ESCO Group, now comprised of ESCO Electric, ESCO Automation, and ESCO Energy Services, needed a succession plan and although ESCO was not ready yet, first discussions of being employee-owned began. Dave Engle chose five key employees who believed in the same company cultural ideals and divided 80% of the ownership among them. After a successful transaction, the new owners were as follows: Jamie Shea, Mike Miller, Lynn Hamrick, John Luke, and Ray Brown who all understood servant leadership and put the employee first in order to achieve world class results for the clients.
Wayne Engle officially retired. Today, Wayne still remains close to ESCO Group and is currently the mentor of the current CEO, Ray Brown.