Wall Street Journal and Winning Workplaces Recognize Top Small Businesses With Great Workplaces

Winners Announced Today in The Wall Street Journal


NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The Wall Street Journal and Winning Workplaces, a nonprofit whose mission is to help the leaders of small and midsize organizations create better workplaces, have teamed up to create their first annual list of the best small workplaces in the U.S. in a report called Top Small Workplaces. The 15 winners are featured in the Journal Report on Small Business in today's print and online editions of The Wall Street Journal.

The Top Small Workplaces list features exceptional small employers in the U.S., which include private, nonprofit and publicly held organizations. The Journal Report spotlights those small businesses that have built workplace environments that encourage collegiality, professional growth and provide an atmosphere and benefits that make their employees want to stay.

"Small businesses continue to be the engine of economic growth in the U.S.," said Marcus W. Brauchli, managing editor, The Wall Street Journal. "By providing our readers with this list of top workplaces, the Journal is able to capture the importance of what small businesses have to offer their employees and clients, particularly in their workplace practices. These small companies are leading innovators and tend to be role models for larger companies by creating an environment that encourages productive behavior."

"Each of the 15 Top Small Workplaces winners has a great story to tell," said Ken Lehman, Winning Workplaces founder and board chair. "The winners come from very different business sectors and are geographically diverse. But, they share a commitment to valuing, trusting, and respecting their employees, and viewing them as the key to achieving business success. These winners should inspire small businesses everywhere that they, too, can become great workplaces."

The Journal and Winning Workplaces began soliciting nominations last fall, receiving 850 recommendations. The nominees were asked to fill out full-length applications -- of which 437 were completed -- and the batch was culled to 35 finalists. A national panel of small-business experts was chosen by The Wall Street Journal and Winning Workplaces to judge the finalists. The workplace winners were selected based on both metrics and qualitative assessment of their success in creating workplaces that nurture, challenge and reward employees.

The 2007 Top Small Workplace winners include the following:


    * Alaska Wildland Adventures Inc., Girdwood, Alaska
    * Barclay Water Management Inc., Watertown, Mass.
    * Corporate Ink Public Relations Ltd., Newton, Mass.
    * Cowden Associates Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.
    * Exactech Inc., Gainesville, Fla.
    * FRCH Design Worldwide, Cincinnati, Ohio
    * Gentle Giant Moving Co., Somerville, Mass.
    * Guerra DeBerry Coody, San Antonio, Texas
    * Healthwise Inc., Boise, Idaho
    * NRG Systems Inc., Hinesburg, Vt.
    * Phelps County Bank, Rolla, Mo.
    * Point B Solutions Group, Seattle, Wash.
    * Reflexite Corp., Avon, Conn.
    * Restek Corp., Bellefonte, Pa.
    * Summit Aviation Inc., Middletown, Del.

The Journal will continue coverage of this year's Top Small Workplaces by interviewing leaders of the winning companies every Wednesday on "Independent Street," the new small business blog featured on WSJ Entrepreneur at www.wsj.com/entrepreneur.

The Journal and Winning Workplaces also announced they are now seeking nominations for the 2008 Top Small Workplaces list, to be featured in a Journal Report next fall.

To read the 2007 Top Small Workplaces report or to fill out a 2008 nomination form, please go to www.wsj.com/entrepreneur.

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 33 Pulitzer Prizes for outstanding journalism, The Wall Street Journal provides readers with trusted information and knowledge to make better decisions. The Wall Street Journal print franchise has more than 750 journalists world-wide, part of the Dow Jones network of nearly 1,800 business and financial news staff. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal franchise, with total circulation of 2.6 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 2007, the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the eighth consecutive year. The Wall Street Journal Radio Network services news and information to more than 280 radio stations in the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2641

About Winning Workplaces

Winning Workplaces (www.winningworkplaces.org) 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.



            

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