Food distributor PFSbrands sold to employees

HOLTS SUMMIT - Local distributor PFSbrands is now in the hands of its employees, thanks to a new employee stock ownership plan.

"I'm really excited to provide every one of our employees with the unique opportunity to earn stock in the company where they work," CEO Shawn Burcham said.

PFSbrands is the distributor of Champs Chicken and Cooper's Express, ready-made food distributed to retail partners like grocery stores and gas stations to the tune of 30 million pounds a year. 

Sole shareholders Shawn Burcham and Julie Burcham made the decision to sell the company to the employees after crediting the workers with the company's growth over the last 18 years, a news release said.

The company had already been cultivating financial transparency with its 120 employees.

"In 2011, we began openly sharing our financial results and business strategies with employees at regular weekly huddles," Shawn Burcham said. "The purpose of the huddles is to educate every individual on how they can personally impact the success of the company. In that way, we began to grow a culture of ownership thinkinghere."

The goal is to give employees a sense of responsibility for the company.

"The shares we allocate to our employee owners through the ESOP do not require a monetary investment on their part, but of course, the hard work these employees contribute and the results they achieve most certainly influences the value of their shares," he added.

For the last eight years, the company has been deemed one of the fastest growing companies in America by INC Magazine. Over the last three years, the company's revenue has almost doubled, the press release stated.