Roger Ryberg, the 25-year president and owner of Windings Inc., a New Ulm, Minn.-based manufacturer, offers proof that you can make a buck and still do right by the employees.
Ryberg, 67, a 3M Co. plant-management veteran who was tired of moving, bought the electric motor component maker in 1983. It had only a few employees and less than $1 million in annual revenue. The company, which now employs about 100 people, has grown to about $20 million in annual sales.
And the employees, led by a management team that has been mentored by Ryberg, are in the process of becoming owners.
In 1998, Ryberg, whose kids have their own careers, started to think about selling the company and providing for a comfortable retirement.
"I also wanted to preserve the company in New Ulm and for our great employees who helped build it. And I wanted them to participate in the gains if they continue to grow it," Ryberg said.
Interested competitors and out-of-town outfits would have paid a prettier penny upfront. But they also might have consolidated the operations elsewhere or burdened the company with excess debt.
Ryberg opted instead to sell the company to the employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The self-financed, 15-year buyout will take about five more years to complete.
It will mean more than $7 million to Ryberg by the time the employees have paid for the company out of profit-sharing, based on the rising value of the stock.