Berlin Packaging is about to add another 2,000 people to its list of owners.
The distribution company, which says it is the world's largest supplier of packaging items using plastics, glass and metal, launched the 1Berlin Shared Ownership Program on Sept. 19. It immediately provided an ownership stake to all of its workers with at least two years of continuous employment.
"We're introducing our 1Berlin Shared Ownership Program now because our team has collectively persevered through the last four years of pandemic disruption with unprecedented grit and resiliency," said CEO and President Bill Hayes in a news release. "Everyone contributes to our success, and everyone should share in our future success and value creation."
It is, he added, a way of "putting our money where our mouth is."
Employees will not have to invest anything to be part of the program, and workers will receive free financial training. And while the staff's benefits under the program are clear, companies with employee ownership programs say they have a crew that is more engaged at work and less likely to leave.
Chicago-based Berlin Packaging already has ownership stakes from Oak Hill Capital Partners, Canadian Pension Plan Investments, the cities of New York and Toronto, and its corporate management. All of them "enthusiastically support" the 1Berlin project, the company said.