We are owners: Employee Ownership Month 2025
What does it mean to be an employee-owner? It means taking initiative. Having pride in your work. Treating each project like you own it, because you do.
This Employee Ownership Month, employee-owners across ESS Companies’ (ESSC) brands — Achen-Gardner Construction, Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS), Rummel Construction, Monks Construction, and Premier Testing Laboratories — have leaned into how they act like an owner.
Real talk from real owners
Employee ownership unites each of the ESSC brands and employees. They feel the combination of personal responsibility and shared success. Throughout October, employee-owners shared their “act like an owner” stories. They showed that our 5Ps core values (people, purpose, partnership, passion, and performance) aren’t just company ideas — they are lived every day.
“To be able to actually see the difference you made is really something,” said Ricky Grace, Rummel dozer operator. “That’s the passion that keeps me going.”
Team members like Ricky understand that having passion as an employee-owner directly impacts how they perform. “If you’re not passionate about what you do, you’re not going to be able to deliver a good product,” continued Ricky.
When the whole crew owns it, it makes the job easier. Everybody is invested in each other’s success. “I know that my passion for it is appreciated, and I know that the people I’m working with are as passionate as I am, because we’re owners,” said Jody Lawrence, Premier Testing Laboratories quality control manager.
As owners, the purpose of your work goes beyond clocking in for a paycheck. “As an employee-owner, I’m able to contribute for my crew, the community, and the bigger picture,” said Keegan Jones, ESS operator.
That same pride is felt across the country by fellow employee-owners. “I get to improve infrastructure all over Arizona while building a stable foundation for myself,” said Rusty Cooper, Achen-Gardner excavator operator.
New to ESSC and employee ownership, Monks embraced their first Employee Ownership Month. “What excites us about having our employees become employee-owners is that it provides them with a clear path forward, a direct stake in what we do every day, and the opportunity to have meaningful wealth as they move toward retirement,” said Jason Greer, Monks president.
October ends, ownership doesn’t
Across the country, our employee-owners gathered to celebrate and learn more about what ownership means, day in and day out. From jobsite conversations to office events, they saw the impact of employee ownership.
October may come to an end, but the ownership mindset doesn’t stop here. It’s something to carry every day, in every decision on and off the jobsite. That’s what it means to be an employee-owner.
