A company profile of HDR, a 10,000-employee engineering and architecture firms headquartered in Colorado Springs, contains two quotes to share.

Benton Barby, Marketing and Business Analyst: Employee ownership "means we believe in being good corporate citizens. It's how we respond to our communities, which includes sustainability and being environmental stewards. How we act affects how well we perform, so the little things our employees do add up to big things."

Ed McConnell, Program Manager: "Our success is because of our employees. We take a hard look when we add staff, that it's going to be a good fit for that individual, focusing on entrepreneurial spirit, because we're an employee-owned company. They're hired to do a job, but also to be a part of a large, diverse team, so we strongly promote the individual's professional goals, which provides a return to the organization."