If there was one word that came up most during the interviews for this year’s profiles of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon, it was “family.”
BY JON BELL
If there was one word that came up most during the interviews for this year’s profiles of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon, it was “family.”
Whether it was co-workers who describe their colleagues as family, spouses and children who are welcomed into a company like family, hospice nurses who build relationships with families, or firms that encourage and allow employees to take care of their own families above all else, the concept of family courses through this year’s best companies.
“Family for us is No. 1,” says Shelli Anderson, vice president at Pacific Benefit Consultants in Eugene.
Judging by how often talk and comments focused on family in this, our 20th edition of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon, it’s at the top of the list for a lot of other Oregon companies, too.
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Above: Friday happy hours at Urban Airship give employees like Jaime Burton the chance to relax and socialize with colleagues.Below: Urban Airship’s employees, including Chris Detchon, enjoy a work-hard, play-hard environment that fosters creativity and gives them flexibility in their work. |
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Above: A midday ping-pong break at Urban Airship suits Anthony Dotso and Wesley Itamura just fine.Below: Corey Gault (center) watches as Jaime Burton (left) comes up short in a game of foosball against Tracy Abrahms.// Photos by Eric Naslund |
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Urban Airship
Location: Portland
Rank: 25th best medium company
Years on the list: 2
Urban Airship, a mobile marketing technology firm, has found a unique way to keep employees from abusing the company vacation policy: Don’t have one.
“Everyone gets their work done, but you take the time when you need the time,” says Scott Kveton, co-founder and CEO of Urban Airship. “It puts a level of trust in our employees and makes them feel valued and treated like adults.”
Such a relaxed approach to time off sets the workplace tone for Urban Airship, which employs 115 people primarily in Portland but also in California and London. The company also offers the easygoing benefits that have come to stereotype fun places to work in Portland: kegs in the conference room, ping-pong tournaments, a Halloween party that featured a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
But you don’t grow revenue by more than 400% or manage more than 40 billion mobile notifications in a single year by acing the table tennis circuit with a pale ale in hand. Instead, Kveton says the Urban Airship approach fosters creativity and innovation among colleagues that ends up driving the business. Case in point: Once a quarter, employees enjoy a “Free Friday,” on which they have 24 hours to work on anything they want so long as they share their results with the company. Some of those have led to new apps, new technology features and even one of Urban Airship’s acquisitions.
“We have a team here that is super hungry and aggressive,” Kveton says. “But we have a blast working here too.”
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Above: Dave Sutton and Julie Shoufler are part of the Lone Rock team, which CEO Toby Luther says is all about family.Below: John Grant enjoys a doughnut, one of the tasty extras provided by Lone Rock Timber. |
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The blending of young and old makes for a dynamic workforce at Lone Rock Timber, according to CEO Toby Luther. From left at the Copper Creek Reservoir: Tony Geiger, Eric Parazoo, Josh Fowler, Brady Kennedy (front), Pat Kelly, Brook Pfaff, Dave Sutton, Rob Searles (kneeling), John Grant, Rich Furgerson and Curt Mendenhall.// Photos by Eric Naslund |
Lone Rock Timber
Location: Roseburg
Rank: 27th best large company
Years on the list: 2
Rather than lay off some of its loggers when the economy went south a few years ago, Lone Rock Timber instead got creative and found enough filler projects — road building and Forest Service firebreaks, to name a couple — to keep everyone busy.
“Keeping the jobs was extremely important to the family,” says CEO Toby Luther of the Sohn family, which founded the Roseburg company in 1950. “We’re different on that front. It’s more of a family value to us.”
Now more focused on timberland management and investment, Lone Rock today employs around 100 people, many of whom have tenures of more than three decades with the company.
What keeps people with Lone Rock is, according to Luther, its sense of family, its solid wages and benefits, and its willingness to be open with all employees. During the downturn of 2008-09, Luther held monthly meetings to keep employees apprised of what was really going on with the company.
“Everyone was invited to come and grill me,” he says. “I couldn’t promise anything, but I also didn’t want them to be listening to rumors, waiting around for their pink slips.”
In addition, Lone Rock offers a popular charitable matching program and tries to give employees multiple avenues for advancement.
“We make sure we create opportunities in the organization so someone can work three or four jobs here,” Luther says. “Hopefully that provides them with the challenge and diversity they’re looking for.”
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Above: Melissa Day, Roxanne Rotticci and Karen Fogg drink coffee by the photo wall of employee faces.Below: The unique culture at Boly:Welch includes flexibility — and canine friends. Employee Lauren Lofano with dog Winston. |
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Above: “We play together, we work together,” says Pat Welch of the team at Boly:Welch, which includes Julia Chan, Cory Mlady and Diane Boly.Below: Boly:Welch employee Andrew Beeks enjoys a few office chocolates.// Photos by Eric Naslund |
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Boly:Welch
Location: Portland
Rank: 2nd best small company
Years on the list: 9
When Pat Welch and Diane Boly started their recruiting and consulting firm in 1986, Welch was a busy single mother, so she knew from the start how important it was to have time for both family and work.
