As we worked hard to build a business that truly made a difference in the communities where we lived, I grew more and more frustrated watching the lion’s share of the financial rewards of our team’s selfless work go to the government year after year. Disheartening as that was, I clearly understood I was not the only business owner facing this reality.
As a business owner, I was determined to create a meaningful, long-term reward for the employees who helped build the company. But at that time, our business model simply wasn't structured to make that possible.
That was the beginning of the shift for me. I didn’t have a clear solution at the time, just a growing sense that we needed to play a different game than the one we had been playing for years. Right around this time, I received a call from Steve Elias, someone I’d previously viewed as more of a competitor than a collaborator. Steve was the former owner of BAYCOM and had recently sold the business to OwnersEdge. Steve wanted to talk and, while I didn’t know what to expect from that meeting, it ended up opening a door I hadn’t considered before.
Steve and Lisa Reardon, then CEO of OwnersEdge, had developed a strategy to combine our businesses for the benefit of our employees. It wasn’t just about a transaction. It was about building something larger than ourselves, something sustainable, something that put our employees at the center. That was the first time I saw what an ESOP could really offer.
When the sale of CSW to BAYCOM and OwnersEdge occurred in 2017, I was focused on what an ESOP could offer my employees. My top priority was making sure that the people who had built the business could benefit from its future growth. That’s what mattered most to me.
The decision to sell CSW was about preserving culture, investing in people, and giving them access to something bigger than one business owner could provide.
Looking back, the transition brought a lot of change: new systems, new processes, and a new way of managing the business. Change always comes with uncertainty, and I’ll be transparent about this: It wasn’t easy. But I believed, and still believe, that the structure we adopted gave our team room to grow in a way that would have taken us far too long to develop on our own. Overnight, we instantly had a support system that offered the business and our people new and dynamic growth opportunities.
Interested in learning more about exit planning and ESOPs? Our knowledge base has the answers.
OwnersEdge is more than an ESOP; it provides access to best-in-class functional experts in disciplines including marketing, IT, HR, finance, and enterprise strategy. As a small business, we couldn’t afford to staff every department at the level we needed to scale. Joining OwnersEdge changed all of that in the blink of an eye.
The OwnersEdge shared services model offered us access to functional support when needed and helped to accelerate our growth with new strategies and the capital required to execute upon those strategies. Over the next few years, it was incredibly rewarding to see our employees flourish as they invested in themselves and created a new pathway to their American Dream in the process.
You can learn more by reading our blog: Our Edge: What It Means to Join OwnersEdge
Today, in my role at OwnersEdge, I have the opportunity to help other entrepreneurs make the same transition I did.
Our vision is focused on creating long-term value in the businesses we acquire by developing the leaders who run them and empowering the employee owners who drive them forward.
Our goal is to be the destination of choice for business owners who prioritize returning value to the employees who helped them grow their company in the first place. If you're running a business and struggling to identify a succession path that simultaneously compensates you for the smart risks you have taken over time, all the while putting your employees in the best position to succeed post-sale, there is a path that allows you to do both.
We want OwnersEdge to be that path. Essentially, OwnersEdge is a ready-made ESOP solution for small business owners and their valued employees.
Ten years from now, our vision is that OwnersEdge will continue to be recognized across the country as a desirable home for great companies and great talent alike. We’ve built a people-first culture, invested in the growth of all employees, and never lost sight of the fact that shared ownership is a powerful way to work together in pursuit of the American Dream.
What I find most rewarding is the chance to help our employees grow in their careers and achieve more than they felt they were capable of doing (individually or as a team). We are passionate about our culture at OwnersEdge. Our focus on recruiting, developing, and retaining talent that works hard, treats other people with respect, and shows resilience in the face of challenge continues to reinforce our culture.
If you're a business owner thinking about your next chapter or wondering how to preserve what you've built while rewarding the people who helped you build it, let’s talk. Confidentially connect with us to get started.
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