The New Albany-based housing developer Wallick Communities will become the latest central Ohio company to be owned by its employees.

The company's owners, Howard Wallick, Julie Wallick and Tom Feusse, announced Tuesday that the company’s ownership would transfer to its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Wallick, the largest developer and operator of affordable housing in Ohio, employs more than 1,100 workers.

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Under the ESOP, employees will earn Wallick stock as part of their retirement plan. In a news release, Wallick's owners said they considered several options before deciding on an ESOP as a way to preserve the culture of the company, founded by Jack Wallick in 1966.

“Moving to employee-ownership preserves Jack’s values and vision for the company, while enabling our associates to benefit from our success," Wallick CEO Amy Albery said in the release. "We know that our associates already think and act like owners, putting residents first through genuine care, genuine character and genuine collaboration.”

Wallick joins about 300 Ohio companies and about 6,500 companies nationwide to operate under ESOPs, according to the Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University.

Other Ohio ESOP companies include Davey Tree, Great Lakes Brewing Co. and Buehler's Fresh Foods. Several Columbus-area companies have also transitioned to employee ownership including FST Logistics, Infoverity, Oswald Companies, MKSK, Palmer-Donavin, and another affordable-housing developer, Woda Cooper Companies.

Once the value of a firm is established under an ESOP, employees can start accumulating shares of the company based on seniority and position. The shares can't be bought and sold but can be cashed in upon retirement. In 2019, about $3 billion was paid out to ESOP retirees in Ohio, according to a study by the Ohio Employee Ownership Center and Cleveland State University.

Employee-owned companies tend to out-perform non-employee-owned firms, said Chris Cooper, director of the employee ownership center, and Mike Palmieri, program coordinator at the center.

"Employees tend to keep a long-term relationship with the company," Palmieri said. "There’s an incentive for the company to perform well. We see a huge impact on productivity, growth ... all tend to be better than with non-employee owned companies."

Wallick Communities has developed more than 400 affordable and senior housing communities throughout the Midwest, and currently manages more than 200 communities with about 15,000 apartments.

jweiker@dispatch.com

@JimWeiker

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Wallick Communities employees to become company owners