BALTIMORE — Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore says they are becoming employee owned.
Last month the company gave its first six employees a stake in ownership.
Going forward, Union says any employee reaching their fifth-year anniversary will also become part-owner at no cost to them.
Each will receive an undisclosed pro-rated share of the company's net income.
So where did the idea come from to turn regular employees into business owners?
“The genesis of this idea came very early on as we thought about long-term planning for the company's future,” co-founder Jon Zerivitz, explained. “That said, we didn’t really have a plan for when we would start it, or even how we would do it. After acquiring the ownership shares of a previous owner, we accelerated our thinking around employee ownership, and were able to create the Beer Unites program.”
In 2011, Union became the first production brewery within city limits to open for business in 30 years.
