Border States employee owners get a moment in the spotlight

Border States Electric, Fargo, N.D., is well known in these parts, where its steady expansion and innovations in areas such as e-commerce, solar and wind have lifted it year by year up the Electrical Wholesaling Top 200 list of the largest electrical distributors in North America, where it now stands at #8. Over the past weekend, the company got a long, admiring look from the business section of the Minneapolis StarTribune. The paper's David Shaffer focused on how the company's growth and the boon of the Bakken oil patch boom has affected employee owners.

"Since Miller became CEO in 2006, Border States' annual revenue has more than doubled to $1.2 billion, and its stock has soared. The company is expanding, and now operates in 13 states, after acquiring several competitors, including one in Minnesota.

"It's all been to the benefit of Border States' 1,500 employees, who own 100 percent of the company. Over the past decade, shares held by the employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, have increased in value by an average of 25 percent per year."

Minneapolis Star Tribune article: "A quiet supply giant spreads the wealth"