No. 2, 25–100 employees: Ollis & Company

Ollis and Co. was “strictly a family business” from its beginnings in 1885 until 1984, when President and CEO Richard Ollis and his father, Ron Ollis, implemented an employee stock ownership plan.

“We wanted to grow and expand our company, and we felt in order to do that we needed to give our staff an ownership stake in the business,” Richard Ollis said.

After a year of employment, Ollis and Co. employees automatically gain shares of stock, Ollis said, noting that most of the agency’s 31 employees are owners.

In 2005, turnover at Ollis and Co. comprised a single employee. Ollis attributes employee satisfaction to a battery of benefits that is reevaluated quarterly by the agency’s management team.

“We are constantly evaluating where we are from a benefits perspective and how we can recruit the best and brightest to our organization,” Ollis said.

The company offers a matching 401(k), pension plan and stock options to full-time employees after a year of employment. Entry level, full-time employees also receive more than 10 paid vacation days.

Employees also have access to flu shots and in-house exercise equipment, and management has offered occasional classes on topics such as nutrition, professional attire and personality skills, said Shirley Harman, a 24-year employee who now serves as the agency’s information technology manager

“The benefits are just outstanding,” she added. “I have never wanted to leave. I love it here. It’s just a fantastic place to work.”

Harman said the company has kept pace with technology, equipping staff members with dual monitors and printer-copier-scanners at their workstations. A network fax system and handheld computers also helped improve efficiency, she said.

Full-time employees at Ollis and Co. each receive an average annual salary increase between 4 percent and 6 percent, and the average employee bonus is more than $1,000, according to the agency’s survey responses. In 2005 alone, the company distributed $450,000 in bonuses to 25 shareholders, Ollis said.

Each month, the staff meets to review and discuss pertinent financial information as well as “critical indicators of our business,” Ollis said. “Most of the employees have responded extremely favorably.”