October is associated with jack-o-lanterns, ghouls and goblins, and pumpkin spice… everything. But for the laboratory professionals at Babcock Labs, October is also associated with employee ownership!

October is national Employee Ownership Month. As a 100 percent employee-owned company, Babcock Labs celebrates with month-long events focused on ownership education and team pride. Events include a company breakfast, puzzles and games, and “Prideday Fridays” where staff members wear gear that reps their Alma Maters, favorite sports teams, organizations they support in the local community, and, of course, our Babcock family of employee owners. Throughout the fun, staff learn about our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and the many benefits and responsibilities of employee ownership.     

As an ESOP, employees have stock in the company which in turn gives our staff greater incentive to provide our clients with exceptional analytical testing services. Essentially, by investing in the quality of the work we provide, each of us here at Babcock Labs is investing in our future and the futures of our fellow coworkers. It’s a win for our clients and it’s a win for our team. Additionally, it’s a win for our community because employee ownership and our ability to stay independent from multi-national network labs keeps revenue local, as our business and employees invest their earnings back into the local economy.

Our pride in our employee ownership also includes our pride in the diversity of our staff. Earlier this year, Babcock Labs was officially designated as a women-owned business, which we believe makes us the first 100 percent employee-owned company (ESOP) to be granted Women Business Enterprise Status by the Supplier Clearinghouse. Babcock Labs currently employs 82 talented and dedicated staff members. Of those 82 laboratory and administrative professionals, women make up 70 percent of our total workforce. As a 100 percent employee-owned company, this means that the majority of our owners are women. What's more, women make up 90 percent of our organization's management team. This is rather extraordinary for a STEM-field company and something to be proud of, as women still remain underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce overall in the United States.

With 112 years of service to the testing industry under our belt, Babcock Labs is proud to celebrate its fourth year as a 100 percent employee-owned company. Our talented team of laboratory professionals work hard each and every day to help protect public health and the environment, and we look forward to meeting all of your analytical testing needs in the century to come!