Hansen Plastics Corporation is a 100% Employee-Owned company, proud to celebrate Employee Ownership (ESOP) month this October. After building a successful injection molding business in the Elgin, Illinois area, HPC’s founders, Elmer & Arlene Hansen, didn’t want to close the business and decided to find a way to keep it going while in retirement. An ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program) was the answer. Hansen Plastics Corporation formed their ESOP in 1991 and has been fully employee owned since 1998.
HPC offers a simple message that encompasses our values. We believe we can impact society with selfless service to others. Our journey is comforted by the care we receive and share with each of our stakeholders. We aspire to empower our fellow employees with an experience of joy and happiness, which frees us to use open-minded approaches that develop our confidence to deliver economic and social freedom that sustains us all.
The ESOP program at HPC helps facilitate this value statement.
ESOP Benefit/HPC Core Value – Economic Freedom
According to The ESOP Association, ESOP’s help narrow the wealth inequality gap and employees who work for ESOP based companies, on average, earn higher wages and have greater savings than their peers in non-ESOP companies.
Referring to studies contained in an Aspen Institute study on racial equity from 2021 (Race and Gender Wealth Equity and the Role of Employee Share Ownership – The Aspen Institute) The Employee Ownership Foundation reports that employee-owners earning low- to moderate-incomes had ESOP accounts with a median value of $165,000 while the typical median value of savings for an American household is only $17,000! Additionally, survey results show that ESOP participants ages 60 to 64 had 10 times more wealth than a typical American in the same age group.
While ESOP’s have not closed the income inequality gap, studies are showing they are narrowing the gap. As participating in the ESOP program, HPC contributes to closing the gap and offering the economic freedom an ESOP encompasses to their employees.
As business owners, the employee-owners of Hansen Plastics Corporation understand how important your business is to you. When you contract with HPC for your injection molding needs, you can rest easy knowing that each person involved in the manufacture of your product has an ownership stake. When you sell your product to your customers, you can be confident that “the people behind your product” will stand behind their work.
If you would like to learn more about HPC please visit their website at www.HansenPlastics.com or give them a call at 847-741-4510.