Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Oikonomia

Home
Business, Finance and Religion
Entrepreneurial Stewardship: Owner Gives Away Millions to Employees

Entrepreneurial Stewardship: Owner Gives Away Millions to Employees

Last updated on: July 14, 2015 at 11:50 pm by Acton Institute

Entrepreneurial Stewardship: Owner Gives Away Millions to Employees 2015-07-14T23:50:32-04:00 Acton Institute

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Sarah Stanley

jc-huizenga Employees of the Huizenga Automation Group got a great surprise last spring.

According to Mlive, after selling the company, owner J.C. Huizenga gave away $5.75 million in bonuses to his employees at two manufacturing companies that were part of the Automation Group. Huizenga acknowledged that his success was due to the work of his employees so he wanted to share his profits with them: “We all worked together at J.R. Automation and Dane Systems” and the companies “had amazing success. It was the right thing to share with everybody.”

Bonuses were based on years of service and responsibilities:

The bonuses ranged from $500 for new employees to more than $50,000 for those who had worked at the company the longest, Huizenga told MLive and The Grand Rapids Press…

“It was our intention that everybody from the latest hire to those who were there the longest all participated so everyone got something,” said Huizenga, adding that he was seeking fairness.

Around $5 million was split up among 500 employees at J.R. Automation, while 70 employees at Dane Systems received around $750,000.

Huizenga did a similar thing ten years ago when he sold American Litho to a Tokyo-based firm. He gave bonuses to his employees as well as big party. He joked that he wasn’t sure if he would throw a party for J.R. Automation and Dane Systems employees, because he thought “everybody wanted a bonus more than parties.”

Huizenga is one of several generous West Michigan business owners:

In 1999, entrepreneur Bob Thompson gave his 550 employees across Michigan bonuses and annuities ranging in value from $200 to more than $1 million following the sale of Grand Rapids Asphalt and its parent company, Belleville-based Thompson-McCully…

That same year, workers at Lescoa Inc. in Grand Rapids received bonuses when company founder Leslie E. Tassell sold the auto supplier to American Bumper & Manufacturing Co. of Ionia…

Three years earlier in 1996, Elsa Prince made headlines when she gave away millions after she sold Holland’s Prince Corp. to Johnson Controls Inc. Some workers reportedly garnered more than $10,000.

Both J.C. Huizenga and Elsa Prince Broekhuizen serve on the board of the Acton Institute.

Huizenga did not intend to make a social statement by the gesture. He did it because it was “the right thing for our employees. Our employees are amazing people.” He acknowledges that a company is more than a building and machinery and HR forms, a company is people. “That’s really what a company is,” he told Mlive.

“It’s not a collection of assets, it’s a team of people.”

Originally published at the Acton PowerBlog

executive stewardship

Previous Post

July 14, 2015

A Testimony of Conscience and Conviction in the Workplace

Next Post

July 17, 2015 Competition and Infrastructure Stewardship

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Charity Church Common Grace Culture Curriculum Economics Education Family Justice Order Theology Uncategorized Vocation Wisdom Wonder Work

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the people do when Ezra read from the Book of the Law?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Laughed Ran away Destroyed idols Wept and repented