(Midwest City, OK) – Kansas City-based Garney Companies, Inc. has been awarded a more than $47 million contract for the rehabilitation of a wastewater treatment plant in Midwest City, OK. Garney will overhaul the plant’s 30-year-old system in order to make it more efficient, environmentally friendly and cost efficient.
The City granted the award to Garney following a competitive bid process, which it issued in October. Five companies in total submitted bids to make the substantial upgrades to the city’s Northside Wastewater Treatment Plant.
As Garney celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, the company cites employee ownership as a primary motivator in its continued growth. The firm is structured as an employee-owned private company, or an “S corporation employee stock ownership plan” (S ESOP).
“We are honored to be selected to deliver these improvements to Midwest City,” said Mike Heitmann, president and CEO of Garney, “and because our team operates with pride in ownership, we are confident that the result will be total customer satisfaction.”
S ESOP companies like Garney, according to a University of Pennsylvania study, demonstrate higher productivity, profitability, job growth and job stability, generating a collective $19 billion in economic value that otherwise would not exist. Further, they create not only employee motivation and success, but also $14 billion in new savings for S ESOP workers that they otherwise would not have. This is because company profits flow into the ESOP (retirement) accounts of the workers. Moreover, most S ESOP employees have retirement account balances three to five times higher than the average 401 (k) or other defined contribution plans, as compared with most working Americans who, according to a November Associated Press poll, say that they lack confidence in their ability to live comfortably in retirement.
“Employee-owners like those at Garney work smarter and harder because of their commitment and investment in the business,” said Greg Klein, chairman of the board of directors of the Employee-Owned S Corporations of America. “The dedication of Garney’s employee-owners and the hard work of S corporation ESOP companies across the country continue to help our economy prosper and grow.”
Garney specializes in the construction of water and wastewater pipelines, treatment facilities, pumping stations, water storage tanks, and industrial/heavy civil projects. Garney was established in Kansas City in 1961 and has regional offices in Denver, Atlanta, Nashville, Orlando, and Phoenix. The company is 100 percent employee owned with approximately 720 current employee-owners.
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The Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (“ESCA”) is the Washington, DC voice for employee-owned S corporations. ESCA’s exclusive mission is to preserve and protect S corporation ESOPs and the benefits they provide to the employees who own them. These companies have an important story to tell policymakers about the tremendous success of the S ESOP structure in generating long-term retirement savings for working Americans and their families. ESCA provides the vehicle and the voice for these efforts. ESCA represents employee-owners in every state in the nation.