Grand Rapids, Michigan-Based Wood Manufacturer Universal Forest Products Inc's Top-Tier Executives Average Pay Raise Was a Blistering 23.7% Per Year During the Past 10 Years (2009-2018)

Detroit, Michigan is the site of the second Democratic 2020 Presidential candidate televised debate to be held on July 30-31, 2019.  The Under 75 Progressive Wing will be led by the energetic Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Corey Booker and Julian Castro.  The Under 75 More Moderate Wing will be led by Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke and Latecomers Michael Bennet and Steven Bullock.

The key issue to Detroit and to Michigan citizens should be the huge and continuing Income Inequality Expansion which is at the core of many critical problems the US faces.

Thus I will be doing research and making posts on the average pay raise per year that the Top-Tier Executives of many large Michigan Companies were rewarded with in the past ten years.

The 23rd Michigan Company I am addressing is Universal Forest Products.

From annual compensation information contained in Company Proxy Statement filings with the SEC, the chart at the very bottom below shows Universal Forest Products Inc's Top-Tier Executives Annual Total Compensation for each of two consecutive full years of employment for the most recent ten years. 

Universal Forest Products Inc's Top-Tier Executive Average Pay Raise was a Blistering 23.7% per year for the last ten years and is the 10th highest of the 23 large Michigan Companies I have addressed so far.

1. Credit Acceptance Corp +195.9% per year for the past ten years
2. DowDupont +94.5% per year for the past ten years
3. Sun Communities Inc +72.8% per year for the past ten years
4. Lear Corp's +56.1% per year for the pat ten years
5. Domino's Pizza +31.8% per year for the past ten years
6. General Motors  +29.5% per year for the past ten years
7. Perrigo +28.8% per year for the past ten years
8. Adient plc +27.5% per year for the past five years
9. BorgWarner +25.3% per year for the past ten years
10. Universal Forest Products +23.7% per year for the past ten years
11. Dow Chemical +22.4% per year for the past ten years
12. CMS Energy +21.9% per year for the past ten years
13. Stryker Corp +20.7% per year for the past ten years
14. Gentex +19.3% per year for the past ten years
15. Penske Automotive Group +19.0% per year for the past ten years
16. Ford Motor Co +17.0% per year for the past ten years
17. Masco +15.6% per year for the past ten years
18. Ally Financial +15.6% per year for the past four years
19. DTE Energy +10.6% per year for the past ten years
20. Aptiv PLC +10.0% per year for the past eight years
21. Whirlpool +7.9% per year for the past ten years
22. Kellogg +7.8% per year for the past ten years
23. WABCO Holdings +7.5% per year for the past ten years

The only highly effective US Government law enacted by either party in the past decade that has substantially reduced income inequality expansion is Obamacare and the political right is continually trying to repeal and replace it and at least two and perhaps even three of the top four Democratic Presidential candidates now leading in the polls are effectively running as their principal issue to do in essence precisely the same thing ..... repeal and replace Obamacare ..... but to do it with a pure Medicare For All.  The pure Medicare For All advocated by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and which was co-sponsored in a US Senate bill by Kamala Harris is extremely expensive and would take up an enormous amount of time with no positive result since it has no chance of getting passed legislatively.  If the Democratic nominee is either of them, Trump will easily win in the general election.  It is that simple.  

My objective is to get a better handle on just why the US and especially Michigan has such massive continuing Income Inequality Expansion ..... it appears to be predominantly about the relative long-term annual pay raise percentages, coupled with the stock price appreciation subsequent to the time the Top-Tier Executives were rewarded in their pay with stock equity compensation.

To fix Income Inequality driven mainly by Company and its Board of Director choices on Percentage Annual Pay Raises, the US Government should step in and pass wisely-designed, simple but effective Fair Pay Raise Income Inequality Narrowing Company tax incentives ..... the carrot ..... and Company wise tax disincentives ..... the stick.  I am certain that this tax proposal would be very effective in substantially reducing the huge income inequality expansion that has occurred for decades in annual percentage pay raises between higher-level company executives and the rest of the company employees. 

And the continuing annual net tax revenues raised by the US Government here should be set up in a separate fund to be used only for wise additional income inequality narrowing initiatives.  This fund should be run by an outside group made up entirely of minorities harmed the most by Income Inequality Expansion of the past decades  .....all women, all blacks, all Latinos, all other non-white people, all past and present union members, all LGBTQ, all non-employee contract workers and all middle and lower income people of all ages, including those retired.

Also, the US Government should require all US Corporate Boards to include at least one worker representative and to exclude any Company Executive.

	FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE
	Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec
Universal Forest Products	2018	2017		2017	2016		2016	2015		2015	2014		2014	2013
Top-Tier	Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total
Executive	Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp
	$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s
Matthew Missad CEO	3,774	3,730		3,730	3,558		3,558	2,783		2,783	2,015		2,015	1,711
Michael Cole CFO	1,708	1,679		1,679	1,683		1,683	1,332		1,332	1,009		1,009	899
Patrick Webster President and COO	2,793	2,756		2,756	2,778		2,778	2,155		2,155	1,555		1,555	1,250
Patrick Benton UFP Pres Northern Division	1,370	1,365		1,365	1,523		1,523	1,415		1,415	851		N/A	N/A
Allen Peters UFP  Pres Western Division	2,001	1,660		1,660	1,608		1,608	1,348		1,348	951		951	799
Totals	11,646	11,190		11,190	11,150		11,150	9,033		9,033	6,381		5,530	4,659
Annual % Change vs Prior Year	4.1%			0.4%			23.4%			41.6%			18.7%
5 Year Average Per Year % Change		17.6%
	FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE		FYE	FYE
	Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec		Dec	Dec
Universal Forest Products	2013	2012		2012	2011		2011	2010		2010	2009		2009	2008
Top-Tier	Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total		Total	Total
Executive	Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp		Comp	Comp
	$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s		$ 000s	$ 000s
Matthew Missad CEO	1,711	1,291		1,291	736		737	520		520	530		N/A	N/A
Michael Cole CFO	899	633		633	461		462	510		510	504		504	320
Patrick Webster President and COO	1,250	983		983	774		775	852		852	853		853	379
Patrick Benton UFP Pres Northern Division
Allen Peters UFP  Pres Western Division	799	688		688	421		421	433
Robert Lees Pres UFP Eastern Division	854	654		654	478		479	578		578	399		399	365
Scott Greene EVP New Business Development							581	615		615	490		490	375
Michael Glenn Former CEO							N/A	N/A		1,226	1,320		1,320	685
Totals	5,513	4,249		4,249	2,870		3,455	3,508		4,301	4,096		3,566	2,124
Annual % Change vs Prior Year	29.7%			48.0%			-1.5%			5.0%			67.9%
5 Year Average Per Year % Change		29.8%
10 Year Average Per Year % Change		23.7%