I reported about this a few months ago, but held back on the name of the company before I saw more online activity. I found it today;
Anybody know what happened to Gage Brothers in the last year? Looks like they were bought out by Molin Concrete and now their ESOP is worth nothing as a result of the sale.
An ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) is a retirement plan that gives employees ownership in their company, often using a trust fund to buy company stock, aligning employee and shareholder interests for better performance, and serving as a valuable benefit or an owner’s exit strategy, providing tax advantages for both the company and seller, though it’s distinct from a 401(k) and involves complex governance by a trustee.
This confirmed to me that Gage Brothers was bought out, which I knew, but didn’t really know the details of the buy out, including most of the employees getting screwed on the sale. As I understand it when the company was bought they were in serious financial straights and facing bankruptcy, basically their competitor bought the place on a fire sale, so if you had ESOP stock, it was greatly reduced in value. Some employees told me they got $0 from their investment after the sale.
It goes to show that leadership is important;
Their president and part owner died suddenly 5 years ago. He had been with the company for decades and was the main visionary that oversaw their growth. After that it’s been a sad fall from where they were. They’ve been plagued by qc issues and the recent hudderite competition. Sucks for the employees and sucks that a company that used to lead the industry has fallen so far.
Pretty crazy that a signature company in Sioux Falls can fall so fast when one of their leaders dies. I tell people, strong leadership is important, and why I have pushed for a city manager instead of an elected mayor. I also think open government is important to TRAIN the leaders of the future.
I’m surprised this hasn’t been a bigger story in the news. And what’s up with the Hoots in the concrete bizzo?
‘We got turkeys, watermelons and precast walls. And if you buy a precast wall today we will throw in a free drumstick a whole watermelon and three 10 year old hoot boys to clean your garage for an afternoon.’
Who can beat those prices!!!!!???