Dietz & Company Architects, Inc. is pleased to announce that it is now 100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). An ESOP is a benefit plan that allows employees to earn stock in the firm and serves as a long-term retirement benefit for all employees as owners. Kerry L. Dietz AIA has been the sole owner of Dietz & Company Architects since its founding, and this is a big but exciting transition in ownership and leadership for the firm. All 30 current employees are now part of the ESOP.
New Firm Leadership
Ms. Dietz has selected five employees to take on new leadership roles within the firm. In addition to their work on client projects, each Principal has specific areas of contribution and focus for the firm as a whole.
Kevin Riordon AIA has been promoted to Principal. In his new role he will focus on quality management and staff mentoring and training.
Jason Newman AIA, LEED AP BD+C has been promoted to Principal. In his new role, he will concentrate on business and project management.
Craig De Jong AIA has been promoted to Principal. In his new role, his focus will be business development and client management as well as reviewing all Dietz & Company Architects’ projects at their completion.
Lee Morrissette AIA, LEED AP has been promoted to Principal. In his new role, he will focus on marketing and staff development, mentoring, and training.
Tina Gloster has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer. In her new role, she will focus on the company financials and contract management as well as Human Resources.
Kerry L. Dietz AIA says, “After being in business for over 35 years, it was time to look to the future and the existing resources we have developed over the past three decades. The ESOP structure maintains the company that we have built together. It reflects our shared values and company culture, while allowing for a controlled and measured transition over a number of years. It also meant that people’s day-to-day jobs won’t change. This was not a mere whim. This was a thoughtful, detailed, and complicated process, designed to create and continue the great company we have built.”
Staff is also very excited about this new direction for the firm:
“The transition of the company’s ownership by Kerry to the ESOP is an extremely generous and thoughtful business decision. It is a demonstration of her values that I am eager to continue. The employees are the company and they should share in the company’s successes. In this ownership and leadership transition we will continue to be a firm where architects can grow and lead a rewarding career designing architecture that inspires and serves the community.” – Lee H. Morrissette AIA, Principal
“When the decision to transition to an ESOP was announced, it was a true testament to Kerry and her company’s core characteristics—trust, teamwork, community, and growth. The time taken to ensure the day-to-day of every employee smoothly transitioned into the future is just one example of the plethora of selfless acts present in the infrastructure of Dietz & Company Architects. It is an honor and privilege to be part of a company that invests so highly in their employees.” – Kaeli Howard, Architectural Associate
As the ESOP is managed by a trust, of which Ms. Dietz is the trustee and thus continues to be majority owner, Dietz & Company Architects, Inc. will retain its status as a certified Woman Business Enterprise (WBE) for the foreseeable future.
The new Board of Directors of Dietz & Company Architects, Inc. will be Kerry L. Dietz AIA, Chair; Kevin Riordon AIA; Tina Gloster CFO; Amy Jamrog CAP, CASL, ChFC, CLU and Founding Partner and CEO of The Jamrog Group; and Eric Bernardin PE, Vice President/Regional Client Executive, Fuss & O’Neill, Inc. Dietz & Company Architects was assisted in this process by Spinnaker Trust, Empire Valuation Consultants, Bulkley Richardson, and Devine Millimet.