Every worker in Missouri deserves to be part of an employee stock ownership plan | Opinion

To put myself through college at Missouri State University, I worked summers framing houses. I put on my boots, strapped on my tools, clocked in and clocked out after eight hours, and collected my paycheck every Friday.

I was thankful to earn enough to help pay for my education, but that was it. Same story each week.

After graduating with a degree in construction management, a neighbor in my hometown of Oak Grove suggested I apply for a job with his company, Garney Construction, which builds key infrastructure such as wastewater and drinking water treatment plants in the Kansas City area and beyond. I’d heard about Garney from others in the neighborhood over the years, including something about its employees somehow sharing in ownership of the company.

I applied and got hired. And I quickly realized it would be more than just clocking in and out.

All of my coworkers were talking about this thing called an ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan — a retirement plan we had that made us owners of the company. I knew retirement was important, but I had just graduated from college the previous month and it wasn’t exactly at the top of my mind.

But then, six months in, I got my first ESOP statement. It was far from exorbitant, but still, I recall looking at that piece of paper and thinking, “Wow, I’ve only been here six months and this is mine.” If I was at another company, it would go straight to the owner. But here, I am the owner.

Year after year, I’d look at the statement and the balance kept climbing and climbing. And I wasn’t putting a dime into it — just sweat equity. Then about six years in, they brought back a guy who had retired after 25 or 30 years, primarily as a laborer at the company. He told us about all the things he had the financial freedom to do and buy because of his ESOP. I was like, “Holy cow, this is the real deal!” It just amazed me how much he could do in his retirement and how secure he felt.

The next year, I became vested, and it started becoming clear to me that this wasn’t only security for me. It was security for my family. I have a 12-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter, and my fiancée has a 7-year-old daughter.

The ESOP gives us hope. It means that when I finally hang up my boots, I’ll be taken care of — and, if I play my cards right, the rest of my family will be OK, too. It’s an unbelievable feeling.

And it’s a pretty good feeling while I’m working, too. Unlike my previous jobs, when Garney succeeds, we all succeed. It’s ingrained in our culture. We have an app where we can submit lessons learned from projects so that others in the company can improve. If I can help someone else reach their full potential, that helps my wallet.

And everyone, no matter the level, is encouraged to submit to a “best ideas” competition. A few years ago, we replaced 6,000 bolts on a 60-inch line at a local wastewater treatment plant. It was installed in 1962, and the existing bolts were all corroded and nasty looking. We explored many different methods of getting the old nuts off, and finally ended up buying a hydraulic pump and some hydraulic torque wrench sets. It made everything go quickly and smoothly. We spent a little more up front on the tools, but in the long run, it helped us lower labor costs big time.

From building wealth and a secure retirement to providing a workplace where my voice is heard and matters, the ESOP has changed my life. I’ll hit 17 years at Garney in June. Thirteen more years and I can retire — not that I’m counting.

When I sit back and think about it, it always amazes me: I’ll be able to retire, securely, and my kids will be taken care of. Sadly, that’s not so common in our country. Most folks have little to nothing saved for retirement. If we had more ESOPs, more workers could have the opportunities I’ve had. There are only 189 ESOPs in Missouri, making up about 3% of the state’s workforce. It would be great if there were many more, and it’s why I’m excited to lend my voice to Expanding ESOPs, a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to expand employee ownership to every company in the country.

Everyone should be able to hang up their boots, when the time comes, without worry.