Twenty-seven years later, that concept is still alive and well at Boly:Welch. Need to check out early for your son’s soccer game? Go ahead. Babysitter fall through for the day? No worries, bring the kids to work and let them hang out in the loft or take them downstairs for an ice cream on the company’s tab at Baskin-Robbins.
“We want our people to do a great job, but not at the expense of their families,” Welch says. “It’s not altruistic, it’s just smart.”
A pet-friendly company with a wide-open door policy — “because there are no doors,” Welch says — Boly:Welch operates less on structure and more on accomplishments. That means employees are given flexibility, including time for power naps or other nonstandard breaks, in getting their work done.
“We want people to work when the energy is going,” Welch says. “We expect quality work and ethical work, but how you do it is your choice.”
For that work, employees are rewarded with generous benefits, unique parties including one at Silcox Hut high up on Mount Hood and an employer who lets them be more than just employees.
“I think the biggest thing,” Welch says, “is that people feel they really have the opportunity to be who they are.”
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Above: An employee-owned firm, Sleep Country USA supports and empowers everyone who works at the company. From left: Megan Leslie, Laura Akert and Omar Jaramillo.Below: Free concert tickets and company bowling parties are among the employee perks at Sleep Country. |
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“We were looking to find one cause where we could really make a difference,” says brand director Gina Davis of Sleep Country’s foster kids program.// Photos by Eric Naslund |
Sleepcountry USA
Location: statewide
Rank: 14th best large company
Years on the list: 1
Sure, employees for one of the Northwest’s most ubiquitous mattress companies — did you just sing the jingle in your head? — can get tickets to see anyone from Kiss to Kenny Chesney at the major concert venues sponsored by Sleep Country USA. But there’s much more to Sleep Country than rock and roll or country music that makes it a great place to work.
“We are an employee-owned company, so everyone is involved, enabled and really empowered to make the decisions that make us a great company,” says Gina Davis, director of branding for Sleep Country.
Among a long list of standard benefits for employees, Sleep Country hosts regular company gatherings, pays staff for two days’ worth of community service each year and offers extensive training for anyone looking to advance or improve.
“If we have employees who are struggling, you don’t get rid of them,” Davis says. “You help them. We give a lot of support to employees to help make them successful.”
The company also prides itself on its Sleep Country Foster Kids program, a community service program aimed at supporting the more than 20,000 foster children who call the Northwest home. Davis says every employee gets involved in it somehow, whether it’s a driver delivering donated clothes or Christmas presents or a salesperson accepting donations in a store.
“That has become a great program that really brings everyone together,” Davis says.
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Above: One of the perks of working for Ninkasi is great beer. Employees Tim Sanborn and Zoe Gadsby indulge.Below: Head brewers Simon Sothras and Chad Osburn engage in a little swordfighting. “Overall, the beer industry is fun,” says Nikos Ridge, Ninkasi’s CEO. |
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Above: Sam Colee enjoys a company beverage.Below: After a hard day’s work, Ninkasi employees often gather |
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Ninkasi Brewing
Location: Eugene
Rank: 22nd best medium company
Years on the list: 1
If a brewing company in Oregon that makes bold beers with names like Total Domination and Tricerahops, that sponsors the three-day Mountain Bike Oregon festival, and that has plans to install a rock-climbing wall, bar and outdoor courtyard at its new office in Eugene sounds like a good place to work, that’s probably because it is.
“I love my job and really try to build that spirit here for everyone,” says Nikos Ridge, co-founder and CEO of Ninkasi Brewing Company.
Part of the fun for Ninkasi’s 75 employees is spending time in a brewery, putting in the hours but also unwinding with a pint and some co-workers afterward. Employees also get to be part of brewer dinners and special events, such as a New Year’s party that Ninkasi sponsored, and the home brewers among the crew are also invited to learn from Ninkasi’s staff brewers.
In addition to a new profit-sharing plan unveiled in late 2012, the company offers standard employee benefits as well as a smartphone — monthly service included — for everyone.
Ninkasi has grown rapidly in its nearly seven years, and plans are to continue expanding. The brewer is shooting for 90,000 barrels this year, up from 67,000 in 2012, and total production capacity will grow from 100,000 currently to 290,000 in the near future. While there has been some concern about how that growth could change the working environment, Nikos says the company will continue doing right by its workers.
“As we’ve grown, we’ve been able to do even more positive things for our employees,” he says. “That’s important to us, because as a company, we’re nothing more than the collective output of our staff.”
