Building on success

Fast growth is pushing Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Inc. to build a new corporate headquarters and to add 200 more jobs this year, company officials said Monday.

The company, the largest employer in the Palouse, is halfway finished constructing a five-story, 90,000-square-foot headquarters at its corporate campus. Currently, Schweitzer Engineering Labs has 1,200 workers worldwide and about 860 in Pullman.

Of the new jobs to be added, about 165 will be based in Pullman, said company spokeswoman Susan Fagan.

Schweitzer Engineering produces digital protective relays and assorted control and monitoring technologies for electric utilities and large industrial and commercial customers. The privately held company was founded by Ed Schweitzer in 1982.

The new building will serve as Schweitzer’s “front door” for visitors and customers, Fagan said. When it’s finished, which is expected this fall, it will be Schweitzer Engineering’s 10th building in Pullman. The company just completed a 22,000-square-foot research and development center along with a 10,800-square-foot facilities maintenance building.

Finding an extra 165 people for the new Pullman jobs will take extensive work by several departments, said Fagan. The resources include regular posting of jobs on online sites like Monster.com, visits to area universities, and hard work by the company’s human resources department, said Fagan.

“Not to be overlooked is the large number of people we’ve found because of referrals from people already working with us,” she said.

The company is already advertising 90 of the jobs to be added during the coming year, Fagan said. “If you look at those jobs on our Web site, you’ll see they are heavily weighted toward engineering.”

But for the full year, Fagan said the company is expanding “across the full gamut of jobs.” Positions are being added in marketing, sales, accounting, customer service, assembly, training and administration, she said.