By Madeline Bates
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Spinato’s Pizzeria, a local Valley family-owned business, will now be 49% owned by its employees through an employee stock program, allowing all positions to “have a piece of the pie.”  

Employee Stock Ownership Programs are in less than 1% of businesses statewide and roughly 7,000 in the U.S. , according to the National Center for Employee Ownership. 

Spinato’s is one of about 100 restaurants in the state that offer this program, it states at the organization’s website, https://www.nceo.org.  

“This is who we are, this is what we need to preserve and protect,” said CEO Anthony Spinato.  

To qualify, employees must be 21 and work 1,000 hours in a 12-month period. This makes one in three employees owners in the business being able to buy and sell stock of the business and share in its success. After over 50 years in business, the Spinato family will reduce its share of the company to allow others a chance to share in the business's success.   

“It feels like it always was,” said Spinato, who said that many employees were natural leaders and led one another to share in the success of each restaurant.   

For some employees, this means getting a long-awaited taste of success. 

Terry Wiberg first started working at Spinato’s as a dishwasher when he was in high school. Now, 24 years later, he is the director of food and beverage and works right next to Anthony and the other Spinato’s employees both in the office and in the kitchen.  

“I’ve really found my passion for food and hospitality,” he said. “You can’t fake ownership, and an ESOP is ownership.”  

Spinato’s has locations in Tempe, along with the corporate office, as well as Gilbert, Ahwatukee, Scottsdale and north and central Phoenix. Wiberg and Spinato are both looking for ways to expand both in menus and locations, as the Spinato name has made its way across the Valley and into major sports stadiums like State Farm Stadium in Glendale and Mortgage Matchup Arena in downtown Phoenix.  

But Spinato’s isn’t typical stadium pizza, as every single pizza is cooked in-house and served immediately to ensure that the same product is sold at every location.  

Spinato’s is a family-owned business that began in 1974 with the Spinato family bringing pizza from the Chicago area to Tempe to create thick-crust pizza with quality ingredients and a community atmosphere.  

“We’re in the people business,” Spinato said. 

All Spinato’s locations are closed on Monday and open at 11 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday. For more information visit Spinato's Pizzeria. 

Corrections were made to clarify the  Employee Stock Ownership Plan and pizza making process.