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Above: “It’s important to staff and attorneys to have a feeling of being part of a team,” says managing partner Ed Harnden. “You get there by celebrating their successes.“ From left, holding bowling trophy and Hood to Coast gear: Tami Tolbert, Sean Ray, Linda deHackbeil, Emily Harnden and Stephanie Davis.Below: Barran Liebman usually sponsors an employee Hood to Coast team. From left: Sam Hernandez, Nelson Atkin, Anneka Nelson and Amy Angel (on floor). |
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Regular poker tournaments keep it light for Aaron Starr, Lindsay deHackbeil, Kyle Abraham and Desiree Marek.// Photos by Eric Naslund |
Barran Liebman
Location: Portland
Rank: 1st best small company
Years on the list: 4
In 1998 a team of lawyers and staff left a large Portland law firm and set up a boutique office specializing in employment law and labor management under founding partners Paula Barran and Richard Liebman. Fifteen years later, save for just a handful who have moved on, the core of that team is all still at Barran Liebman LLP.
To one of those original attorneys, managing partner Ed Harnden, that speaks volumes about Barran Liebman as a workplace.
“We’ve always focused on having a culture where everyone works as a team, not just on a particular case, but on everything we do,” he says. “That includes making sure we recognize each other’s successes.”
It also includes putting families first — letting young families have plenty of time together or making sure spouses and children feel like they’re part of the larger Barran Liebman family — and giving back to the community through organizations like the Oregon Food Bank and the St. Andrew Legal Clinic. The firm has also been known to shell out random bonuses on, say, Leap Day or the Fourth of July. It sponsors a Hood to Coast team every year, and regular social soirees keep the mood light and friendly.
“I truly enjoy coming to work every day,” Harnden says. “If you can say that, things are pretty good. Our goal is that everyone here can say the same thing.”
Above: Employees at Pacific Benefit Consultants are encouraged to offer feedback and make suggestions. “We make them a part of every process,” says president Brian Lamb. Clockwise from left: Jeff Clontz, Jeanette Burroughs, Andy Miller, Tomi Purcell, Tracy Bedortha, Diane Dragt, Jan Larsen and Daphne Brown.Below: Hilary Starnes entertains a little one at Pacific Benefit Consultants. “Family is very important to us,” says vice president Shelli Anderson. |
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Employee Janine Amador practices her putting in the hallway.// Photos by Eric Naslund |
Pacific Benefit Consultants
Location: Eugene
Rank: 17th best medium company
Years on the list: 12
When one of the younger employees on a committee overseeing the revamp of Pacific Benefit Consultants’ website said that all the photos on the existing site looked “stodgy,” no one got upset. Instead, the insurance agency’s higher-ups took her comments into consideration — and will be updating all the photos.
“It’s needed some major upgrading,” says vice president Pat Cross, referring to the new site. “We did take that input.”
The light-hearted suggestion is just one example of how open communication helps make Pacific Benefit Consultants a great place to work, according to president Brian Lamb.
“We highly value our employees,” he says. “We make them a part of every process and always think about what we can do to get their feedback and leadership.”
The 38 employees at the agency also find themselves working flexible schedules that allow for a better work-life balance. And if someone’s out sick or otherwise off work, the rest of the team makes sure nothing gets left undone.
Thanks to the creation of an employee-operations team, staff members also oversee planning and budgeting for company events like the annual holiday party or regular all-staff breakfasts.
“That is a buy-in to the direction and leadership of the company,” Lamb says. “They are making decisions and not waiting to see what we do next.”
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Above: Maria Holt, RN, pins a leaf to the bereavement tree in honor of a patient who has passed away. “We take time to be sad and to grieve together,” says executive director Amy Hone. The bereavement tree mural was created by artist Mika Nakazawa.Below: Monthly employee satisfaction surveys and meetings allow staff to voice their concerns and celebrate their accomplishments.From left: Cindy Auxier, RN, Leslie Crowder, RN, Angela Campbell, PCS, Moira Doogan, RN, Laura Hansen, RN, and Maria Holt, RN. |
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“Everybody here works as a team and is given respect and trust,” says Hone.// Photos by Eric Naslund |
Odyssey Hospice
Location: Beaverton
Rank: 25th best large company
Years on the list: 1
For Amy Hone, executive director of Odyssey Hospice, what her employees do after work is almost as important as what they do at work.
As one of the largest specialty hospice providers in the state, Odyssey cares for up to 180 patients at a time, all of whom have been given less than six months to live. The bulk of Odyssey’s employees are nurses and other clinicians who visit four or five different patients each day in their homes, hospitals or nursing facilities.
“The stress level every time they go in is incredibly high,” says Hone, herself a former nursing case manager. “It’s a very emotional job, so it’s important to me that they don’t live and breathe it every day, that they have other things to do at five o’clock.”
In addition to caring for patients — about half of whom are elderly, half of whom are younger patients with terminal cancers or other conditions — Hone says staff members celebrate accomplishments at monthly appreciation meetings while also taking time to be sad and remember patients.
Employees also find real satisfaction in helping bring joy to their patients. Odyssey staff recently helped one patient receive an honorary Purple Heart; another effort honors veterans with special certificates for their service. And for their care and compassion, Odyssey’s employees are widely appreciated by families and loved ones, who regularly send letters of appreciation and gratitude.
“We have some extremely heartwarming and heartbreaking stories we’ve been involved with,” Hone says, “and when staff members receive letters like that, you know you’ve made a difference.”
