Business View Magazine - Feb 2024

company also makes efforts to speak about its ESOP benefits to the public in general. “Through social media,which we’re very active on, and articles and advertising, we focus on our employee ownership culture, and how that translates to the longevity of employment here,” says Vice President of Marketing and Customer Service Dave Cotsmire. NURTURING OWNERSHIP THROUGH DEVELOPMENTAL INVESTMENTS Over the years, The Will-Burt Company has put forth a tremendous amount of energy toward educating the public about the value of its ESOP model. These efforts have directly translated into key investments that have been directly for the benefit of anyone looking to grow their career. The company has developed what it calls The Will-Burt Academy as an educational resource to help individuals expand their knowledge and expertise via things like certifications, internships, etc. Internally, the company’s investments in its people include both educational and financial aspects. global leader in innovation and reliability. The Will-Burt Company’s culture of ownership is certainly the driving force behind its current achievements, but that culture wasn’t built overnight. A lot of effort goes into helping its employee-owners fully embrace the ESOP model, which requires education and transparency. “We just share the [ESOP] history and talk about how it’s grown. Most people are familiar with a 401k, so we just show how it compares to that,” says Director of Human Resources Michael Hart, explaining that once people understand that the returns, they’ll get from the ESOP usually outmatch the returns they’d get from traditional 401k plans, the model becomes extremely appealing. As a show of transparency, the company issues financial statements every year for its employee- owners, allowing them to see details like their current shares and balances within the plan. Adding to that appeal is also the fact that those higher ESOP returns happen entirely without any financial contribution from the employee. Additionally, the 91 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 02 THE WI LL-BURT COMPANY