Joey Nestegard: Employee ownership is good for Washington workers – and for America

By Joey Nestegard

In 2009, I had the opportunity to work on something that would leave a lasting mark not just on my career but on the lives of thousands of people. At the time, I was a financial director at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, and I was asked to lead the transaction that would make us 100% employee-owned. It was an intense time with late nights, careful modeling, and constant collaboration between our founder, advisers and legal teams. But what stayed with me most was the intent behind it. Ed Schweitzer and his family had choices. They could have taken the company in any number of directions. Instead, they chose to trust us, the employees, with ownership.

You can see the impact of that choice all around us. In the families who have built their lives here. In the employees who are able to retire earlier than they ever expected. And in the younger generation who watched what this company did for their parents and chose to come work here too. I have seen coworkers travel, spend more time with their grandchildren, and give back to the community because of the security they earned through employee ownership. That is what employee ownership made possible and that is the kind of community we are working to grow.

That kind of community does not happen by accident. It starts with a founder who wants to share in the success of a company with their employees through ownership.

On average, workers at private employee-owned companies have more than twice the retirement savings of their peers at other firms. That matters, especially in a time when more than 4 in 10 adults have no retirement savings at all.

At SEL, employee ownership gives people the chance to build wealth, retire with dignity, and pass opportunity on to the next generation. That is not just good for our company. That is good for our country.

The culture at SEL plays a big role in why people stay. In an industry where turnover is common and many companies struggle to retain skilled workers, we have built something different.

The median employee tenure at employee-owned companies is about 50 % higher than at traditional businesses. Our employee ownership model creates a shared sense of purpose, and it is the day-to-day culture, the way people treat each other, the way we focus on the customer, the way wins and challenges are shared, that makes people want to stay.

With all the benefits of employee ownership, you might wonder why there are not more companies like SEL. Washington state is home to nearly 110 employee-owned businesses, supporting more than 670,000 participants, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership. Here in Pullman, employee ownership has helped us retain talent, keep jobs local, and create retirement security that lasts.

But too many business owners and workers do not realize that employee ownership is even an option. And too many business owners are not sure how to make it work.

That is why we need better tools and stronger policies to support more companies in making this transition. One example is the Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act, a bipartisan bill designed to help more businesses become employee-owned.

Simple steps like encouraging owners to sell to their employees and offering technical assistance could help bring this model to more communities across the country.

Washington Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Rep. Michael Baumgartner have already cosponsored the Promotion and Expansion of Private Employee Ownership Act, and I encourage the rest of the Washington congressional delegation to follow their lead and make employee ownership more accessible.

It is one of the most effective ways to strengthen our workforce, grow local economies, and give more Americans a real stake in their future.

In a time when the American dream feels out of reach for too many, employee ownership is quietly bringing it back within reach.

Joey Nestegard is the executive vice president at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories and is based in Pullman. He also serves as chair of the Board of Directors for the Employee-owned S Corporations of America. Joey earned his bachelor’s degree from Washington State University and his master’s of business administration from City University of Seattle.