ERMCO Announces Establishment of ERMCO ESOP
On June 30, 2014, ERMCO entered another exciting era in its history when the Gossett family sold a majority ownership to the newly established ERMCO ESOP. With a couple of minor exceptions over the years, this is the first time since the company was founded by Ed Gossett in April, 1962 that any significant amount of ownership of the company has been outside the Gossett family.
While the family has been researching various options for over two years, final exploration of the various options began in the latter part of 2013 with the decision to establish an ESOP being made in December, 2013. The decision was made after discussion with the leaders and employees of several other companies who are currently operating as ESOP’s and with consultants from the ESOP industry. While there were other options that may have resulted in a little higher payout for the selling stockholders, they decided that the ESOP was the best option when several other factors were taken into account.
“While getting a fair return on our investment was important to the stockholders, the long-term success of the company was first and foremost in our decision,” said Darrell Gossett, President and one of the five Gossett siblings who equally owned the existing company shares. “It is critical for us that the legacy our father started and that we have nurtured over the last 50+ years continues going forward well beyond our time with the company.”
He continued to explain, “While members of our family have played key roles in the leadership of the company throughout our history, it has been the dedication and passion of our employees that have made us who we are today and it is their strategic leadership that will guide our success in the future. Additionally, several members of the next generation of our family are currently employed at ERMCO. We believe this decision also ensures they are now part of a company that will allow them to succeed through the same hard work, determination and integrity that has got us to where we are today.”
The ESOP allows the members of the company’s management and support staff to obtain company stock and to grow their investment in ERMCO through both their years of service and position in the company. Through this arrangement, the individuals who directly influence the success and growth of the firm have the opportunity to more directly reap the rewards of their efforts. The ESOP will also allow ERMCO to better attract new talent to the team by offering ownership in the company to prospective new members.
The establishment of the ESOP will not result in changes to the current Executive Management team of ERMCO. Darrell Gossett, President and Greg Gossett, Senior Vice President of Construction Operations will remain in their current roles, along with Jim Tsareff, Executive Vice President; David Peterson, Senior Vice President of Business Development & Marketing; Gene Burcham, Vice President, Systems Group; Chad Bell, Vice President, Estimating; and Rod Burton, CFO.
Concerning the importance of maintaining the current Executive Team, Senior V.P. Greg Gossett said, “We have been highly successful for many years and a great deal of this success has been due to the leadership and teamwork we enjoy with the members of ERMCO’s Executive team. Just as the ESOP is being put in place to give all of our employees a larger role in the company, the Executive Management team will continue to lead those employees and ensure that our customers receive the highest level of services we can offer as we strive to be the very best electrical and systems contractor in our industry.”
We owe special thanks to both our inside ESOP Committee and our outside partners who have gotten us to this historic milestone. ERMCO’s ESOP Exploratory Committee as assigned by the Board of Directors and approved by the Stockholders included Darrell and Greg Gossett along with Jim Tsareff and Rod Burton. This group has spent countless hours in collaboration and negotiations with the strategic partners to work out the many details involved. The ESOP process is very complex and we could never have worked our way through it without the help of several experts from the ESOP field. They are listed below. Their guidance and assistance will directly affect ERMCO’s future success and we owe them our gratitude. June 30, 2014 will prove to be a historic day in the future of ERMCO and we are excited to begin the next era of our company legacy.
ERMCO ESOP Strategic Partners
Lance Lyday, Harbour Wealth Partners (ESOP Liaison/Advisor)
Julie Sheeks, Sheeks Law Firm (Attorney for Stockholders)
Andy Manchir, Katz Sapper & Miller (Valuation Partner)
Sharon Hearn and Alex Mounts, Krieg DeVault LLP (Company ESOP Attorneys)
Thomas J. Potts Jr., CPA, Fiduciary Trust Services, Inc. (ESOP Trustee)
Van Olson, Van Olson Law Firm LLC (Attorney for Trustee)
Brian Bornino, GBQ Consulting LLP (Valuation team for Trustee)