SSC Debuts Employee Stock Ownership Program
In January, Shiel Sexton announced that it will transfer a significant ownership stake to its employees using the tax-free vehicle of ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). Employees will receive allocations of company shares for years to come, whereby their earnings grow tax-free until retirement age.
Shiel Sexton celebrates its 50th anniversary in April and has been privately owned since its founding by Dick Shiel and Tim Sexton in 1962. Though management retains a significant share of the ownership, every employee who qualifies becomes a shareholder in 2012. According to Shiel Sexton President, Southeast Region, Ben Wilhelm, who chaired the ESOP roll-out strategy, “Many large national construction firms have looked to ESOP as an excellent avenue for succession planning. We have an ownership culture from top to bottom so going ESOP validates our belief that our people are Shiel Sexton’s biggest asset.”
The core of an ESOP trust is to create value as earnings grow tax-free until participants exit the plan. “Our vision is to ultimately grow to be 100% employee-owned a generation from now,” explains Shiel Sexton’s Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Hunt. “We have learned that the earning power of ESOP enables a company to make significant investments in future growth while building a great nest-egg for employee retirement. We want both because it will help us recruit and retain great people.”
