Menke & Associates was proud to assist George & Lynch, Delaware’s largest commercial construction company, with the installation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) at the end of 2021. Headquartered in Dover, George & Lynch has been building critical infrastructure in and around Delaware since 1923, tackling projects ranging from roads and bridges to…
Convenience chain Wawa is one of the largest ESOPs in America. Now, a power ranking by Forbes has named them as one of the largest private companies in America, as well. Wawa ranked 29th, with a revenue of $11 billion and 38,000 employees, making them the largest privately owned company in Pennsylvania. Wawa ranked well…
In 2015, Menke & Associates, the nation’s premier full service ESOP firm, served as advisor in the design and implementation of an ESOP for Andesa Services, the leading provider of integrated, cloud-based solutions for life insurance and annuity carriers and providers. In 2020, Andesa completed the transition to 100% employee-ownership. And in 2021, Andesa demonstrated…
In October, 2021, Russell Bond & Co., Inc., a Buffalo, NY-based insurance wholesaler and longtime Menke client, announced that they had agreed to become part of Jencap Group, one of the largest insurance wholesalers in America. Gary Hollederer, President and COO of Russell Bond & Co., described the decision to join Jencap as being driven…
November 11th, 2021 — Menke Group Managing Director, Philip DeDominicis was recently featured on the How to Hardscape podcast in an episode, entitled, “Employee Stock Ownership Plans with Menke & Associates.” In the episode they outline how to give workers an ownership interest in a company — ESOP benefits, the kinds of companies employee ownership…
Nov 11, 02:00 PM EST — Phil DeDominicis will be presenting a free webinar, giving an overview on ESOPs for owners, CFOs & CPAs. Click Here to Sign Up The CPE/CE webinar qualifies for 2 credits and provides a broad overview of ESOPs with the following topics: Key topics discussed in this online CPE/CE course: Using…
ESOP companies are attractive to millennial workers because they offer benefits and a culture that fit what they are looking for. They provide powerful retirement savings at a time when perks that their parents may have enjoyed, like robust pension plans, are nearly impossible to find.
On September 9, 2021, Menke Group Managing Director of ESOP Advisory and Investment Banking Matthew Nels will be speaking at the Great Game of Business Conference in Dallas. His presentation entitled, How Business Owners, Management, and Employees Can Benefit from ESOPs, will explore the range of ownership transition options that business owners might consider, and…
The Menke Group is proud to congratulate longtime client Global Tax Management on their recent placement on the 2021 Inc. 5000 list. The Inc. 5000 is the definitive ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America. GTM earned their position by posting 58% revenue growth over the last three years. Headquartered in Wayne, PA, Global…
One benefit of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) that should not go overlooked is how they can help companies grow. Not only are ESOPs powerful tools for recruiting and retaining top talent, but they also empower companies to make strategic acquisitions that help them become market leaders in their fields. ESOPs help companies make strategic…
On May 1st, 2021, Porterville, CA fruit growers Homegrown Organic Farms completed their transition to employee ownership with the implementation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
Many businesses like to say that their most valuable resource is their people. WestLand Resources, Inc.’s (WestLand) Engineering & Environmental Services puts that belief into action. The Menke Group is proud to have assisted WestLand with their successful transition to 100% employee ownership through the creation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) at the…
In a recent article in Forbes entitled, “The ESOP Revolution: Fighting Financial Inequality And Empowering The Working Class,” author Christopher Marquis examines the “transformative power of employee ownership” in combatting the massive wealth inequality in America. Marquis argues that businesses can claim to be “sustainable and socially responsible,” and may back up those claims with…
In a recent article published in the Harvard Business Review entitled “The Big Benefits of Employee Ownership,” Thomas Dudley, CEO and co-founder of Certified Employee-Owned, and Professor Ethan Rouen of Harvard Business School shared the results of a study based on a single question: what would happen if every American business became at least 30%…
MyPath, an employee-owned family of companies that provides comprehensive services to children and adults with physical and mental disabilities, has been named the ESOP Company of the Year by the Wisconsin chapter of The ESOP Association. Based in Oconomowoc, WI MyPath has over 2,000 employee-owners serving Wisconsin and Indiana. They have been 100% employee-owned since…
