Here’s the closely guarded secret to Nussbaum’s success:
It’s our people.
They are Purpose Driven. It means they consider their work, decisions, and interactions as opportunities to make an impact. They’ve made Nussbaum a leader in the transportation industry.
All the way back in 1945, Alden Nussbaum’s vision was to make caring for his employees priority number one. That philosophy has guided us for over 75 years. So, when it came time to decide about Nussbaum’s future, we asked the same question he would: what’s best for our people?
We didn’t want to sell to another trucking company. We loved our culture and the people who built it. We knew that to preserve Nussbaum’s legacy, the people who built it should be the ones who run it.
That’s why in 2018, we took the first step and sold 35% of the company to the employees in an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan). This gives each employee an ownership stake in the form of privately held Nussbaum stock, which is allocated to their ESOP account. The ESOP account functions as a supplemental retirement account, fully vested after six years of employment. Each year, an outside valuation firm determines our share price.
Over the next few years, we plan to sell the remaining 65% to the employees.
Employee Owned, Purpose Driven
Employee ownership means we go beyond just our “tasks.” Rather, we “own it” – take personal ownership of the quality and success of our work. So, if you’re talking with someone from Nussbaum, you’re talking with an owner. Here are a few practical examples:
- We take care of our equipment because we’re not driving someone else’s truck. We take pride in how it appears and ensure it gets the proper maintenance.
- We operate efficiently. If we slack off, we’re wasting our time – not the company’s.
- We take customer relationships seriously because they’re our customers.
- We treat financial decisions as if they affect our personal success, because they do.
We look forward to continuing the legacy of Nussbaum: purpose-driven people, first-class transportation service, and making a positive impact. “For Nussbaum, it wasn’t about the money; it wasn’t about selling to the highest bidder,” says CEO Brent Nussbaum. “It was about selling to the people who would preserve our character and heritage.”
