Harrisburg ranks third in nation for employee-owned companies

Harrisburg is the third best city in the country for employee-owned companies. 

That is according to Certified Employee-Owned, an organization launched in 2017 to accelerate the creation of an employee-owned economy by providing certification for employee-owned businesses. 

“We set out to create a list of the top cities for employee ownership because we want to shine a light on the cities that have fostered an environment where employee ownership thrives,” Thomas Dudley, Certified EO’s CEO, said. “We want to help people see which cities have clusters of employee-owned companies so that we can understand what’s driving their success. It’s remarkable to see the variety of cities on our list. Clearly employee ownership works all across the country.” 

Harrisburg is home to 17 employee-owned companies, including HB Global, D&H Distributing, and Schaedler Yesco Distribution. With a population of 58,000, Harrisburg has one employee-owned company for every 3,400 residents, Dudley said. 

Fargo, North Dakota ranked number one, followed by Berkley, California. Pittsburgh made the list, coming in at 22nd and York ranked 24 

Employee ownership changes the relationship between the company and employee, Dudley said. When every employee has an ownership stake, companies become rooted in place.  

According to Certified Employee-Owned, the wealth these companies build flows through the local economy, the jobs they create are more stable, and they become more involved in service. 

 Because of these connections, employee ownership is a win for workers, businesses, and communities, the company said. Common examples include Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Worker Cooperatives, Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), and broad-based equity compensation plans such as stock options.  

The Top 25 Cities for Employee Ownership is based on Certified EO’s Directory of Employee-Owned Companies, which combines government filings with news articles, website visits, and direct phone conversations to curate the only up-to-date list of every employee-owned company in America.  

Currently there are roughly 5,600 companies listed on the Directory. Certified EO used two criteria to rank cities: the per-capita number of employee-owned companies in cities and the total number of employee-owned companies headquartered in each, the company said.