We read recently that workers’ share of America’s economic output is at its lowest since 1947. Corporate profits, meanwhile, are at their highest since 1950. This mismatch may explain why many Americans say they are financially vulnerable. Their hard work is creating more wealth for corporations, not their own bank accounts and families.
At Intrust IT, a Cincinnati-based IT and cybersecurity provider, we have a model that flips this concerning trend. The more money Intrust makes, the more goes to the people who make it run. That’s because we are employee-owned through a retirement plan that allows companies to share ownership with workers. It’s called an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP.
This change has been in the works for many years.
When our founder started Intrust, his long-term vision was to sell the company to its employees through an ESOP. His dad had done the same with a software company a generation earlier.
As a result, our culture always encouraged every employee to understand the business and how we make and spend money. But once we became 30% employee-owned in 2019, and then 100% last year, our financial security and ownership mentality soared.
Patrick ensures our clients get everything they need, from software licenses to laptops and servers. After time in the Navy and then moving from job to job as he chased a little more salary or a little better culture, he’s been with us for nearly nine years. Rebecca has been with the company for over 16 years, serving as our chief financial officer.
As our ESOP accounts grow, we no longer feel like we have to save every cent. Some of our co-owners have been able to buy houses. While many Americans have no idea how they’ll save enough to ever stop working, we expect to retire on time, without contributing a penny to the ESOP.
In prior jobs, we both had a different mindset.
Our paycheck was the same, even if the company’s profit margin grew. Annual budgets were handed down from the top, often breeding conflict and confusion. As an employee-owner, Patrick goes the extra mile to ensure every purchase is the best deal possible. Rebecca leads annual budget planning by opening our books and inviting every employee-owner to help decide our goals and how we’ll reach them. This summer, we’ve all worked together to reduce recurring and one-time costs, from stretching our travel per diem as far as possible to canceling underused subscriptions.
All of those savings get funnelled back to us.
Many of Patrick’s peers in their 40s have little hope of retiring. We see young people in our community who want to be part of something meaningful and are struggling to get a foothold in the job market. At Intrust, our long tenures are the norm, even for younger workers, because the longer we stay, the more our ESOP accounts grow and the more this company can be a force for good.
Our clients trust that the people who know their IT and security systems best will be here for years to come, and that our company won’t be sold abruptly one day, leaving them out in the cold. When the pandemic shuttered many businesses, we pledged not to lay anyone off. In fact, we keep hiring more staff, now 70 employee-owners strong.
If we had a magic wand, everyone we know would have an ESOP. But there are only 344 ESOPs in Ohio.
That’s why Rebecca is on the board of Co-op Cincy, which is working to make our city a hub of worker-owned businesses. We’re thrilled the Ohio Center for Employee Ownership is educating business owners about employee ownership and its benefits. Across the country, the Expanding ESOPs coalition is building a movement of nearly 100 organizations working to grow employee ownership in our state and beyond.
This Labor Day, let’s swing for the fences. Instead of platitudes about working people’s sacrifices and struggles, we can commit to making more Ohioans employee-owners. For nearly 80 years, our economy has increasingly helped those at the top at the expense of everyday people.
Through employee ownership, we can set things right and all share in the wealth our labor makes possible.
At Intrust IT, Rebecca Moix is chief financial officer and Patrick Brewer is a procurement specialist. They are both based at the company’s headquarters in Cincinnati.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Workers create corporate wealth. Let them share in it | Opinion
