Employee Ownership in Texas
By the numbers
Background: In advance of a call with a policymaker, I thought it worth wrapping my head around employee ownership in Texas, by the numbers.
Employee stock ownership plans: According to NCEO’s map, there are 322 ESOP-owned companies in Texas, with 108,000 employees.
Among those are five companies that make the list of the 100 largest ESOPs in the country: Brookshire Grocery Company, Austin Industries, Sammons Enterprises, TD Industries, AirBorn, Inc., and Martin Resource Management Corporation, all of which are 100% employee owned.
Arlington, TX, home to UTA, had one, which moved to Grand Prairie since 2019.
Worker cooperatives: Texas punches below its weight in worker cooperatives. There are 10, with Black Star Cooperative probably the one most folks have heard of.
Employee ownership/purpose trusts: There are two, according to our database! ACP International is in Arlington; Text-em-all calls Frisco home. We know a third exists, but unlike ESOPs, trusts don’t have systematic reporting requirements.
H.E.B.: I often get asked about this—is H.E.B. an ESOP? I don’t believe so; I think H.E.B. made stock grants to its 55,000 employees. But hopefully one of you Texas readers can provide more insight.