Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com March 23, 2015 • Hartford Business Journal 19 Introduction Best Places To Work In CT 2015 How the ranking process works: Now in its ninth year, the Best Places to Work in Connecticut program was created by the Hartford Business Journal and Best Companies Group to identify and recognize best places to work in the state of Connecticut. The program is managed by Best Companies Group, a third-party research firm that manages similar programs all over the United States and in Canada. The Best Places to Work in Connecticut program was open to all public or privately-held organizations, either for-profit or not-for-profit. To be eligible for consideration, companies must have had a total of 15 or more employees working in the state of Connecticut. Companies with headquarters in another state, but with 15 or more employees working in Connecticut, were also eligible. Participa- tion in this program required organizations to go through a workplace assess- ment process, which included surveying their employees, as well as taking an inventory of the company benefits, policies and offerings. The information was processed and analyzed by Best Companies Group and then used to determine the Best Places to Work in Connecticut. All participating companies went through a two-part workplace assess- ment process. Part one of the assessment (worth 25 percent of the evaluation) consisted of a employer questionnaire about benefits, policies, practices, and other general information. Part two of the assessment (75 percent of the eval- uation) consisted of a 72-question, confidential employee engagement and satisfaction survey. This comprehensive, two-part assessment allowed the workplace experts at Best Companies Group to perform an in-depth analysis of each company's strengths and weaknesses and ultimately determine which companies deserved to make the list. Susan Springer, Best Companies Group Director of Workplace Assessments, managed the overall analysis process. Companies received the in-depth employee feedback report, which showed the percent of positive responses for each of the 72 questions, along with the percent of positive responses within seven demographic categories (gender, age, ethnicity, duration of employment, full- or part-time status, job role, and depart- ment). Companies received state benchmarking reports in which they could com- pare themselves against list-making companies and all participating companies. More information about Best Companies Group is available at www. BestCompaniesGroup.com. Information on the Best Places to Work in Con- necticut program can be found at www.bestplacestoworkinct.com. Celebrating Excellence for 10 Years F un. Driven. Solid pay. Opportunities for advance- ment. Flexible. Good work-life balance. Success. Although Hartford Business Journal's 2015 Best Plac- es to Work have their own unique stories, all the winners have a lot of commonalities in how they treat employ- ees, define workplace success, utilize profits, and grow market share. Since HBJ began honoring the state's best employers 10 years ago, we've noticed companies that do right by their workers instill the proper culture. In these pages, you'll hear from businesses that work hard, play hard, and see their employees and clients as exten- sions of their families. Picking these winners is quite the scientific process. It follows the rigorous standards detailed below, measur- ing a wide array of company-sponsored benefits and taking the pulse of employees with an in-depth survey. It takes a lot to be considered a Best Place to Work, and plenty of companies don't make the cut; of those that do, they come from a variety of fields. This year's winners include law, consulting, and con- struction firms, a grocery store, temp agencies, banks, technology firms, financial companies, and an interna- tional travel insurance business. Being considered a Best Place to Work isn't unique to certain industries; great employers can come from anywhere. Having a weekly employee happy hour certainly helps companies make this list, but establishing a Best Place to Work goes beyond mere worker perks. It starts with that culture of treating people right. – Brad Kane, Managing Editor Ranked #1 Large Company Category page 20 Ranked #1 Small /Medium Company Category page 21 The List: Large Company Category page 36 The List: Small / Medium Company Category page 37 COM P L ET E T H AT D EG R E E ! William Barnett, Ph.D. Dean of Graduate Studies Trinity College gradstudy@trincoll.edu http://gradstudy.trincoll.edu Degree completion rates in higher education have garnered much attention lately, with good reason. According to the most recent data from the National Student Clearinghouse, graduation rates are slowly climbing. Here are U.S. and Connecticut figures for all student types from 2014: Type of Institution U.S. Completion CT Completion 4-year public (starting + other) 60% 69% 4-year private (starting + other) 61% 80% 2-year public 40% 32% Further, a multitude of other studies confirm that income and employment prospects correlate very highly with degree completion regardless of field and for all degree levels. This is why we work very hard at Trinity College to help students finish their baccalaureate and master's degrees. In general, students who complete their degrees will enjoy a sense of accomplishment, greater confidence, and enhanced opportunities. THREE-YEAR FLAT TUITION RATE FOR M.A. STUDENTS

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