Eighteen travelers from eastern Iowa, scheduled for a Sunday morning international flight out of Chicago and waiting for their ground transportation, panicked when they realized the driver wasn’t coming. Unsure where to turn, they contacted Lisa Postma, director of operations at Travel and Transport.

Postma knew local transportation companies were closed on Sundays, so she asked a friend to help the stranded travelers. Within 30 minutes, two shuttles large enough for the group and their luggage arrived, and they – accompanied by Postma – were on their way. Three hours later, the group boarded its flight at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

Why would Postma disrupt her weekend to help strangers out of a sticky situation? She cares because she owns the company – but then, so do 749 other Travel and Transport employees. That’s why you will hear hundreds of stories like hers in Travel and Transport offices around the country.

More Productivity

Ownership is key to this kind of exemplary customer service, according to William H. Tech, president and CEO of Travel and Transport. This Omaha, Nebraska-based travel management firm recently completed the final phase of its Employee Stock Ownership Plan and Trust (ESOP) strategy to become a 100-percent employee-owned company, making it the largest employee-owned travel management company in the United States.

But employee-ownership isn’t new to Travel and Transport: It formed its ESOP in 1991 with a 30 percent stake in the company, and followed it up with an additional 40 percent in December 2000.

Tech said employee ownership has become more common in the United States. About 25 percent of the private sector workforce now own stocks in their companies. “Research on employee-owned companies shows that employee ownership improves corporate performance,” Tech said. “Studies have also shown that companies with employee-ownership plans grow at a faster pace in terms of sales, employment and productivity when compared to similar companies without employee-ownership plans.

While the benefits of ownership to employees are obvious, it’s also easy to see the value of employee ownership to customers. “Since all employees have a stake in the company, they have a vested interest in its success, and this translates to a commitment to relationships with our clients,” Tech said. “With employee shareholders looking for a long-term return on investment, Travel and Transport can reinvest its profits in the company’s services, spend its returns on enhancing technology and remain client-focused by providing the value of better products and services.”

Innovative Solutions

Travel and Transport’s latest technology package for business travel managers is the perfect example of how employee ownership heightens responsiveness to customers’ diverse needs,” Tech said, because it offers unparalleled customer service. “This suite of technology products and comprehensive services is designed to offer clients innovative solutions that minimize travel expenses while maximizing efficiency.” The suite, eTTek Solutions, can be found at www.etteksolutions.com.

The 9th largest travel management firm in the United States, Travel and Transport services more than 1,000 corporations nationwide and has annual sales of $675 million. But it’s the people who find oversized vans on a Sunday and drive travelers three hours to the airport who make Travel and Transport a success, Tech said. “During these unsettling times of consolidation in the travel industry, customers are concerned about the stability of the company they work with. While other companies are merging or going out of business, Travel and Transport employees enjoy job security in an agency they also have ownership in. Customers, in turn, benefit from the loyalty employee ownership brings, and everyone wins.”