Meyer Contracting Flips to ESOP Model

A 40-year-old Maple Grove construction firm has become employee owned.

Meyer Contracting Inc. announced last week that it has been sold to its employees. The deal formally went through in mid-January.

Charlie Kramer, the firm’s chief financial and human resources officer, said that CEO Paul Meyer and president Verlyn Schoep decided to pivot to an employee-owned model as they considered their own retirement. Kramer said the pair saw the move as a way to “protect the culture and company we built” without having to worry about selling it to a third party.

On Jan. 12, Meyer Contracting’s five shareholders transferred total ownership of the company to employees. CEO Paul Meyer was a major shareholder. The firm is now operating under an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP. According to the Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership, there were 225 employee-owned businesses in the state as of 2021. Nationwide, there were 6,500, according to the group.

In a Wednesday afternoon interview, Kramer said that the shift to an ESOP model won’t bring any big changes in the company’s day-to-day operations. However, the firm has appointed a trustee to serve as fiduciary for the company. The company also appointed a new five-member board with two independent directors. It’s the first time that Meyer has independent directors on the board, Kramer noted.

Meyer’s current executive team – including Kramer – will remain in place. But employee-owners are “encouraged and allowed” to provide input on the company’s direction going forward, Kramer said.

Kramer said that Meyer is a seasonal business and does much of its work in the summer and fall. The company specializes in earthwork, utilities, piling, demolition, and concrete structures, and it works with both public and private customers. “We try to stay roughly 50% public, 50% private,” Kramer said.

As seen in Twin Cities Business and written by Dan Niepow.