Employees of Local Construction Company now 100% Owners

Four years after starting an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), employees of PortSide Builders, Inc. are now 100% owners of the construction company that started in 1976. “We have a team of dedicated employees that have always cared about the company like they were owners,” stated FranShefchik, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PortSide. “Now we are making it official.”

PortSide began to implement its ESOP benefit plan in 2005. An ESOP is a benefit plan which makes the employees of a company the owners of that company. PortSide’s owners Fran Shefchik and Bob Stoehr decided on an ESOP as a succession plan for their company. Fran and Bob believed empowering the employees as owners in the company was the best way to secure the company’s future.

ESOPs have been growing in popularity since the mid-1970’s. Approximately 11,000 companies currently have an ESOP in place and nearly eight million employees are involved in them.

An ESOP is similar to a profit-sharing plan. The company sets up a trust fund and the company contributes either new shares of its own stock or cash to buy existing shares. As in most ESOP plans, shares are distributed to the employees and shares in the trust are allocated to individual employee accounts.

“Starting an ESOP was a great way to reward the employees,” Fran said. Over the past four years PortSide’s ESOP has grown to 18%. Shefchik challenged PortSide’s management team to help make the company as strong as possible long term. After researching and exploring possible options, the recommendation for the company and its employees was to move to 100% ESOP ownership.

“PortSide has been my baby for the past 33 years,” Fran said. “But over these 33 years I have seen how the company has become very dear to all our employees as well. Many have been a part of the company since the beginning and have made a lot of sacrifices. Their dedication, especially during this downturn in the economy, is commendable.” Shefchik felt selling his shares and putting the ownership in the hands of the employees already keeping it going only seemed logical.

Fran will continue his role as Chief Executive Officer and leads the ESOP Committee which also consists of; Paul Shefchik, Paul Landwehr, Alan Shefchik, Scott Shefchik, Jerry Englebert and Dave Phillips.

PortSide’s employees realize that as owners they have a unique opportunity to make an impact on their own futures. “We feel there is a competitive advantage when every employee has an ownership mentality and they understand that their destiny is in our own hands,” stated Paul Shefchik, President of PortSide. Dave Phillips, Custom Designer / Building Consultant for PortSide added “having a PortSide owner on every job site is a benefit our customers will enjoy for years to come.”