Findorff becomes 100% employee owned with employee stock ownership plan

A major Wisconsin contractor announced it has gone fully employee owned.

Madison-based Findorff on Monday announced an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), a move which company officials said will further reward employees. The company will be 100% employee owned through stock allocations, an employee stock ownership plan and a qualified retirement plan, officials added.

The new plan was made effective on Jan. 1.

Findorff’s operational structure and leadership team will stay the same, officials said. Having an ESOP will bolster company culture and reward employees further and let them share in the company’s financial success, said Jim Yehle, the president and CEO of Findorff.

“We have a chance to take that to the next level,” Yehle said. “To not feel like you’re working really hard and working for a few people. Now we’re working for each other. If someone is having a hard time, you want to help them. If someone’s doing well, you want everyone to do well and succeed,” he added.

Yehle said the plan will help with retention and recruitment and will differentiate Findorff from competitors. The compensation package is additive to current employee benefits on top of retirement benefits, he added.

“I’m excited to see how this opportunity to be employee owned might light some fires in people,” Yehle said, adding that he wanted employees to share ideas for different types of projects to branch out to or expand company operations.

The company researched different models for over a year and the company expects the change to last for years, Yehle noted.

“Findorff is a place where talented professionals can commit themselves and then share in the success they’re helping to create,” said Michelle Kraemer, the director of people strategy at Findorff. “We hope our employees and prospective employees alike see our transition to employee ownership and understand the high regard in which we hold our dedicated people,” she added.

Established in 1890 by J.H. Findorff, the $1.1 billion construction company has offices in Madison, Milwaukee and Wausau. The commercial construction firm delivers on education, healthcare, multi-family, science and technology projects.

In Milwaukee, Findorff has completed projects such as The Couture, The Trade, the Wellness + Helfaer Recreation facility at Marquette University and the student union renovation for the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Across the state, the firm completed projects such as the Southside Elementary School for the Madison Metropolitan School District, the Sun Prairie West High School and Mystery at Epic System’s Storybook Campus.

There are around 22 Wisconsin construction companies that are ESOPs out of 207 Wisconsin companies across all sectors that are ESOPs, data from the National Center for Employee Ownership showed. As of 2024, roughly 17.4% of private construction companies across the U.S. were ESOPs, NCEO data showed.

As seen in Daily Reporter and written by Ethan Duran.