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More elusive than a plan to pay for public education, skilled employees are the most sought after prize in the Granite State. However, the 10 businesses on our 2000 Best Companies To Work For in NE list have developed corporate cultures and benefit packages that draw employees to their doorsteps.
The 2000 competition elicited a record number of applicants and the quality of the entries created a challenge for the judges. Applicants were judged on their basic benefits package, extra benefits, culture and environment, employee statement, and mission statement.
This year's entries were culled to 20 semifinalists by members of the Business NH Magazine staff. The final 10 were determined by a panel of four external judges representing various sectors of the business community: Bill Bradley of Business for-Social Responsibility-NH; Al Jenkins, president of the Felton Brush Company in Londonderry and president of SBANE, the Smaller Business Association of New England; Sheila Kabat, vice president and director of client services at Snowden Associates in Bedford; and James O'Donnell, president of Jaguar Management Consulting Group, Inc. in Kingston, a member of the advisory board for or UNH's CEO Forum and NH state director for Fast-TracTM Entrepreneurial Training Program. We thank our judges for their time and dedication.
This year we altered the competition by having companies compete in two categories: large companies with 100 or more employees and small companies with fewer than 100 employees. The change was instituted as a way to allow smaller companies a chance to compete on a level playing field.
However, as one entrant in the small company category stated in their application, "It is only fair that large companies not be forced to compete with small, privately held companies! We have huge advantages over large companies. We have cohesiveness and personality. We have flexibility. We operate like a family. We have better benefits. We focus on long-range time frames. I hope the contest split does not imply that small is lesser or that we are at a disadvantage to the larger companies."
We stand corrected.
One message was clear from the leaders of these winning companies - take care of your employees and they will take care of you.
NO. 1 - SMALL COMPANY
Schleuniger, Inc.
Manchester
Years in...