Best Places to Work in Maine

3 B E S T P L A C E S TO W O R K 2 0 1 6 2016 How We Did It M aine continues to be a great place to live and work. Maine's quality workforce and world- class businesses are two of our most valuable resources. The Best Places to Work in Maine program helps bring these resources together to ensure our leadership in the future economy. The Best Places to Work in Maine program, conceived in 2006, is a celebration of elite employers who have proven that they know what it takes to create an environment where people love to come to work. The goal of Best Places to Work in Maine is to raise the bar among our state's employers, creating excellence and employee engagement in the workplace that will attract talented people for years to come. The Best Places to Work in Maine program is open to all publicly or privately held organizations, either for-profit or not-for-profit. To be eligible for consideration, organizations must have at least 15 employees working in the state. The Best Places to Work survey process was managed by Best Companies Group (BCG). BCG, an independent workplace excellence research firm, managed the registration process, conducted the two-part survey process, evaluated the data and ultimately chose the employers that were good enough to make the list. To go through the 2016 assessment process, participants needed to register by May 27, 2016. Part one of the assessment (one- quarter of each organization's score) consisted of The BCG Employer Questionnaire (EQ), used to collect information about each employers' benefits, policies, practices and other general information. Part two of the assessment (three-quarters of each organization's score) involved the confidential 76 question Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Survey (EESS) which was used to evaluate the employees' workplace experience and culture. The combined data allowed the experts at BCG to conduct an in-depth analysis of the strengths and challenges that exist in each organization. BCG's workplace assessment experts determined who was good enough to make the list, and then ranked those winners in the different size categories. Each participating organization received the BCG Employee Feedback Report summarizing the employee data collected through the employee survey process. In addition to the employee opinion data, the report also included transcribed comments written by employees, as well as the Maine benchmarking data from the winning and non- winning organizations. The Feedback Report will help each company understand their workforce better and equip them with the information to make improvements. The winners presented on the following pages are indeed innovators and the businesses other employers use as benchmarks. As you read their profiles, you'll see the often unique ways in which these organizations are able to help their employees, and their businesses, and their communities. Visit www.BestPlacesToWorkME. com for more information or call Best Companies Group toll free at 1-877-455-2159. Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. Publisher: Donna Brassard Project Editor: Diane Norton Writer: Laurie Schreiber Art Director: Michael Geneseo Senior Account Managers: Ken Hanson, Andrea Tetzlaff and Betsy VanderPloeg Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM) Maine State Council Allagash Brewing Company: At 5 years of service, offers a trip to Belgium and at 10 years of service offers a 4-week paid sabbatical. Reddington Fairview General Hospital offers Tuition Assistance and Loan Forgiveness to help advance employees' own education and help pay back their student loans. Moody's Collision Center uses money received through their metal recycling program to assist co-workers financially, when they experience a tragedy or life changing event. ETTI has a company garden and puts the 'fruits of their labor' in the breakroom for employees to enjoy or take home. Damariscotta Bank & Trust treats birthdays as paid holidays, even if they fall on a weekend. Certify offers 4 hours per month for volunteer time.

• Cover