Emsi and Burning Glass Merger

There’s big news in the labor market data world. Burning Glass Technologies and Emsi—two of the nation’s premier labor market data companies—are merging to form a new powerhouse that will offer an even greater array of resources for clients of both companies. The combined company will be called Lightcast.

Burning Glass CEO Matt Sigelman is taking the helm of the new company, and former Emsi CEO Andrew Crapuchettes is serving as a strategic advisor to the joint company’s board of directors.  

Emsi’s recently built HQ in Moscow, Idaho, will continue to be a major hub for the business, along with Burning Glass’s building in Boston.

“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. “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.”

“Burning Glass and Emsi are two companies with a common mission: to unlock opportunity, mobility, and equity for everyone,” added Sigelman. “We are looking forward to working together to continue to drive transformative change in the labor market.”

Emsi has come a long way since its founding in 2001, when economists Hank Robison and Kjell Christophersen launched the company with the goal of helping communities understand the economic value of higher education and helping colleges maximize the value of their education. 

The product of this initial endeavor was the Economic Impact Study, a tool which measures the economic value contributed by colleges to their regions. Hank and Kjell—and soon afterward, Andrew—dedicated themselves to providing the highest-quality economic and labor data via products that were comprehensive, accessible, and user-friendly. Their initial goal was to create 50 jobs in Moscow, a small university town on the Idaho/Washington border, paying an average of $50,000.

Since 2001, Emsi has grown by leaps and bounds, expanding to 280-plus employees across two continents and multiple countries. Emsi data and services are currently used by thousands of leaders across the US, UK, and Canada.

Emsi has also added a bevy of tools to provide clear and comprehensive insight into the worlds of higher education, business, and economic and workforce development. More recently, Emsi released a number of skills-based products to help colleges, employers, and jobseekers speak a common language using skills. 

Emsi’s values remain the same: bless the customer, bless the employee, bless the shareholder. This merger with Burning Glass will enable the Emsi team to fulfill its fundamental mission while discovering new ways to revolutionize the labor market for the benefit of our customers.