Did you know that October is National Employee Ownership Month? But at The Greenery, Inc., we celebrate employee-ownership year round.
For the last 50 years, The Greenery, Inc. has strived to build a company made up of passionate and motivated employees and we believe we have some of the best in the business. In 1973, Berry and Ruthie Edwards, founded The Greenery on Hilton Head Island with a desire to do landscaping a little differently. They focused on hiring the most experienced and knowledgeable staff knowing that the professionalism and quality these employees brought to the table would play a huge role in the company’s ultimate success.
The company began the process of becoming an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) in 2003 and completed it in 2007.
Essentially, the formation of the ESOP allowed The Greenery, Inc. to create a trust which distributes shares in the company to employees based on factors such as wages and length of employment. Only .5% of all businesses nationwide adhere to the ESOP model including Publix, New Belgium Brewing and Cliff Bar. But the numbers are growing each year.
In addition to employee stock ownership, The Greenery, Inc. matches 401(k) with company stock for our employee owners. For every dollar that employee-owners put in (up to 3% of their salaries) they get a dollar of stock. The next 2% is matched 50 cents on the dollar.
The ESOP is The Greenery, Inc.’s number one recruiting tool and the ownership interest makes employees more likely to stay with the company. Working with us is more than just a job, it’s a career.
The vested ownership begins for the employee after a one-year waiting period and continues until they retire or leave the company. Along the way, employee-owners enjoy multiple opportunities to increase their shares in the company, either by enrolling in our 401(k) program or reaching certain milestones in length of service. The longer employee-owners work for The Greenery, Inc., the more shares they receive.
And that relationship becomes reciprocal. The harder our employee-owners work and the more pride they have in their work – the better they treat their customers, the better the company does. And the better the company does = higher employee stock prices.
The employee-owners are aware of the stock price and have been motivated by seeing the price go up year after year.
In order to communicate with our employee-owners what exactly an ESOP is and what it can do for them – The Greenery, Inc. utilize regular newsletters, meetings and updates from our ESOP committee.
“An ESOP gives a company its instant why. For most companies, why we do what we do is the hardest thing to define… we provide beautiful landscaping, but we also build retirements and a good lifestyle for the people that produce our product” explains Lee Edwards, President/CEO of The Greenery, Inc.
Since establishing the ESOP, The Greenery, Inc. has grown from about 200 employees to around 800 dedicated employees. Our territory now reaches from Hilton Head Island to Greenville and from Savannah down to Central Florida and lots of places in between.
The Greenery, Inc.’s growth has largely been driven by our employees (the owners) who each put in that little extra effort to help THEIR company grow.