The Davey Tree Expert Co. is the 15th largest employee-owned company in the United States, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership’s (NCEO) 2015 Employee Ownership 100 list. The list also names Davey as the largest employee-owned company in Ohio.

Davey, which has been employee-owned since 1979, employs more than 8,000 people. In 2014, it ranked No. 17 on the NCEO’s list of largest 100 percent employee-owned firms with more than 7,800 people.

“Our employees have always strived to go above and beyond for the Davey Company, and that’s why we have not only survived but thrived over the years,” said Karl Warnke, Davey’s chairman, president and CEO. “For 36 years, Davey has enjoyed the kind of stable progression that an employee-owned company provides.”

The NCEO’s employee ownership list includes the nation’s largest companies that are at least 50 percent owned by an employee stock ownership plan or other broad-based employee ownership plan. The companies on the list employ approximately 668,000 people worldwide, reports NCEO.