How Employee Ownership Shapes the Science at Restek

As Restek marks its 40th anniversary, Head Coach and President Bill Arrowsmith shares insights on innovation, global growth, and how the company continues to simplify complex analytical challenges for its customers. Focusing on the development of technologies and products for gas and liquid chromatography (GC and LC)—including columns, reference standards, sample preparation materials, accessories, and more—Restek began operations in 1985 in a small business incubator in central Pennsylvania. Today, over 500 employee-owners collaborate in a state-of-the-art, 140,000-square-foot headquarters in Pennsylvania and offices in seven other countries.

Congratulations on your 40th anniversary! Looking ahead, as you mark this milestone, what is your vision for Restek at 50 years?

When I think about Restek and celebrating 40 years, I see us as a trusted partner for customers—both externally and internally—providing innovative advice and helping them do their work. Internally, we have a great culture focused on employees and employee ownership. Over the next decades, we hope to continue both of those things, but on a greater and more global scale. We’ll continue to invest in our people, in technology, and in our culture, and we aim to be an even stronger leader in chromatography.

You emphasize that Restek is 100% employee-owned across eight countries. How does employee ownership concretely influence decision-making, innovation, or agility at Restek?

Employee ownership has a significant impact on everything we do. It's a core part of our culture and influences our work deeply. Anyone who has owned a business—large or small—knows it drives you to take initiative and think long term. Even before we became employee-owned, we cared deeply about our customers, and ownership has only enhanced that. It allows employees to be closer to decision-making; they feel empowered to act on insights that improve their work and our customers’ experiences. That creates agility and accountability—both for our customers and for each other—and it’s helped us build a culture full of passion and care across our global team.

How do you ensure the employee-owner ethos and culture are preserved and felt across geographies?

Preserving our employee-owner ethos across geographies is a very deliberate process. We make sure to talk openly about our culture and ownership with employees and to embed these values in our systems. We stay connected through global discussions, and our footprint has grown significantly in the past decade. We’re intentional about travel and interaction at all levels of the company, ensuring teams share ideas and stay aligned. We also focus on onboarding, leadership development, and ongoing communication to reinforce our shared values. While ownership may look slightly different locally, our culture—grounded in respect, care, and collaboration—is universal. Employee ownership lets us all share in Restek’s success.

With today’s rapid technological shifts, do you see these changes as opportunities, challenges, or both?

We view technology shifts not as threats, but as opportunities. As trusted partners to our customers, it’s our role to understand their challenges and how emerging tools—like artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and digitalization—are reshaping analytical science. We view our job as trying to make the complex work they do simpler, and so we view those shifts as an opportunity to both learn ourselves and to take those learnings and build them into products and solutions for our customers.

What are the most pressing analytical challenges your clients are currently facing, and how does your team help address them?

The pace of change is rapid, and our customers face growing pressure to do more with less—delivering high-quality data under tighter timelines and with fewer resources. I can’t remember the last time I spoke to a lab manager who wasn’t struggling with staffing or regulatory demands. Sustainability pressures only add to that. Our customers rely on us for dependable products, reproducible results, and expert support. Our role is to make their work simpler and more efficient through high-quality solutions and shared know-how. Ultimately, our mission remains the same: to make our customers’ work easier, more reliable, and more sustainable.

Looking back, what’s the most valuable advice you’ve received in your career, and how did it help shape your journey into analytical chemistry?

Early in my career, someone told me to find a role where you not only enjoy the work but also find purpose in it. I’ve been fortunate to do both—working in an industry that helps make the world safer and leading a company that’s entirely employee-owned. As Restek grows in success and value, that success directly benefits my colleagues around the world, both professionally and financially. That makes us very excited for what’s to come in the next 40 years.

Bill Arrowsmith is head coach and president of Restek Corpo­ration. Since joining Restek in 2017 as chief financial officer, Bill has also served as general manager be­fore being appointed head coach. He is a dedicated proponent of employee ownership, focusing on driving company growth and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Prior to Restek, Bill held finance and management roles at AMETEK, Inc., Ernst & Young, and PwC, bringing extensive experience in financial strategy and leadership. He holds a BS in accounting and international business from Penn State and an MBA from Cornell.

Under Bill’s leadership, Restek, a 100% employee-owned company since 2009, continues to innovate and deliver industry-leading solutions, solidifying its position as a trusted partner in chemical analysis worldwide.