HB Global, LLC Celebrates 15 Years of Being Employee-Owned
Camp Hill, PA – October 10, 2025: HB Global, LLC, parent company of 12 U.S. operating subsidiaries in the mechanical and infrastructure industries, celebrates 15 years of being an ESOP and sharing the success of the company with employee owners.
In 2008, Bob Whalen, CEO of HB Global, LLC, began his purchase of HB McClure Company, LLC. As the stresses of the macroeconomic environment grew from the Great Recession, Whalen sought more efficient ways to utilize resources for the good of the company and its employees.
As he researched potential solutions, he came upon the ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) structure. It would be a way to more efficiently maintain and deploy resources but also perfectly aligned with his cultural goals for the Company.
In October 2010, HB McClure became 100% employee-owned. Over the last 15 years, the company has grown substantially, creating immense value that has been shared back with each employee owner. HB Global is now the parent company to 12 subsidiaries and has grown from about 150 employees to over 1,700 employee owners, who all share ownership in the company. One of the HB Global subsidiaries, BBEC, is celebrating 25 years of employee ownership, having been an ESOP before being acquired.
While HB Global focuses on service, replacement, and construction in the commercial, residential, and infrastructure markets, its mission is to create value and make HB Global a great place to work.
“While becoming an ESOP started as a practical solution that aligned with my cultural goals for the company, it has become so much more than that,” says Bob Whalen. “Getting to open the annual file that shows how much value we’ve shared with our employee owners in their ESOP accounts feels like Christmas morning to me. Each individual at HB Global is crucial to the success of the company, and we want to be sure that they are rewarded for their contributions.”
Being employee-owned has helped HB Global to accomplish its mission through:
- Sharing the value that is created back with employee owners through contributions to their ESOP retirement accounts (with no contribution required from the employee owner).
- Creating an employee-centric mindset. Engaged employees create raving fans in our customers, which creates superior financial results that ultimately get shared back with our employee owners.
- Fostering a unity of purpose. We’re all moving in the same direction because, when the company is successful, each individual employee owner is successful. We don’t have to choose between profits and employees.
- Rewarding employee effort and dedication. We take care of the labor who works hard each day for the good of the customer and the team.
We are committed to helping employee owners maintain the same standard of living in retirement that they’ve had in their working years. While ESOPs may sound too good to be true, we’re proud to demonstrate their tremendous potential as evidenced by the success of both our employee owners and our company over the last 15 years.