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Schweitzer Engineering president named to Fed advisory board

David E. Whitehead, president of Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, has been named to the Twelfth District Economic Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. (Courtesy of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories)
By Thomas Clouse tomc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5495
David E. Whitehead, president of Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, has been named to the Twelfth District Economic Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. (Courtesy of Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories)

Officials from Pullman-based Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories announced Thursday that company president David E. Whitehead has been appointed to an advisory council for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Whitehead will join business leaders from nine other states on the 12th District Economic Advisory Council. The body provides insights into economic, business and labor conditions faced by industries, workforces and communities, according to a news release.

“I’m honored to join the economic advisory council to represent the perspectives of employers, manufacturers, engineers and power systems experts,” Whitehead said in the release.

In Pullman, Whitehead leads a global team of more than 7,500 employees who work across engineering, manufacturing, research and development, sales, marketing and service for SEL.

Edmund Schweitzer founded the company in 1982. Today it invents, designs and builds systems that protect power grids around the world. The company is 100% owned by its employees.

Whitehead joined the company in 1994 as a hardware engineer. He later led the company’s Research & Development division before being promoted to chief operating officer in 2019, and then he was named president in January 2025.

“As a global company, we see how innovation, technology, manufacturing, supply chain, workforce and other factors influence economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad,” Whitehead said. “I look forward to offering insights that support the Federal Reserve in understanding the opportunities and challenges facing U.S. businesses and workers.”

Whitehead now joins the 10-member economic advisory council that also includes Garrett Lofto, the president and CEO of Boise-based Simplot Company, and Scott Gatzemeier, corporate vice president of Boise-based Micron Technology.