Research shows that employee-owned companies fared better than traditionally-owned firms during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They were four times more likely to protect their workers’ jobs, and six times more likely to feel that their business was on its way back to normal.

That doesn’t mean that employee-owned companies were somehow immune to the economic impact of the pandemic. Rather, it shows how the benefits of employee ownership–from tax savings to a culture that puts workers first–can boost a business’s resilience in the face of historic challenges.

The pandemic dealt a massive blow to nearly every industry, but the hospitality industry was hit particularly hard. Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels (QW) was no exception. Their suite of four restaurants and two hotels in and around Greensboro, NC were all forced to close.

In the face of this monumental challenge, QW stuck to the values that led it to become 100% employee-owned through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) in 2016.

By putting the needs of its people front and center, they not only endured one of the biggest challenges the hospitality industry has ever faced, but put themselves in the position to come roaring back.

Supporting their employees

Despite the financial hardship the company faced, the focus of QW’s leadership remained on supporting their employees in whatever ways possible.

The company provided lists of resources for employees who might be struggling physically, financially or mentally, ranging from low-cost health care to mutual aid funds to Alcoholics Anonymous. QW also fully covered their furloughed employees’ health insurance for months, until they were able to partially reopen and start bringing people back to work.

The Quaintance and Weaver families even pooled $200,000 of their own money to create a QW Furloughed Staff Member Relief Fund that provided payments to each employee that, unlike unemployment benefits, were not tied to their salary.

Quaintance’s communications and the company’s actions throughout 2020 were transparent, honest, and focused on equity — prime examples of employee ownership values in action during a time of unprecedented crisis.

Getting the band back together

“The ESOP made the shutdown a lot better because we were all in it together,” Quaintance said. “We’re all employee-owners. We were hurting individually, but also hurting collectively. We were there for each other. And as we started to come out of the worst of it, it was like getting the band back together.”

QW even demonstrated their employee ownership culture in the way they prepared to reopen for in-person dining in the age of social distancing. Where other restaurants simply removed tables or put up plastic sheeting, QW employed its team of in-house artisans to renovate its dining rooms with dividers that thoughtfully incorporated each space’s individual aesthetics. It was a decision that showed their commitment to going the extra mile, and earned them a glowing write-up from The Triad Business Journal.

The Greensboro community welcomed QW’s businesses back with open arms. The restaurants have been thriving since in-person dining returned. Not all the furloughed employees came back, however; by the time QW was able to get the bulk of its employee-owners back to work, many of them had moved on. At the time of this writing (in October 2021), QW is hiring for 90 positions to keep up with the customer demand.

And, of course, a centerpiece of their hiring efforts is the fact that they are 100% employee-owned.