Sioux City’s Suter becomes an employee-owned firm [Video]

SIOUX CITY — Two major Sioux City firms entered into employee-ownership arrangements last year. 

CW Suter Services, one of the largest HVAC and commercial plumbing contractors in the Sioux City metro, became 100 percent employee-owned last year. Thompson Solutions Group, the Sioux City electrical and tech contractor, created an employee-ownership program of its own. 

The employee-ownership arrangement at Suter — known sometimes by the acronym ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan — went into effect Aug. 1, 2023, said Suter President and CEO John Baker. 

Thompson, which expanded through a merger with Interstate Mechanical at the beginning of 2023, closed a deal June 30 that transitioned the firm to 25 percent employee ownership. Employees must put in five years of service with Thompson to be vested in the ownership plan. 

“They (employees) reap the rewards, or share in the benefits of ownership, just like the rest of the owners, or …