On this week’s SBAM Weekly Podcast, Michael Rogers talks with Jim Voss, co-owner of Hydro-Chem Systems and a member of SBAM’s Leadership Council. Hydro-Chem specializes in manufacturing and installing vehicle washing equipment and producing soaps and chemicals for semi-trucks, buses and large vehicles. The company, which is employee-owned (ESOP), has been in operation since 1971, operates nationwide and employs around 50 people. Voss emphasizes the importance of teamwork and customer service. “Over half of our people are fully vested from a stockholder perspective, and everyone around the room is at least partially invested,” he says. “So when I look around and see my fellow employees, I realize I’m answering to each of them in addition to the Board of Directors. We really have to operate as a team, and it makes us mission oriented. I think we’re willing to go the extra mile for each other and for the customer, a lot more than other environments might lend themselves to.”
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