ETC: Becomes 100% employee owned

Middleton, WI (05 March 2024) – ETC, the Middleton-based theatrical and architectural technology company, announces that it is now 100% employee-owned. The company turns 50 next year and has been headquartered in southern Wisconsin since its beginning. Now employing over 1200 people in 15 corporate offices worldwide, ETC takes the next step in solidifying its future as a privately held company.

At a company meeting on February 20, CEO, Dick Titus, discussed upcoming corporate goals as the company continues to hire and expand its development and manufacturing resources. Titus was followed by James Foster, a Board of Directors member and son of ETC founder Fred Foster. James Foster announced that ETC had expanded its Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP), making the company 100% employee owned. This act further solidifies ETC’s unique corporate culture, where employees come first and are rewarded for their dedication and continued contributions to the company.

Founded in 1975 by Fred Foster and a group of college friends at University of Wisconsin, Madison, ETC has always been known for its “Midwest-nice” culture. Fred, who passed away in 2019, was always quick to credit the employees for every corporate success. It was important to Fred that ETC remain a privately held company and ETC established a partial ESOP in 2015 to ensure that employees had a voice in major corporate decisions.

ETC is led by an experienced executive staff with guidance from their Board of Directors. While moving from a partial ESOP to a full 100% employee-owned company was always in the plan, the Board admits they did not think it would happen for several more years. “The move to 100% employee ownership first and foremost, increases the retirement benefits of our employees. It’s also a great way to maintain decisions that are in the best interests of our employees and the markets we serve,” Dick Titus says. “We’ll also be able to put more focus on improving operations, increasing product development resources, and pursuing new technologies for the future.”

Prior to December 29, 2023, 42% of the company was employee owned, leaving the other 58% owned by shareholders. That 58% is now planned for reallocation over the next 50 years to ETC employees. In his speech to the company, James Foster said, “When we’re at our best, we are more than just a company. And now you own ETC, in totality. Its success is your success. I believe you’re going to take ETC to places we can only imagine. I can’t wait to work alongside you to make that happen.”

Known for manufacturing iconic lighting, rigging, networking, and control products that can be found in venues around the world, ETC has expanded from the small, theatrical lighting company of the 90s to a full-system provider for museums, stadiums, television studios, hotels, hospitals, schools, and theatres in hundreds of countries around the globe.

As seen in WisBusiness.