North Phoenix-based M Culinary Concepts, Arizona’s premier event catering and hospitality company, announced today that it is now a 100% employee-owned business.
Founded by Brandon Maxwell and Chef Michael DeMaria in 1999, M Culinary Concepts’ key to success starts with hiring the right employees with an obsessive commitment to excellence. After more than a quarter-century in business, Maxwell and DeMaria have repositioned the company to directly benefit employees as a “thank you” for their ongoing commitment to the team.
Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are a near-anomaly in the hospitality industry, in which high employee turnover is the norm. Only 2% of U.S. businesses are ESOPs. Today M Culinary joins the 6,500 American businesses that proudly tout this designation.
M Culinary Concepts prides itself on building a home for its employees where they can grow their skills and advance their career. The ESOP designation is yet another way M Culinary leadership will foster and retain talent within the company.
“When you have a vibrant, team-centric culture like we’ve built at M Culinary, it doesn’t make sense to be selfish,” said Brandon Maxwell, CEO and Co-Founder. “By giving our employees a stake in the company, they become the CEO of their own position, furthering the business and fostering a healthy culture that leads to even more success.”
M Culinary will go above and beyond what most companies contribute to their employees’ personal wealth. All full-time M Culinary Concepts employees are now eligible to participate in the ESOP plan. For each employee, contributions will be made to their ESOP account based on their compensation. Over time, each employee’s account will be allocated more shares and increase in value. Upon retirement or end of employment, employees have the opportunity to monetize their account. The ESOP is entirely funded out of the business’s future cash flows.
The benefit is in addition to M Culinary’s pre-existing full-time benefits, including a 401K plan. M Culinary will continue to 100% match the first 3% of the employee’s 401K contribution and match an additional .5% when the employee contributes 4-5%.
Additional M Culinary benefits include 100% company-paid dental, life and disability programs, vision insurance, pet insurance, virtual doctor visits on demand, flex spending accounts (FSA), wellness programs and daily lunch prepared its award-winning culinary team.
The business has become a homegrown phenomenon, acting as the primary caterer to some of the Valley’s top events, including the WM Phoenix Open, Innings Festival, and select upcoming NCAA Final Four events. Leadership recognizes that these successes would not be possible without its staff of hardworking, nimble and forward-thinking employees.
“The foundation of M Culinary’s success has always been our incredible team,” Maxwell said. “It is our honor to give back to our employees in a way that builds wealth for their families in this generation and beyond.”