On May 7th, Menke Managing Director Phillip DeDominicis will be speaking at the Ohio Employee Ownership Conference to be held at Kent State University. Phil will be giving a presentation entitled, “Employee Owner Track: ABCs of ESOPs for ESOP Participants,” which will cover how to provide new employees with the essentials of what it means…
Architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms with Employee Stock Ownership Plans outperformed traditionally-owned AEC firms in four out of six valuation categories, according to Zweig Group’s recently released 2021 Valuation Report of AEC Firms. These findings demonstrate how an ESOP can create wealth for employees and owners alike in these vital industries. Notably, the report…
If there is one lesson to be learned from the upheaval of the past year, it is the importance of having a succession plan in place. No one can anticipate all the challenges that could accompany a global pandemic or a sudden massive economic crash, but having a roadmap for keeping your business intact in…
Motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson has announced that it will be issuing stock to 4,500 of its employees, including every one of its hourly factory workers. With this move, Harley-Davidson will become one of the most recognizable employee-owned companies in America. Harley-Davidson has suffered from falling sales in recent years. Giving so many workers an ownership stake…
The Menke Group is proud to welcome Senior Benefits Consultants Michael Dee, MBA, QKA and Jessica Quaday, QKA to our Annual Administration team. Accurate, reliable, and efficient recordkeeping is the backbone of a healthy ESOP, and our team of highly trained and experienced administrators are here to handle any ESOP recordkeeping challenge. Mr. Dee and…
President-Elect Joe Biden has signaled his intentions to promote employee ownership during his administration through the nominations of two vocal proponents of Employee Stock Ownership Plans to critical positions: Marty Walsh for U.S. Secretary of Labor and Isabel Guzman to head the Small Business Administration. The Menke Group joins the ESOP Association in expressing our…
The Menke Group is thrilled to congratulate longtime client Ganahl Lumber on being named 2021’s Dealer of the Year in the $100 million+ category by LBM Journal, the leading media company serving the lumber/building material distribution industry. Ganahl Lumber has been providing quality lumber products to the greater Los Angeles metro area since 1884. Their…
Please join me for a highly interactive, LIVE webinar on Thursday, January 07, 2021 | 02:00 PM EST to learn more about “ESOP OVERVIEW FOR OWNERS, CFOS & CPAS”. Attending this webinar will also qualify you for FREE CPE/CE Credits. Here are a few key learning objectives for the workshop: To identify when ESOPs may…
In 2017, the Menke Group had the distinct pleasure of helping Philadelphia-based insurance brokers and consultants Graham Company buck industry trends by converting to 100% employee ownership. Now, in a terrific new article published on Property Casualty 360, Graham’s VP of Human Resources Karen Boyle looks back on their first three years as an ESOP…
Thursday, January 14, 2020 (1:00PM – 3:00PM EST) This 2-hour web seminar is free-of-charge and will show how ESOPs can be structured to accomplish these and other objectives that may be essential to the sustainability of your company in navigating through this difficult period. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely have a financial impact on most…
Companies with Employee Stock Ownership Plans have “drastically outperformed” traditionally owned businesses at retaining jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic by a rate of 4 to 1, according to a new report released by the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing in partnership with the Employee Ownership Foundation. This report, which…
San Francisco’s Fireclay Tile has followed its peer, Menke client Heath Ceramics, into employee ownership. Fireclay had previously given its employees a 14% stake in the company in 2013, and has now expanded the employee’s ownership stake by an additional 23%, meaning the workers own more than a third of the business. Home to 150…
The Davey Tree Expert Company, headquartered in Kent, OH, was recently named the 9th largest ESOP company in America according to a report by the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). With approximately 10,500 employee-owners, Davey Tree is among the largest landscaping companies in the US, regardless of ownership structure, and is a good example…
We here at The Menke Group have previously argued that the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for change, for creating a more equitable economy, a better capitalism. We have said that the future of the American economy will hinge on employee ownership, and on ESOPs in particular. We have written about the ways ESOP companies…
The Menke Group was proud to advise and assist Colorado-based Applewood Seed Company, a wholesale supplier of bulk wildflower and garden seeds, with the design and implementation of their Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The transaction, which closed on July 31st, 2020, is a critical component of the company’s comprehensive succession plan, and will keep…