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Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), a global leader in products and solutions that protect and control electric power systems, is the 14th largest 100 percent employee-owned company in the United States, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). SEL also ranked 17th for companies that are at least 50 percent employee-owned.

The NCEO recently released its 2024 Employee Ownership 100, which ranks the largest majority employee-owned companies in the U.S. To be included, companies must be at least 50 percent employee-owned.

In the past year, SEL moved up one spot in the 100 percent employee-owned category and three spots in the list of companies that are at least 50 percent employee-owned.

The Pullman, Wash.-based manufacturer transitioned to employee ownership through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 1994 and became 100 percent employee-owned in 2009 as part of its long-term strategy for sustained growth, stability, and customer focus.

An ESOP is a benefit plan where employees are given ownership interest in a company in the form of shares of stock held in trust until they leave the company or retire. A recent NCEO study found that ESOPs are “associated with 92 percent higher median household net wealth, 33 percent higher median income from wages, and 53 percent longer median job tenure.”

The companies on the NCEO list employ more than 685,000 people worldwide.

The NCEO is a nonprofit organization that conducts original research and shares information about employee ownership.

To learn more and to view the 2024 Employee Ownership 100, visit The Employee Ownership 100: America's Largest Majority Employee-Owned Companies | NCEO. To learn more about employee ownership at SEL, visit selinc.com/employee-owned.