North KC-based construction company becomes 100 percent employee owned

The last two private owners for Mega Industries Corp. agreed to sell their shares and make the company 100 percent employee owned.

Founded in 1992 in North Kansas City, Mega Industries created an employee stock-ownership plan in 2006. However, CEO Brian Gordon and COO Craig Bridgeman still owned shares privately, outside the ESOP. They have sold those shares back to the company.

"This is an exit strategy for us over the next five to 10 years," Gordon told the Kansas City Business Journal. "We're not going anywhere right now and planning to keep running the company for several more years."

Mega Industries handles a wide variety of public and private construction projects, including highways, parks and recreation, water treatment, aquatic facilities, bridges, commercial buildings and sustainable construction. Past projects include renovation of the Swope Park Pool, construction of the Kansas City Zoo's elephant shade structure, the Metcalf & Shawnee Mission Parkway Bus Corridor Transit Center and renovation of the historic Leavenworth Fourth Street Bridge.

All 60 employees at the company, including skilled tradesmen, are eligible to acquire shares of stock as retirement assets. The company's people always have been its most valuable asset, Gordon said, and being able to grant them ownership just makes the company stronger.

"There's nothing better than having your front-line guys out there being in ownership and knowing they're doing everything in the best interest of the company and the client," Gordon said. "It's also hard to find skilled tradesmen these days, and being able to offer employee ownership can really help us from a recruiting and retention standpoint."

As seen in the Kansas City Business Journal and written by James Dornbrook.