Godshall’s Quality Meats of Telford, Pennsylvania, plans to become an employee-owned company. Owners Mark Godshall, Floyd Kratz and Ron Godshall say they are taking this step to ensure that the business remains independent and maintains its unique culture.
“It seemed like the next step in our philosophy of treating our employees like family,” said Mark. “I don’t think we could hope for a more dedicated, hard-working team…real problem-solvers. As Ron, Floyd and I looked to the future, we wanted to be prepared for the future, one in which folks didn’t have to worry about ownership by a competitor or outside investors, freeing them to do what they do best.”
Added Ron, “We’re also making every employee an entrepreneur of sorts. When its yours, you do care just a little more, and employees really will benefit from their company success.”
Ron, VP of manufacturing, started in 1984 making boxes and washing up the facility.
“There’s no ivory tower here, regardless of your last name, and as we’ve grown, we make sure our values and the way we treat people stays rock solid. We started feeding local folks at farm markets, and now we feed the nation; but outside of scale, I’d like to think nothing changes.”
Kratz said, “Probably the easiest decision we’ve ever made. We agreed that this was the way to keep the company intact and growing the way it has since 1945.”
The ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan, will begin its rollout this month. There are more than 6,000 ESOP companies throughout the U.S., in every sector of the economy.
