It became official on September 17, 1998. Price Brothers Company employees are now operating their own company. Which means we're entering the future with even greater confidence, enthusiasm and customer commitment.

"This is an exciting time for each of us," says Jim Clift, now Chairman, President and CEO of Price Brothers. "Employees at all levels are learning to understand balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and how their jobs contribute to building customer satisfaction and the bottom-line growth of our company."  

Purchased by ESOP

The purchase was made on behalf of the company's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) which was established in 1980 and had acquired 26 percent of the shares prior to this year's purchase. Most of the shares purchased were owned by the family of Harry Price, Sr. who launched Price Brothers in 1899 as a heavy construction contracting company in Michigan.

All 150 salaried employees of the U.S. operations of Price Brothers are participants in the ESOP. The remaining 300-400 U.S. employees as well as our PB (UK) employees continue to participate in other pension plans but are not ESOP participants.

We all see clearly the direct relationship between our company's performance and the pension benefits that can be generated for all ESOP participants?this should further reinforce our company's reputation for proactive teamwork and customer satisfaction.

To remind us all of our accountability for providing total customer service, there is now a broader sense of direct ownership.

Customers can expect to benefit

Many books have been written on what it takes to develop and operate a successful company. At Price Brothers, it is a combination of tradition and attitude best captured in the statement, "It must be fair, it must be right."

Here are some examples of how it works:

• We receive an overpayment from a customer, we return the overpayment.

• We make a mistake (yes, it happens)--we correct it at our expense.

• A customer has a problem so we also have the problem--whether we supplied the pipe or not--and we solve it.

• Safety is everyone's concern--we seldom have a lost-time accident.

• We give back, in time and dollars, to the communities where we live and work.

• We respect the talents and contributions of every employee and don’t get hung up on "office politics" or "turf wars."

It is no surprise that we enjoy what we do and try to have fun doing it. We appreciate the letters and comments from our customers when we have done what it takes to get the job done.

These values have been part of the Price Brothers Company for 100 years. We feel we can continue building Price Brothers by serving each customer according to these guidelines.

That's why some 150 company employees have now invested our own individual futures in serving you. Whenever you call on us, you'll be dealing directly with the owners--and be assured we'll continue to treat you right.