Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Birthdays are all fun holidays. But what day do our employee-owners look forward to every year? Statement Day.
What is Statement Day?
To accurately share what Statement Day is to Butler/Till and Digital Hyve, we must first explain what being an ESOP means to us. Investopedia defines an employee stock ownership plan, better known as an ESOP, as: “an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company; this interest takes the form of shares of stock.”
ESOPs give shares of their stocks to their employees based on tenure, leaving each individual to receive direct results of the company’s overall success.
So, what does all of this have to do with a big celebration we call Statement Day? Being an ESOP means our employee-owners earn additional funds for their retirement based on the financial performance of our enterprise. Statement Day is the annual event where we announce the company’s most recent stock valuation and share statements with our employees showing their personal new retirement account balance.
Our History
In 2011, Butler/Till became 50% employee-owned and shortly after in 2014, became 100% employee-owned. The ESOP model empowers the next generation leaders to enhance the agency’s consistent history of creative, innovative, and personalized client solutions.
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Becoming an ESOP also established an increasingly sophisticated proprietary interest in our clients’ successes. Digital Hyve joined Butler/Till and became an ESOP in June of 2021, meeting a long-time goal of the co-founders.
How Does it Work?
So how is the company valued as an ESOP and who determines what it is worth? There are three main components that go into valuating an ESOP: guideline companies, capitalized cash flow, and discounted cash flow. Guideline companies refers to simply looking at similar companies and comparing how much they are worth by reviewing their performance indicators like profitability, liquidity, efficiency, and capital structure. By weighing these three components, a third party can valuate an ESOP, which carries over into the share price.
Why it Matters
At Butler/Till and Digital Hyve, we value our employees so much that we made them owners, every single one of them. Job security, increased productivity, greater wealth, being part of a team that is highly engaged, and accountable, plus overall happiness are all proven benefits that go far beyond job title and salary when working at an ESOP. Together, we’re incredibly proud to be composed of 300+ employee-owners and stand as a true testament to the success of this ownership structure.
