Employee strong

Twice a year, Gary Griffin goes on an investor road show, but it's not Wall Street he's visiting.

The president of B&I Contractors in Fort Myers visits with employees at construction job sites to share financial details of the company's performance. “I try to answer every question they have because it's their company,” he says.

Welcome to the world of employee ownership, where employees are accountable to each other. You might think such a scenario might be fraught with conflict, but employees own three of the best-managed companies in Southwest Florida. Besides B&I Contractors, Home-Tech in Fort Myers and Pelican Wire in Naples also are employee owned.