SAFE Boats

The result: SAFE Boats became 100% employee- owned essentially overnight, aligning ownership with the workforce’s commitment to the company’s mission. Interestingly enough, despite this drastic change, the SAFE Boats company culture hasn’t changed nearly as much as its financial structure. “We’ve always cared and done our best every day because we’ve always felt connected to the company and its mission and purpose. So we’re not behaving any differently,” Schwarz explains. Navigating the ESOP transition at an unprecedented pace, SAFE Boats stands as a beacon of how ownership aligns with purpose. While the ESOP model focuses on long-term retirement benefits, SAFE Boats emphasizes the immediate benefits through profit reinvestment. In an effort to promote education and ownership, the company has established an Employee Owners Advisory Committee. Composed of key employees, both old and new employees, this committee ensures inclusivity in decisions on how profits are utilized, bridging the Boats headquarters since the early 2000s, while the Tacoma site was opened up down the line to allow the company to build larger vessels. Currently, the Tacoma site handles the manufacturing of the 85- foot Mark VI Patrol Boats under a contract with the U.S. Navy. “We essentially do almost all of our designs.There are a few exceptions where we have some agreements with other companies. But by and large, 98% of the boats that we’ve built are fully designed by SAFE boats,” Schwarz explains, noting the extent to which the company directs and guides the manufacturing process. It’s also responsible for delivering boats to customers both domestically and internationally. However, if it’s a foreign military sales contract through the US Navy or Coast Guard, those respective organizations handle the logistics of getting the boats to the end users. The company has a team of boat operators, trainers, and service technicians that it sends all over the world to support its customers. That includes staff that will do operational training for the customers when they receive their boats, as well as basic maintenance, warranty coverage, and systems training. “So we’ll provide lifetime service and support to our customers… if they have an accident, we have teams that can go out and do basically anything anywhere in the world,” Schwarz explains. Perhaps this level of autonomy and competence was the inspiration for the recent turning point that the company has reached in its organizational structure. In 2023, SAFE Boats took an unexpected yet monumental step—transitioning to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Unlike the traditional ESOP path, where businesses gradually shift ownership as part of succession planning, Safe Boats experienced a unique journey. In 2010, the majority ownership was sold to a private equity firm. However, recognizing the value created by their dedicated team, the founders and investors chose a different route in 2023. 9 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 02 SAFE BOATS