Marine company receives accolades for employee-ownership

In Jan 2022, Imtra announced it was now owned by its employees. The then owners sold 100 per cent ownership rights of the company to its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Now 74 out of the 78 employees have a very personal stake (the other four are recent hires) and continue on with the company’s primary goal: to be the best supplier to the recreational and commercial marine industries.

Two years on from the buy out, Imtra has been gifted the title of Employee-Owned Company of the Year (by the New England Chapter of the ESOP Association, with the national award to be decided later this year).

“We place a high value on being part of the ESOP community, with all these companies that support each other, share best practices and help each other be better employee-owners and organisations,” says Eric Braitmayer, president and CEO of Imtra. “I’m excited by how impactful becoming an ESOP has been for our company culture. Our team is embracing what it means to be owners of IMTRA and we expect our customers and suppliers will benefit from this enhanced engagement by our teammates. The ESOP Association was a critical partner in our transition to be 100 per cent employee owned and it’s always nice to be recognised by our ESOP peers.”

Braitmayer was part of the original leadership which stayed in place from prior to ESOP. The ESOP solution allowed Imtra to remain independent and to keep its management continuos, while providing a return for shareholders without the potential challenges that can come with a change in control.

He says the hardest part in the early years is communicating to the team about the benefits and responsibilities that go along with employee ownership. “Unlike many other retirement based plans, employees do not contribute financially to the ESOP, they contribute through their initiative, hard work and commitment to our customers and partners. Helping communicate how the ESOP will work for them over their tenure at Imtra is probably the toughest challenge at first. We are told it usually takes about three years under the ESOP before ‘the lightbulb goes off and the team really gets what it is all about.

“Our strategic direction has not been impacted by the ESOP, but with our future ownership defined, we can fully commit to developing our leaders of the future to ensure that Imtra can be a perpetual company driven by our core values and mission that won’t ever need to be derailed or changed due to an ownership change.

“This was the key objective by the selling families when they chose the ESOP. How can we make Imtra successful and carry on with the same ethos we’ve had for 70+ years well into the future? The ESOP helped us greatly in that effort to ensure the future of the business.

“We are a pretty humble group so no big celebration for this,” says Braitmayer. “Plus, by winning at the regional level, we are entered into the national company of the year contest so maybe we’ll have a more dramatic celebration if we were so honoured.”

Earlier this year, Imtra introduced the Zipwake Mini Controller in the US market, and expanded the availability of the Zipwake Dynamic Trim Control Solution, with new boatbuilding partners.