In 1993, Acadian Ambulance Service instituted an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), giving employees the opportunity to own stock in the company. Acadian has established a trust fund for its employee owners and contributes new shares of its own stock or cash to buy existing shares. Acadian employees currently own 80% of the company stock.
This year, Acadian is celebrating 25 years as an employee-owned company. In the past 25 years, we have grown exponentially: from three divisions to six, from 720 employees to more than 4,000.
Through the company’s continued growth, our stock value has steadily increased, allowing long-term employees to look forward to a comfortable retirement. “Optimism is prevalent in an employee-owned company because stock ownership improves the well-being of everyone. The employees have a greater participation in decision making and increased trust in the company and its management. Being employee-owned also allows us to recruit the best possible employees,” said Acadian Ambulance Vice President of Operations Clay Henry.
As we mark our 25th year of employee ownership, we continue to be blessed by the loyalty and longevity of our employee-owners. As of today, we currently have 64 employees with more than 20 years of service with the company.
“I want to thank all of the employees for your hard work and dedication. Acadian is a unique company, and the employee-ownership culture that we have built is a major reason for our continued success. I feel blessed to have such a great team here. Because of each and every one of you, we get a little better each year,” Acadian Companies Chairman & CEO Richard Zuschlag said during the company’s recent annual meeting. He spoke about the company’s future growth, made possible by employee collaboration and ownership.
The past 25 years of employee ownership has produced tremendous wealth accumulation for our employees through the ESOP. We eagerly look forward to what the next 25 years will bring.