Lytle signs owner sells company to employees

First it was Ray and Florence back when the company started in 1948. Then it was Rex and Emmie for about 50 years. Under Rex’s guidance the company has grown. You’ve probably seen their signs. They make all of the Sinclair signs, a lot of Cafe Rio’s, most of the College of Southern Idaho, the Twin Falls City logo and a lot more. “Lytle Signs has pretty much been my whole life,” said Rex Lytle.

As of Thursday the company changed ownership. Now there are 85 owners, and none of them are named Lytle. The company is now owned by an employee stock ownership plan. The 85 qualifying employees now own all of the stock for the company.

“It feels great,” said J.J. McBride, a special projects manager for Lytle Signs. “It feels like every day when you get up to come to work you have a unique sense of purpose that I think a lot of employees and businesses of our size may not have.”

As Lytle started to get older he started to wonder what he would do with the company. He didn’t want to sell it and risk someone chopping it up for its assets and firing most of the employees. So he ultimately decided the ESOP was the best way of removing himself from ownership