GRANTHAM — When Paul Marinelli and Jeffrey Rosen were looking to sell Yankee Barn Homes, the company they owned for 15 years, they first thought of their employees.
“We explored options, and truthfully, the best option to maintain what we had done to keep the company in Grantham, to keep the employees there employed, was an employee stock ownership program, and so we began to look at that,” Marinelli said in a Wednesday video interview along with the Grantham-based timberframe home company’s president and CEO Kerri Post.
“I did talk to private equity people, and as much as … they tell you that nothing’s going to change, that’s not always the case. That risk just seemed to be too great to take, and that’s why we decided to go the employee stock ownership route,” he said.
That means the company’s 21 employees now have an ownership stake in the business, known as an “employee stock ownership plan,” which is commonly referred to as an ESOP. The sale was finalized in late August.
“This is really … a long-term retirement benefit based on the value of the company,” Post said. “They have the ability to earn shares, which will come back to them in the future.”
When the company’s leaders shared the news with employees, they were shocked and excited, Post said.
“Knowing that they have some security and get to play a role in the future of the company and continuing the legacy is, I think, very meaningful,” Post said. Each year, Yankee Barn Homes will be valued and employees will earn shares, she added.
Marinelli and Rosen bought Yankee Barn Homes in 2011. At the time, the company — which was founded in 1969 and has been located in Grantham since 1973 — was experiencing a downturn because of the Great Recession.
“Our goal at the time was to save the brand and rebuild it,” Marinelli said. They were able to do so with a team of dedicated workers, and that was part of the motivation for creating an ESOP. “Many of our employees live in Grantham, so I think the fact that it’s there and will be there will contribute quite a bit to the stability of that town.”
The company builds 20 to 25 homes per year, Post said.
“We’re not a mass manufacturer,” Post said. “We’re more of like a boutique, custom home builder.”
The average tenure of Yankee Barn Homes’ 21 employees is eight years, Post said. Around half have been with the company for more than 10 years. Post herself has worked there since 2014, was promoted to chief operating officer around four years ago, and was appointed president and CEO when the ESOP was finalized.
“We have a lot of long-term employees, which is also why, for me, it was important, and I believe also for Paul, that long-term employees were rewarded for their longevity,” Post said. “Being part of an ESOP … it’s not just affecting one person; it’s a big impact on their entire family.”
Morgan Brophy, president and CEO of the Upper Valley Business Alliance, lauded Yankee Barn Homes for planning for the future and creating a succession plan.
“We talk a lot about how businesses can succeed their own founders, and I think … in this case, someone had the foresight to do some exit strategy planning and not just consider their own exit strategy, but the future of their employees,” Brophy said in a Thursday phone interview.
Yankee Barn Homes is the latest in a line of Upper Valley-based ESOPs, including Hypertherm in Lebanon, King Arthur Baking Co. in Norwich and West Lebanon Feed & Supply.
“You don’t have to be a 100-employee-plus company to take this route,” Brophy said. “It gives the employees a figurative and literal stake in ownership, so they’re more invested in the success of the business.”
Since Yankee Barn Homes made the switch, Post has noticed a shift in how employees approach their jobs.
“We don’t have big, big departments, so they’re already committed to helping each other and knowing that we’re all a team,” she said. “But this is even more so because now they understand they’re actually working for not just themselves but each other, and they have a certain amount of accountability and responsibility to everyone now, in a very different way.”
