Austin-born burger chain P. Terry’s is handing over the keys, at least on paper, to the people working the grills and drive-thrus. On Tuesday, the company said it is shifting control of the business to an Employee Ownership Trust that will give roughly 1,800 workers across its Texas stands a stake in the company. The move converts the chain’s voting shares into an independent trust that holds the business for employees while leaving day-to-day leadership in place.
According to a press release distributed via PR Newswire, the family-owned chain is transferring company shares into the trust as part of a long-planned ownership transition. The release frames the decision as a way to preserve the founders’ mission and keep the brand rooted in local control rather than outside ownership.
Local reporting by CultureMap San Antonio adds that the trust will cover staff at P. Terry’s 38 Texas locations, including seven in the San Antonio metro area, and that the company will immediately begin distributing 5 percent of operating income among eligible workers. CultureMap reports that eligibility requires at least two years with the company, and that P. Terry’s plans to grow that profit-sharing pool to 20 percent over time.
How the trust works
An Employee Ownership Trust is a legal structure that holds a company’s shares on behalf of its workers instead of issuing individual tradable stock, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. In practice, the trust becomes the steward of the company, meant to act in the collective interest of employees and long-term stability…