By now if you are a friend of Story, you likely know that we transitioned ownership last fall from 31 employee-owners to a complete Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). We did not make this decision lightly; many factors were considered in deliberating, deciding, and executing. At its core, the considerations all boiled down to people. It was fitting, as our purpose statement is, “Building – because people matter.” It is why we exist as an organization. We are builders at our core, and we build for people. That is true for the owners we serve, the communities we serve in, the project partners we serve with, and those of us at Story Construction. We work to build relationships, careers, and wealth – for all of us at Story. This is who we are.
On May 26 we held our first Annual Shareholder Event as an ESOP company after our twenty-third annual Industry Appreciation Event. We began the day celebrating with our industry partners over a hog roast lunch, and kept the party going into the afternoon with our employee-owners. While the modest share price and the number of allocated shares represented an ESOP just three months young, it was a great day to begin the process that is 100% employee ownership.
As the saying goes, the best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago. The next best time is today. That tree is planted at the front of our building, and we look forward to watching it grow along with our ESOP.
Mike Espeset
President