Let's Make More Arkansas Workers Owners

It was just supposed to be a summer job. I was studying at Arkansas Tech and wanted to earn a little extra cash.

I landed a position cutting sheet metal at the company where my dad has worked for years, Central States, a nationwide metal building products manufacturer headquartered in northwest Arkansas.

After that first summer, I went back to school for another year. The next summer, I returned ... and never left. I worked nights and continued my studies during the day. I worked my way up to a line lead position and then transitioned to sales.

Eleven years after starting full time, I'm still here. The main reason I stayed--and have no plan to leave--is because Central States is owned by its employees via an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, a retirement plan that lets companies share ownership with workers. We get stock in the company just for doing our jobs, which appreciates as the company succeeds and grows. I saw how the ESOP helped my dad create life-changing wealth and pave the way for a secure retirement when the time comes. And I am excited to build my own wealth and make my own mark as an owner.

In high school, I worked for UPS and as a farmhand, but being an owner of a company is just different. As owners, we have a sense of accountability to each other that you just don't see in most workplaces. It's not about calling people out, but making sure everyone is doing the right thing. If you see somebody doing something unsafe, don't wait until it's too late to do something. If I walk out on that floor without my hard hat on, I fully expect someone to let me know. Everyone has a voice and is expected to speak up if they have an idea that makes us work safer, smarter, or more efficiently.

Every day, we ask ourselves, "Would we put that product on our house?" We treat everything like it is our own because as owners, it is our own. This is our shop. We want to keep it safe, keep it clean, and make sure everyone is doing their part to help us grow. When we succeed, that's more money to the bottom line, which means more money in our ESOP accounts and more financial freedom in the future for all of us.

There's also a sense of limitless opportunity, which I attribute to everyone being an owner. The company had plans to open a new plant in Springdale to support the fast-growing pre-engineered metal frame market. It required welding expertise, so they sent me back to school to learn welding and paid for it. And then made me the operations manager at the new facility.

It's been the highlight of my career, not the least because I got to hire our first three dozen employees and see their faces light up as I described to them that they would be owners in this company. During interviews, I'd tell them how the ESOP works, and what it's done for me and others. I tell them about folks who retired with $1 million or more in their ESOP accounts, just regular Joes out on the floor--truck drivers, production techs. That's something you're not going to find anywhere else. We're producing something special here. Yes, we're making high-quality metal building parts, but we're also building wealth and security for families across Arkansas and beyond.

Becoming an owner has changed my life. It's given me purpose and a voice at work and is helping me build wealth that's already making a difference for my family. I've got three kids and because I know I've got that ESOP, I felt comfortable tapping into my 401(k) early to buy a duplex.

I was surprised to learn more companies don't share ownership with workers. In Arkansas, there are only 47 ESOPs, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership. A new coalition, Expanding ESOPs, is working to change that, and I hope my story helps in their efforts to make more workers owners here in Arkansas and across the country.

When I took that summer job, I never thought it would be the last company I'd ever work for. But 11 years from now, I'm sure you'll find me at Central States, helping the company grow even more, and continuing to build a secure future for myself and my family. Let's build a country where more people have that same hope for a bright future.

Jeren Chandler is operations supervisor at Central State's new metal frame manufacturing facility in Springdale.

As seen in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and written by Jeren Chandler.