McCownGordon becomes employee-owned business
McCownGordon Construction, a 15-year-old Kansas City company, has formed an employee stock ownership plan through a sale of the business by its three owners.
Chief executive Pat McCown and president Brett Gordon formed the company in 1999 and were joined soon after by chief operating officer Ramin Cherafat as an owner.
They have sold 100 percent of the company to a trust inside the employee plan, typically referred to as an ESOP. McCownGordon’s 125 employees will gain shares in the company over time as a retirement benefit.
Forming the plan means the company will be 100 percent owned by employees, with newly hired employees joining the plan to gain shares and retiring ones selling the shares back to the trust.
McCownGordon’s three owners formed the ESOP in part to settle any question about the company’s future ownership.
“They don’t have plans to retire,” marketing manager Jo Meyerkord said, “but this is just the first step in that (ownership) succession planning.”
Other area companies similarly are owned by employees through ESOPs, include Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell Inc. and Garney Construction in Kansas City, and MMC Corp. based in Overland Park.
McCownGordon projects currently include a $90 million new sanctuary for the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood; a $75 million healthcare education building for the Kansas City, Kan., campus of the University of Kansas Medical Center; and a $75 million high school in Olathe.
To reach Mark Davis, call 816-234-4372 or send email to mdavis@kcstar.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter @mdkcstar.
This story was originally published February 2, 2015 at 10:57 AM with the headline "McCownGordon becomes employee-owned business."