Shalom Baer Gee/MDN From left are Anissa Otto, Shane Moe, Craig Heupel, Randy Jaeger, Keith Johanneson, Matt Wentz, Rob Odden and Zac Miller. Johanneson, chairman of the board, and Jaeger, president, handed the keys over to Marketplace employees in a ceremony Monday at North Hill Marketplace to commemorate the company transitioning to 100% employee ownership.

JND Holdings announced on Dec. 31 that it is 100% employee owned after transferring all its stock to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP.)

On Monday, Keith Johanneson, former president and CEO of JND Holdings, and Randy Jaeger, the current president, handed over the keys to the store directors of the Marketplaces in Minot in a ceremony at the location on North Hill.

JND Holdings primarily operates under three entities — Johanneson’s, Inc., Johanneson’s of North Dakota, and KJS of WI, Inc. It owns and operates supermarkets in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin, including all four Marketplace Foods in Minot.

Johanneson’s role has shifted from running the company as CEO and president to his current role as chairman of the board, a change made in light of the transition to a 100% employee-owned company.

“As I’m working towards retirement, none of my family members wanted to continue in the business. We didn’t want to sell it to an outsider, so we made the decision to form an ESOP,” Johanneson said. “My job is basically to oversee the ESOP documents and make sure we’re totally in line with what the regulations are and to look for new opportunities and coach our top management team on new ideas as we grow.”

Jaeger, who assumed the role of president on Jan. 1, upon the shift to employee ownership, has been with the company for seven years.

“It feels natural because having worked with everybody for as long as I have,” Jaeger said. “I was a consultant for the company for two years prior to joining them, and we’ve got a great group of people that just want to work hard and do anything they can to make it be successful.”

Craig Heupel, store director at the 20th Avenue Marketplace location, said he is excited about the change.

“I think it’s fantastic.” Heupel said. “It’s created a lot of positive atmosphere. When you have an employee-owned company, there’s more buy in. A penny saved is a penny earned. You’re not working for the man, you’re working for yourself, so hopefully there’s better customer service and store conditions.”

Zak Miller, senior store director of the west region, echoed that sentiment and said the change is positive for employees.

“It’s a great thing for the employees,” Miller said. “It’s kind of shocking that someone that spent their whole life building up this company would sell 100% of it to employees. It’s outstanding.”

As far as the future goes, JND Holdings hopes to continue to develop and grow.

“You want to get better at what you’re doing. You want to grow with smart acquisitions. You don’t want to buy something just to say I’m going to buy it,” Jaeger said. “You really want to make sure that it benefits the associates in a way that you don’t take anything away from them.”