October 18, 2012
We are pleased to announce that ESCA Board Company Burns & McDonnell Engineering has been named The Best Place To Work by the Kansas City Business Journal. The Kansas City-based engineering, architecture and consulting firm celebrated 25 years of employee ownership last year, and they are without a doubt proud of their ESOP structure and the many benefits it has provided for their hardworking employees-owners and loyal customers.
Burns & McDonnell was among 30 recognized companies at the announcement last week, and after 7 years of being in the Top 10 Best Places to Work in Kansas City, they finally claimed the top spot. Burns & McDonnell sees themselves as trailblazers in the ESOP world as they are “growing and thriving beyond all expectations” since establishing their ESOP, Burns & McDonnell was also recently honored as the 2012 ESOP Company of the Year by the ESOP Association.
What makes Burns & McDonnell one of the best places to work in Kansas City is their increased stability, accountability, and teamwork, which is due in large part to their ESOP structure. When employees are stockholders in their company, a culture of ownership is created where employees work hard and perform at a higher level because the company’s success is quite literally their success. A high level of employee-owner engagement is the backbone of the company and the reason Burns & McDonnell operates so efficiently.
A recent study by Alex Brill, tax advisor to the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction commission, touts what Burns & McDonnell has personally experienced over the past 25 years. Brill finds that “S ESOPs have created more jobs than other businesses, significantly expanded the pool of US workers who are saving for retirement, and boosted company productivity.” Further, Brill says “employee commitment leads to increased profitability, which in turn allows companies to grow at a faster rate because they can invest more, hire more workers, and increase output.”
As stockholders, Burns & McDonnell employee-owners see their retirement accounts grow with annual contributions from the company. The ESOP grows as the employee-owner stays with the company, creating a high-impact benefit that rewards loyalty and success. They believe that “when people have a real stake in a company, its potential is limitless.” We could not agree more.
Congratulations to Burns & McDonnell for being named The Best Place To Work in Kansas City by the Kansas City Business Journal!