What is an Employee Ownership Trust?
It’s not an ESOP. It’s an EOT.
BTI became employee-owned in January of 2021 when the company restructured as the nation’s 13th Employee Ownership Trust.
What’s unique about the EOT structure is that no company shares are exchanged. The sole share of BTI stock resides in a Trust. Its purpose is to improve the livelihoods of BTI’s current and future owners, called Employee-Members.
It’s partly a profit-sharing plan, which pays a bonus to current members each year the company shows a net profit. Were the company to ever be sold, the proceeds of the sale would be distributed among the current Employee-Members.
Employees automatically become a member of the EOT once they have worked a minimum of 4,000 hours (2 years full-time) for the company. There is no cost to the employee. The majority of BTI’s current staff are Employee-Members.
The EOT’s profit-sharing formula earmarks 1% of net profit for bicycle advocacy. We donate to various bicycle interest groups while BTI’s in-house advocacy team works within our local communities, together ensuring access for all riders across the US.
Profit-sharing is a great way to reward the people who contributed to the success of the company and keeps the team focused on reducing expenses, increasing sales, protecting margins, and nurturing relationships. The EOT is also an interesting exit strategy for business owners. If you have questions about the EOT, please contact BTI.
As part of BTI’s mission 1% of profits are earmarked for advocacy
BTI’s Vision and Sustainability Plan includes a commitment to the future. One way we accomplish this is by allocating a portion of profits annually to bicycle interest groups. BTI’s in-house advocacy team is also involved in local policy-making, helping to ensure that our community is a safe place to ride bicycles and that we as a nation will always have extensive, interconnected bikeways and bike trails. See also BTI’s Advocacy Page
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EOT Benefit Explained
Technically, an EOT is a profit sharing plan, offering potential rewards to those have contributed to the success of the company.
Annual payouts are tied to year end profit (net profit = revenue - cost of goods - expenses - taxes).
BTI’s stock is held in a Trust, administered by the Trustee, who ensures that the EOT’s profit sharing formula is followed each year.
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