Baird

With nearly 3,000 employees working from its headquarters in Milwaukee or its 100 other offices across the United States, Europe and Asia, Baird ranks as one of the nation’s largest employee-owned companies. Founded in 1919, the financial services company provides investment banking, private equity, and equity research services to institutions and corporations around the world. It also supports a foundation, which made more than $3 million in grants in 2013 to nonprofits working in its four focus areas: education, health and human services, the arts, and diversity.