Built to Own

The Bonding Myth That Needs to Go There is a piece of conventional wisdom in construction that needs to go: if you are heavily bonded, an ESOP is off the table. I hear it from contractors all the time, and sometimes from advisors who should know better. It is wrong, and it keeps good contractors from even looking at employee ownership. Surety needs to be part of the conversation early in an ESOP conversion, not brought in after the fact. But “real issue” and “dealbreaker” are

Construction ESOPs Are Playing Offense Construction ESOP leaders aren't just managing their plans. They're using them to grow. I saw it firsthand at the ESCA leadership summit. The M&A breakout session was packed with mature ESOP leaders, and the energy wasn't defensive. It was aggressive. Companies are deploying capital, acquiring competitors, and building platforms. That's what this post is about. How the Repurchase Obligation Works in a Mature ESOP If you run a mature cons

What the first 1-3 years after an ESOP transition actually look like for construction companies. The communication gap, the share price arc, and why building an ownership culture takes more than signing the deal.

For construction leaders building companies that last. Five years after a PE deal closes, I ask the employees how it's going. The answer is almost always the same: "The company is unrecognizable." Multiple rounds of layoffs. The original name is gone. The culture, the thing that made the company special, is maybe 10% of what it used to be. I've spent 15 years working with construction companies on insurance. In that time, I've watched dozens of firms navigate succession, some