Midland's Town and Country Group becomes 100% employee owned

Owning a financial stake in the company where one works, recently became a reality for the employees of one Midland business.

Town & Country Group, a local electrical company, recently introduced its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) after the retirement of its longtime owner. Under this system, employees can directly benefit financially and build a retirement portfolio from their work.

Town & Country has locations in Midland, Ithaca, and Zeeland, offering technology and electrical services for wiring, security systems, communications and more. The company was founded in 1983, employs 96 people company-wide, and employs 25 in Midland.

Founder Ken Bing retired on Jan. 1, transferring the business to 100% ownership in the process. Casey Veersma, director of human resources and safety administration, said an ESOP disperses the value of a company to its employees through private shares. Employees then become beneficiary owners and can directly reap funds from the work they put in.

This differs from a traditional corporate structure through means of a board of directors, of which Veersma is a part, elected by trustees and a leadership team making business decisions. It also differs from a worker cooperative (co-op), a business model where employees have controlling interest and voting power in a workplace.

Veersma said the shares that employees own are used to build up retirement funds, which are at no cost to employees.

“They (employees) have a direct impact in the success of the company,” Veersma said. “That multiplies the value that each of them holds, not only in how they earn money, but how they earn shares and the growth of shares' value over time through performance. It gives everybody that opportunity to maximize the benefit of being a good co-worker.”

One employee who can attest to this is Todd McMullen, a shop and safety supervisor for Town and Country in Midland who has worked for the business in some form since 1988.

But McMullen started under Pyramid Control, a company that merged with Town & Country in 2017. During his time under Pyramid Control, he said the company switched to being an ESOP before reverting back to a standard business structure due to the merger.

Having worked under both structures of employment, McMullen said being a part of an ESOP allows him to build up a retirement plan and encourages him to make the business grow.

“In a sense, it is like a pension,” McMullen said. “The better you help the business, the more you make it worth, that pays dividends to you at the end, too, when you go to retire.”

As to why these types of business models work, Veersma said they work with companies that have good workplace cultures.

“You are saying that this group of people can do this,” Veersma said. “We can have a great run as a company because of the great people that this company built.”

As seen in the News Advocate and written by Andrew Mullen.