It was in 2016 when our owner, Hans Mehrle, decided he wanted a different way of creating a succession plan. Typical practice would dictate that he sell Selkirk Signs when his time was done, and leave the establishment in the hands of new ownership to handle as they desired. Thankfully, Hans was introduced to an ESOP (employee shared ownership program) group, and they proposed the ownership thinking approach towards the company’s future.

Hans and the leadership team worked tirelessly with the ESOP group to ensure the structure and government was in place to allow every employee the opportunity to become a company owner. Feasibility proposals, recommendation reports, company valuations, and blueprint finalization were all involved in helping Selkirk employees be able to own official shares in Selkirk’s growth. What started as a vision of our owner giving his team the chance to “buy in” on Selkirk now became an ESOP reality with its first share purchase made in 2017.

Now, we’re proud to have our annual share purchase, and mini-market, every year for new and existing employees to have the ability of claiming a stake in Selkirks’ future. We believe that our ESOP structure fully embodies our slogan of, “Building Your Success Story.”