Sentry Equipment, a machinery manufacturer headquartered in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
The industrial sampling equipment producer employs 200 workers and operates facilities in Wisconsin, Houston and Salt Lake City, supporting a range of industries that includes food and beverage, specialty chemicals and oil and gas.
Next year also marks 40 years since the company became employee-owned.
Founded in 1925 as the Henszey Company, the business transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) in 1986 when Dick Henszey retired and transferred ownership to employees — a move current CEO and president Brian Baker described as a bold idea at the time.
Sentry’s ESOP follows a six-year schedule, which starts with employees vesting 20% after two years and 80% after five years. After six years of continuous employment, workers gain full access to their account upon leaving or retiring.
In this Q&A with Manufacturing.net, Baker discusses the company’s century-long journey, its path to employee ownership and the advantages he sees in being an employee-owned company.
Nolan Beilstein (NB): What led to Sentry’s transition to an employee-owned company?
Brian Baker (BB): Sentry Equipment was founded as a family-owned company and remained owned by the Henszey family for the first 65 years of its existence. As the second generation was coming into leadership, they were deciding how to transition the business.
At that time, in 1986, it was a really bold idea to take the family business and sell it to the employees. They were really trailblazers in showcasing the strength of ESOP culture.
NB: How has an ESOP affected company culture and performance?
BB: I like to think of employee ownership as our company’s rallying cry. Employee owners have the unique advantage of receiving total accountability and dedication to Sentry’s products, customers and the overall company.
What makes our company culture strong, thanks to being in an ESOP, is that an individual is going to work harder, care more and be more engaged if they own a piece of the place that he or she works.
Employee owners are expected to be engaged more and trust each other more than normal employees.
NB: Which part of Sentry’s present-day operations do you think would be most interesting to the company’s founders?
BB: I think that Sentry Equipment’s founders would be most impressed with the diversification of our business over the last 100 years.
Sentry Equipment began in 1925 as a producer of power plant components and milk evaporators. In response to industry and customer needs, the company diverted its focus to supporting the power generation. That used to make up 90% of Sentry’s business.
Now, it’s about 40%. The company has expanded and diversified to other businesses – food and beverage, oil refinery and eventually wastewater.
Diversification of product lines has helped make for a stable business. The company also expanded to diverse not only in market area but also in product offering.
When I started at Sentry, we had no service capabilities. Now, we have almost 30 service techs, and service is about 20% of our revenue. They compliment each other really nicely.
NB: What is a piece of Sentry’s 100-year history that is still relevant today?
BB: Over the last century, our company has invested and remained committed to its home state of Wisconsin.
Sentry invested in a 62,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in Oconomowoc that was designed with specific energy efficiency and sustainability measures including environmentally-conscious landscaping and LED lighting.
We support the growth of manufacturing and technology in the state and are involved including our participation in the Waukesha County Business Alliance and our annual educational efforts with Manufacturing Day.
NB: How does a 100-year-old company appeal to the youngest generation of workers?
BB: Sentry Equipment has remained committed to welcoming the next generation of workers into the employee ownership group through its unique recruitment strategies and employee engagement.
In order to recruit this generation, Sentry hosts a Manufacturing Day every year, which welcomes high school and college students to the Oconomowoc headquarters to learn more about a career in manufacturing.
The company also partners with GPS Education Partners to promote technical career pathways. Individual employees also participate with local STEM youth groups and host facility tours.
Sentry Equipment CEO and President Brian BakerSentry Equipment