Labor market analytics leaders Emsi, Burning Glass merge, will remain committed to Moscow

Moscow’s Emsi and Boston-based Burning Glass Technologies announced Monday they are merging to create a leading labor analytics firm.

The combined company will be called Emsi Burning Glass and will be led by Burning Glass CEO Matt Sigelman, with Andrew Crapuchettes, former CEO of Emsi, serving as a strategic adviser to the board of directors, according to a news release from Emsi Burning Glass.

As part of the transaction, Burning Glass’ largest investor, KKR, is making a follow-on investment in the combined company and Strada Education Network, Emsi’s current owner, will be exiting its investment, according to the news release. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“This is definitely a new era and chapter for the organization and I think there’s a lot of opportunity here and still a lot of promise for growth and jobs in Moscow,” Josh Wright, Emsi Burning Glass executive vice president of community insights, told the Daily News.

Isaac Lopez, spokesperson at Emsi Burning Glass, said in an email that Sigelman spoke to Moscow Mayor Bill Lambert and Latah County Commissioner Kathie LaFortune Monday, reiterating the company’s commitment to growing in Moscow.

Wright said Burning Glass and Emsi have been the two key players in the labor market analytics industry since around the time Emsi was founded in 2001.

“I think it’s pretty impactful,” Wright said of the merger. “I mean it’s two of the real leaders in this industry.”

Burning Glass’ software, application programming interfaces and research help companies ready their workforces for the future, connect education and training programs to the job market and spur economic growth for local and national governments, according to the news release. Emsi data and analytics are used by leading businesses and institutions worldwide to understand shifting talent markets and labor trends and to promote economic prosperity in their regions.

Strada Education Network, a national nonprofit that’s reported goal is to strengthen America’s pathways between education and employment, has owned Emsi the last three years.

Wright said Strada shifted organizationally late last year and that it did not make sense long term for the nonprofit to own Emsi, a for-profit company.

Wright said the plan is to continue to add jobs and fill out Emsi’s new four-story, 70,000-square-foot building in Moscow.

Lopez said there are about 200 employees in the building, which can hold as many as 500 workers.

“For two decades I have been honored to lead Emsi and see our workforce grow from a small group into nearly 300 of the finest employees any CEO could ask for,” Crapuchettes said in the release. “Our team has set the standard for customer service and data analytics in a continual effort to bless our customers. I know they will thrive in this new, combined company, and I look forward to seeing them reach even greater heights.”

Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.