There’s no easy formula for being the best. Just ask the 342 businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies in the biggest-ever 100 Best Companies to Work for in Oregon competition.

Like the old saying about what to do for the ones you love, two years ago River City Travel president David McElveen began setting his employees free.

Scott Treadwell has been working for Columbia Printing and Graphics for nearly five years, but he’s still a relative newcomer. In fact, the 45-year-old production manager will be closing in on retirement by the time he reaches the average employee tenure of 13 years.

There’s a framed paper napkin hanging on a wall in Evanta’s headquarters on the 10th floor of Portland’s KOIN Tower.

It’s mid-morning in Quango’s cramped offices in Lake Oswego. The design and marketing company is slowly getting ready to move and boxes are scattered between cubicles.

When U.S. Cellular took home the trophy last year for the very best large company to work for in Oregon — months after announcing 160 layoffs in closing its Medford call center — the local paper covered the award with the headline: “It was a great place to work.”

Bright morning sun is streaming through the three-story-tall lobby windows of Walsh Construction’s Portland headquarters. Outside, a sculpture of two hammers forms a gateway to the front door.

Oregon meeting facilities ranked by total square feet of meeting space.

Creating a charitable giving program can be as simple as sitting down and writing out a list of what’s important to you.