Hannibal Industries Has New Majority Owner … It’s Employees!

Hannibal Industries — the Los Angeles-based manufacturer of carbon steel tubing and pallet racking systems — recently announced that more than 75% of it employees are now 100% vested in the company.

The company launched its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) back in 2009. Since then, its sales have increased 20.4% and the company has expanded outside the US.

Company president Blanton Bartlett attributed much of Hannibal’s success to its new owners, its employees.

“Our company has come a long way since becoming an ESOP and we owe that to our dedicated employee-owners,” Bartlett told Modern Materials Handling. “They are driven and committed to grow and excel with the company.”

Companies that are owned by their employees tend to grow between 2.3% and 2.4% faster than they did before they set up their employee stock plans, according to the website ESOP.com. Those ESOP companies that also practice participative management grow 8% to 11% faster than those that don’t use that structure.

“ESOP employees make 5% to 12% more in wages and have almost three times the retirement assets compared to workers in comparable non-ESOP companies”, the website states.

Hannibal was formed with it bought the assets of Kaiser Steel Tubing from Kaiser Steel in 1985. It has six high frequency mill lines that are capable of producing 120,000 tons of tube per year.