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The ESOP Advantage

H&P's ESOP Advantage

Employee Owned for More Than 30 Years

Hurt & Proffitt offers an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which means that every established employee is a part owner in the company. That gives each member of the team a personal stake in the organization’s success. The ESOP model offers financial rewards for your future, and personal rewards for today. Matt Leslie, H&P’s CFO, breaks it down for you in this short video.

H&P: Where Every Employee Can Be An Owner

H&P established its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 1996, making every employee a true stakeholder in the firm’s success. As Matt explains, ESOPs are qualified, tax-advantaged retirement benefit plans that allow employees to own shares in their company — with cash contributions made by the company on their behalf. The ESOP builds equity for employees without requiring them to contribute their own money. The value of those shares grows in step with the company’s annual performance, meaning when H&P wins, every employee-owner wins.

Employees are eligible for ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) after one (1) year of service with the company.

And the benefits go beyond the balance sheet. ESOPs create a genuine sense of ownership that motivates employees, increases productivity, and improves retention — qualities that H&P’s clients experience firsthand through the quality and consistency of service they receive. The effects ripple outward too: employee ownership drives smarter resource allocation, greater business efficiency, and a deep, shared pride in the H&P name.

For H&P, the ESOP isn’t a benefit program — it’s the foundation of who we are.

Want to learn more about H&P’s ESOP? Visit ESOPconnection.com or reach out to our HR team at hrsupport@handp.com.

What does it mean that H&P is an employee-owned company (ESOP)?

Q1: What does it mean that Hurt & Proffitt is an employee-owned company?

Hurt & Proffitt is 100% employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, commonly known as an ESOP. This means there are no outside investors, no parent corporation, and no private equity ownership — the firm is owned entirely by the people who work here. As H&P employees earn shares in the company over time, they have a direct financial stake in the firm’s performance and a personal investment in the success of every client relationship. For clients, that translates into a team that is genuinely accountable, deeply motivated, and focused on long-term results rather than short-term profit margins. For employees, it means building real wealth and ownership in a firm they help grow every day.
When you hire a large, publicly traded or private-equity-backed engineering firm, decisions about your project are often made by people far removed from your job site — people whose primary accountability is to shareholders, not clients. At an employee-owned firm like H&P, every person on your project team has an ownership stake in the outcome. That culture of ownership drives responsiveness, attention to detail, and a long-term mindset that national firms often struggle to match. Employee-owned firms also tend to offer greater continuity. Because H&P employee-owners are invested in the firm’s reputation and future, turnover is lower and client relationships run deeper. The project manager you meet on day one is typically the same person seeing your project through to completion — not a revolving door of staff chasing billable hours. Combined with H&P’s 50-plus years of Virginia project experience and the resources of a nearly 200-person firm, you get the best of both worlds: local accountability with the depth of a full-service practice.
For employees, the ESOP provides a meaningful retirement benefit — employee-owners accumulate shares over time that grow in value as the firm grows, building long-term financial security that goes well beyond a standard 401(k). This makes H&P a place where talented engineers, surveyors, and scientists choose to build careers, not just collect paychecks. For the communities H&P serves across Virginia and the mid-Atlantic, employee ownership means the firm’s success stays local. Profits are reinvested into the company and its people rather than flowing to outside investors or distant corporate offices. That commitment to place is reflected in H&P’s deep roots across Central and Southwest Virginia — our offices in Lynchburg, Roanoke, Blacksburg, Halifax, Wytheville, and beyond aren’t just business locations, they are home to the employee-owners who live, volunteer, and invest in those same communities every day.