NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Wall Street Journal and not-for-profit, Winning Workplaces, have teamed to create their first annual ranking of the best small workplaces in North America in a report to be called Top Small Workplaces. Nominations are now being accepted through Jan. 31, 2007, on the Journal's small-business Web site, www.startupjournal.com.
The Top Small Workplaces rankings will identify exceptional small-business employers in North America, which include private, nonprofit and publicly held organizations. It will spotlight those small businesses that have built workplace environments that encourage collegiality and professional growth and provide an atmosphere and benefits that make their employees want to stay.
The winners will be featured in a Journal Report on Oct. 1, 2007.
"Small businesses have served as an engine of growth for the American economy since the inception of our country," said Paul E. Steiger, managing editor, The Wall Street Journal. "The Journal is excited to identify these exceptional organizations for opportunities and benefits they provide for their employees that improve both the employee experience and the overall success of the business. This is part of an ongoing effort to expand our small business coverage in the Journal."
"Winning Workplaces is excited to partner with The Wall Street Journal, the premier business publication, to seek out and recognize outstanding small workplaces," said Kenneth Lehman, chairman, Winning Workplaces. "Extensive research and our experience demonstrate that workplaces that fully engage their employees achieve substantially better results. By partnering with the Journal, we will be able to bring increased visibility to those pacesetting organizations."
Criteria for consideration as a nominee for the Top Small Workplaces are as follows:
-- North American-based organization
-- An independent organization that is not a unit of a larger
corporation
-- Has no more than $200 million in annual revenues
-- Has 500 or fewer employees
-- Has been in business at least five years
Judges will include a national panel of small-business experts chosen by The Wall Street Journal and Winning Workplaces. Candidates will be selected based on both metrics and qualitative assessment of their success in creating workplaces that nurture, challenge and reward employees.
For more information on how to nominate the small businesses or nonprofits that have successfully built workplace practices please visit www.startupjournal.com/topsmallworkplaces.
About The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones & Company (NYSE:DJ) (www.dowjones.com), is the world's leading business publication. Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal has a print and online circulation of nearly 2.1 million, reaching the nation's top business and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. Holding 31 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, the Journal seeks to help its readers succeed by providing essential and relevant information, presented accurately and fairly, from an authoritative and trusted source. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 600 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,900 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of 2.7 million, include The Wall Street Journal Asia, The Wall Street Journal Europe and The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com, the largest paid subscription news site on the Web. In 2006, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the seventh consecutive year.
The Wall Street Journal logo is available at http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2641
About Winning Workplaces
Winning Workplaces is an Evanston, IL-based not-for-profit, whose mission is to help the leaders of small and midsize organizations create great workplaces. Founded in 2001, Winning Workplaces serves as a clearinghouse of information on workplace best practices via a website and a monthly e-newsletter; provides seminars and workshops on workplace-related topics; and, helps organizations assess their workplaces through employee surveys and other feedback tools.