No. 4, 301+ employees: SRC Holdings Corp.

Stack, founder and CEO of SRC Holdings Corp., expects every one of his employees – from floor sweepers to corner-office executives – to understand and use detailed financial information to make SRC a stronger, more efficient company.

With so much responsibility given to employees, Stack figures he ought to give workers a large stake in SRC’s success.

Thus, performance bonuses and an employee stock ownership plan are two reasons why SRC ranked high in Springfield Business Journal’s inaugural Best Places to Work survey.

Stack said he doesn’t believe only business owners and CEOs should reap big bounties from a growing company.

“I don’t think the problem is the creation of wealth,” he said.

“I think it always comes down to the distribution of wealth. So this has the tendency to level the playing field.”

Open-book management is responsible for making SRC – a collection of 10 companies that mainly remanufactures engines – into a $220 million giant.

“Our employee stock ownership plan is probably the paramount benefit that we do offer,” said Malinda Stevens, director of human resources.

An employee who started working at SRC when it was founded in 1983 would now own roughly $250,000 in privately held company stock, which would have been allocated to them based on seniority and company equity throughout the years.

“Basically, we’re tipping them with equity,” Stevens said.

Bonuses also provide motivation.

Recently, SRC division ReGen Technologies – a joint venture between John Deere and SRC – had 70 percent on-time shipping. That wasn’t good enough. So the division’s 142 employees increased on-time shipments to 96 percent and received $1.1 million in bonuses.

“It really affects how employees make day-to-day decisions,” Stevens said.

Brainpower is also important at SRC, and employees can get a free college education. The company pays 100 percent college tuition, even for graduate degrees.

There are only a couple restrictions: employees must earn a C grade or higher, and they must take business courses or work toward a business-related degree.