The EVI Way
EVI upholds a highly decentralized operating model. Our businesses serve thousands of customers across local markets in North America with distinct preferences and with whom the sales, service, and management teams that comprise our businesses have built trusting relationships. Therefore, we encourage our leaders to operate in a manner that builds upon the longstanding relationships they have established with their customers and with their suppliers. To that end, we preserve the name of our acquired businesses, and we seek to retain their employees, continue their product brand-name offerings, and empower and support management to execute on long-term growth and profitability opportunities. We believe this strategy allows us to build on the value of the acquired businesses.
We maintain a specialized staff on our corporate team and a series of contracted professionals that provide functional support for our businesses, which includes specialists in finance, accounting, product procurement, treasury and working capital management, tax planning, risk management, and safety. We also seek to maintain a culture that rewards performance through a variety of performance-based commission programs, cash incentives, and equity plans. Our equity plans are designed to promote long-term performance, as well as to create long-term employee retention, continuity of leadership, and an ownership culture whereby management and employees think and act as owners of our Company. We believe that our restricted stock program supports these goals because in many cases the majority of an employee’s restricted share grants vest at the end of his or her career, which is generally age 62 or later given the long-term vesting associated with such awards.
We believe that our operating model derives the benefits of size without most of the risks associated with centralization and corporate-wide integrations. Ultimately, we seek to capture these benefits by fostering an entrepreneurial culture where our leadership teams communicate, collaborate, and compete to create substantive growth opportunities and best operating practices available to all of our businesses.
