RAM eatery employees can own stock in company

SEATTLE – The term “holiday bonus” has a new meaning this year for more than 1,000 employees of RAM Restaurant and Brewery, who will be part of a new employee stock ownership plan with 30 percent stake in the restaurant chain.

The Lakewood-based employer, formally RAM International, announced just before Christmas that employees would be getting a 30 percent stake in the restaurant chain through a newly formed employee stock ownership plan.

“I’m going to spend more time over the course of the year with the RAM team than with my own family,” chief executive officer and co-owner Jeff Iverson said in an interview. “And selfishly, it feels good to share.”

Iverson’s father opened the first pub in Lakewood in 1971, and the family-owned business now operates 30 restaurants with three brands across six states, including 11 RAM locations in Washington and C.I. Shenanigans in Tacoma.

Brothers Jeff and Dave Iverson will continue to lead RAM International, which Jeff said has revenues of more than $100 million.