The Davey Tree Expert Co. is among the top 20 largest employee-owned companies in the U.S., according to data from the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO). Furthermore, the NCEO estimates Davey is the fifth largest 100 percent employee-owned company in the U.S. on the Employee Ownership 100 list.

The list is compiled annually by the non-profit NCEO and requires a company have a majority of its stock owned by an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or another qualified employee ownership plan in which at least 50 percent of full-time employees are eligible to participate. Companies are ranked by their total number of employees. The smallest company on this year’s list has 1,100 employees. Publix Supermarkets, the largest company, has 159,000 employees.

John Davey founded Davey in 1880. Ownership remained in the family until the late 1970s, when employees purchased the company. Today, it has more than 7,000 employees and is No. 18 on NCEO’s top 100 list.

“We believe employee ownership encourages us to be more innovative, collaborative and customer-focused,” said Karl Warnke, Davey chairman, president and CEO. “We are the owners, and we care deeply about the health and future of our company and are invested in its success.”