After nearly four decades shaping landscapes across central Missouri, Rost, Inc. has transitioned to employee ownership through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), reinforcing the commitments that have guided the company since the beginning while helping it remain independent for years to come.
Founded in 1985 by Tim and Toby Rost while attending the University of Missouri, Rost has grown from a small landscaping business into one of central Missouri’s premier full-service landscape firms. Today, the company operates seven divisions spanning landscape design and installation, maintenance, irrigation, wholesale operations, retail garden centers, and tree farms.
Through the years, Rost has remained a family-oriented business, both for the Rost family and for the employees who helped build the company alongside them. The founders' children and their spouses now play active roles in the business: Allie Henneke serves as Vice President of Operations, Brendan Rost works as a Landscape Designer, and Allie's husband, Kody Henneke, serves as Senior Construction Manager.
The same mindset has defined the company’s workforce. Even in a seasonal industry where turnover is often expected, many employees return year after year, with some spending decades with the company as it has grown.
As Tim and Toby began thinking about the future of the business, the question wasn't simply about how to plan for succession; it was how to protect the people, relationships, and values that have long shaped the company while maintaining the opportunity for continued family ownership.
"As we researched different succession options, we found the EOT gave us the most benefits and flexibility for our exit plan," said Toby Rost, Co-Founder of Rost, Inc. "The structure helped us create a roadmap for management of the company and long-lasting benefits for a specific group of employees. We can make the transition to the next generation smoother, continuing our commitment to employees, our community, and the way we've always done business."
That thinking led Rost to an Employee Ownership Trust — an ownership structure that holds company shares in a trust for the benefit of employees.
"As part of the second generation of the company and looking toward that transition, I felt an EOT would help recognize the team that helped us get to where we are today," said Allie Henneke, Vice President of Operations, Rost, Inc. "It also reflected our belief that the company would be stronger with the people who helped build it than through individual ownership. An EOT allows us to preserve what's good about Rost while continuing to encourage growth."
Working with Common Trust, Rost designed and implemented an EOT tailored to its goals, workforce, and long-term direction. The structure includes a profit-sharing approach designed to recognize the contributions of both year-round and seasonal employees, while also helping ensure the company's future does not depend entirely on any one individual or generation.
Beyond the structure itself, Rost also thought carefully about how employee ownership would be introduced across the workforce, developing education materials in both English and Spanish to help employees understand what ownership means for the company.
For Rost, employee ownership was not about fundamentally changing the company, but rather about aligning its ownership structure with the relationships and culture already at the heart of the business.
"What Tim and Toby have built at Rost is the kind of company employee ownership was designed to support," said Zoe Schlag, CEO of Common Trust. "With a track record of quality customer service while rewarding and investing in employees, this transition recognizes the contributions of employees, preserves opportunities for future family involvement, and ensures continuity for the business beyond any single generation."
With the transition complete, the day-to-day work of the business is unchanged. Tim and Toby continue leading the company, and the same crews continue serving residential and commercial customers across Missouri. The culture and values that have defined Rost for nearly four decades still guide the business today, with employee ownership now built into its future.
If you're exploring whether an Employee Ownership Trust could be the right fit for your business, we'd love to talk. Schedule a call with one of our advisors today.
