GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Rockford has become a 100% employee-owned company, giving all 330 employees a stake in the business as part of a transition aimed at preserving local control and strengthening employee retirement benefits, officials say.
The Grand Rapids-based construction, development and property management firm completed the transition through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP, a federally regulated retirement benefit that allows employees to build ownership in the company over time.
President and CEO Shane Napper said the move emerged from succession-planning discussions following the departure of founder and former CEO Mike VanGessel, who left the company in late 2024. Employee ownership offered a way to keep the company headquartered in Grand Rapids while giving workers a stake in its future growth, he said…