February 2024 Employee Spotlight

Meet our February Employee Spotlight, Kammie Metters! Kammie is a part of our Hydraquip Houston team. Let’s get to know her better:

What is your role? Briefly describe what you do.

“Operations Assistant – pulling strings and pushing buttons.” 😊

Who/what inspires you?

“My daughter is my ultimate inspiration. She fuels my drive, determination, and resilience, instilling in me a relentless pursuit of success. Her presence has transformed my perspective, renewing my purpose and commitment to continuous improvement.”

If you had to pick one strength you bring the to team, what would it be?

“I am unmistakably a Taurus.”

What do you like to do in your free time?

“What is free time? Where do you get this?”

If I could learn how to do one thing, what would it be?

“I want to learn ALL the things! Absolutely, everything. Fun Fact? Count me in! New regulations or guidelines? Let me find a pen!”

Where were you born?

“Texan by birth and by heart!”

What’s the best thing about your job?

“In operations, I get a backstage pass to the show. I get to see a little snippet of each department and watch as it all comes together.”

What’s been one of your proudest moments at EOHI?

“Stay tuned. I am just getting started.”

How do you define success?

“Viewing failure as an opportunity rather than a dead end is key. If you extract lessons and insights from each experience, setbacks become moments for reflection, adaptation, and growth. Recognizing that success and failure are intertwined, and fully embracing them both, will lead you to a level of success many will never reach.”

Employee Owned Holdings, Inc. Announces New CFO

Houston, Texas, February 7, 2024 – Employee Owned Holdings, Inc. (EOH), the parent company of Hydraquip, Inc., GCC, and Supreme Integrated Technology, Inc., today announced the hiring of Paul Oliphant as its new chief financial officer. Paul succeeds Matt Weisser, the previous CFO, who had been promoted to be the President of EOH in September 2023.

Paul joins EOH with close to 30 years of experience in the areas of finance, accounting, and financial management, going back to his origin as an auditor for Ernst & Young, LLP in 1995. Paul had most recently worked as the CFO and SVP for Velentium, LLC, a company engaged in the design, development and manufacturing of medical devices. As CFO, Paul will oversee corporate finance, accounting, and the risk management requirements for the company, and report directly to the company’s President.

“We are extremely excited to have Paul join us. Paul’s capability and potential were evident when we met and we feel he will be quite proficient at continuing the successes that makes this such a wonderful company to be a part of,” said Matt Weisser, President of EOH.

“I’ve been immensely impressed with this company, its goals, and its leadership,” said Paul Oliphant. “I’m excited to join a company with an excellent reputation and world-class customers and vendors.”

Paul holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Texas A&M University and is also a certified public accountant. When not working, Paul also enjoys spending time with his wife, Denise, and his four sons, being active in various outdoor activities including mountain climbing, running and disc golf.

EOH is a 100% employee owned company based in Houston, Texas and the parent of Hydraquip, Inc., Supreme Integrated Technology, Inc. and GCC collectively doing business in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona & New Mexico.

EOH Announces Matt Weisser as New President

Houston, Texas – September 15, 2023 Employee Owned Holdings, Inc. (EOH), the parent company of Hydraquip, Inc., Supreme Integrated Technology, Inc., and GCC, announced today that Matthew Weisser has been appointed as the new President of the company. Richard Neels, previously acting as president of EOH, will continue to serve the company in his roles as its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. In addition to his new role as president, Matt was elected to serve on the Board of Directors for EOH. Prior to becoming president, Matt had been serving as the Chief Financial Officer for EOH since 2015.

Matt has nearly 30 years of experience in leadership roles, first becoming a CFO for Avanti Companies in 1998 before serving in other CFO roles. Prior to coming to EOH, Mr. Weisser worked as the CFO for the T-Rex Companies, a group of companies formed to provide construction, engineering and fabrication services, and prior to that served as CFO for the engineering and project management firm Pegasus International Inc. While working as CFO for EOHI, Matt oversaw the company’s corporate finance, accounting, and risk management groups with additional responsibilities overseeing aspects of HR, corporate operations and IT.

“We are extremely excited to see Matt moving into this new responsibility,” said Richard Neels. “He is precisely the right person, with the vision, dedication, and capability to help direct the future of this company. His knowledge of so many aspects of this organization will be tremendously valuable as we continue to work together to achieve clear success.”

“Since the time I joined this organization, I have been highly impressed with its people, its culture, its goals, and its leadership,” said Matthew Weisser. “I’m honored to have been selected to serve in this new capacity and to be able to continue working with Richard and all employee owners to further our excellence.”

Matt holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Professional Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is also a certified public accountant.

EOH is a 100% employee owned company based in Houston, Texas and the parent of Hydraquip, Inc., Supreme Integrated Technology, Inc., and GCC, collectively doing business primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Tennessee, Arizona & New Mexico.

 

ESOP Awareness Month

For almost 20 years, The ESOP Association and its member companies have been celebrating Employee Ownership Month every October. It is a celebration of the incredible spirit of employee ownership and an opportunity to educate employee owners about the tremendous benefits of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)

What exactly does it mean to be an ESOP?

  • ESOP = Employee Stock Ownership Plan
  • Tax qualified employee benefit plan governed by the same federal regulations (ERISA) as any other qualifying retirement plan (Ex. 401(k), IRA)
  • The ESOP only acquires shares of the company’s stock
  • These retirement accounts grow through the employee’s sweat equity (at no extra cost to employees)

What is the purpose of an ESOP?

  • Retirement benefit for employees
  • Participants share in the rewards & responsibilities of ownership
  • Tax savings for the company

During ESOP awareness month in October, we are taking time to recognize outstanding work from our employee owners for the following:

  • Becoming 100% vested in their ESOP after successfully working with the company for 6 years.
  • Achieving top Sales.
  • EOH Values award winners. Employees went above and beyond in these five (5) areas to make a positive impact at the company and were nominated by their peers.
    • Acts with Integrity – making decisions in the best interest of the company, taking time to consider the “right thing to do” and treating others with respect.
    • Laser Customer Focus – proactively assessing customers’ needs, under-promising & over-delivering on commitments and going above & beyond to provide both internal & external customers with the highest level of service.
    • Work Smart – assessing every situation to ensure the safety of employee owners, confirming highest quality product is delivered to the customer in the most efficient manner.
    • Always Seeking Improvement – bias for action, using company resources to grow return on investment, with backbone to identify the right course for the business.
    • Produce Results – focusing on key outputs for department/business by critically considering right priorities, fighting through setbacks and rising to the occasion to provide a successful outcome.

As an ESOP company, we, the employees, “own” the business. Each person has a stake in the outcome of “our” company. We move together as a team, so we all have a vested interest in the growth and continued success of our customers and our company. Congratulations to all our award winners!