% of employee-owned firms being manufacturers, according to the 2024 National ESOP Database from the The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). Sentry Equipment, an Oconomowoc, Wis.-based manufacturer of equipment that supports production efforts in several industries, became an ESOP in 1986, when younger members of the company’s founding family showed no interest in pursuing ownership of the business. "The key to [ESOPs] is that if people own a piece of the place that they work, they are just going to care more," said Brian Baker, Sentry president/CEO. #metalfabrication #ESOP #employeeowned #manufacturing #fabrication #businessownership #employeestockownershipplan
