For the second year in a row, ESW, Inc. was honored by Inc. Magazine as one of America's fastest growing companies. ESW ranked No. 2,005 on the 2009 Inc. 5,000 list, moving up from No. 2,125 in 2008, with three-year sales growth of 159%. ESW also ranked 23rd of the top 50 companies in the Education division and 78th of the top 100 for the Chicagoland area. ESW was featured in articles in both the Post-Tribune and The Times of Northwest Indiana because of this honor.

ESW was founded in 1987 by three steel mill veterans: Gene Barbee, Larry Caldwell, and Jim Razumich. They provide custom technical training and engineering services to many industries throughout the United States, including: steel, automotive, energy, manufacturing and the US Government. ESW has furnished over 20,000 weeks of in-house and in-plant training. Training is mostly hands-on, so that students can gain real-life knowledge from applied demonstrations and examples.

President and CEO Larry Caldwell feels that ESW stands out from the other companies recently honored due to the fact that they actively recruit retired and experienced individuals who are experts in their particular field. 70% of ESW's employees are retirees from other industries, while more than 65% are U. S. veterans. ESW's seasoned instructional staff has the practical know-how to solve the customer's problems and to lead the employees to work toward their full potential.