AUGUSTA, Maine — Forty-two companies have made the cut for an annual list of the best places to work in Maine.
The Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resources Management says the annual Best Places to Work program recognizes businesses that have outstanding workplace environments. This is the seventh year the organization has put out the list.
The businesses include banks, insurance and law firms, and construction companies. Some of the better-known names include Cianbro, Hollywood Casino Bangor and Unum.
The companies will find out how they rank in their respective categories at an awards banquet in October.
The 42 companies are:
- Allen Insurance and Financial, Camden
- Androscoggin Home Care & Hospice, Lewiston
- athenahealth Inc., Belfast
- Bangor Savings Bank, Bangor
- Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, Bar Harbor
- Bernstein Shur, Portland
- Biddeford Savings Bank, Biddeford
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay
- BONNEY Staffing Center Inc., Portland
- CashStar Inc., Portland
- CIANBRO, Pittsfield
- Cintas Corporation, Westbrook
- Consigli Construction Co. Inc., Portland
- Edward Jones, Eliot
- FISC Solutions, Lewiston
- Garrand, Portland
- Gorham Savings Bank, Gorham
- GreenPages Technology Solutions, Kittery
- Hall Internet Marketing, Portland
- Holden Agency Insurance, Portland
- Hollywood Casino Bangor, Bangor
- Hurley Travel Experts, Inc., Portland
- Infinity Federal Credit Union, Westbrook
- Kepware Technologies, Portland
- Machias Savings Bank, Machias
- Maine Credit Union League/Synergent, Portland
- Maine Savings Federal Credit Union, Hampden
- Mechanics Savings Bank, Auburn
- MedTech Media, New Gloucester
- MOUNTAIN, LTD, New Gloucester
- MPX, Portland
- New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc, Norway
- PeoplesChoice Credit Union, Saco
- Plixer International, Inc, Sanford
- PRC Industrial Supply, Portland
- Putney, Inc, Portland
- Skowhegan Savings Bank, Skowhegan
- Town & Country Federal Credit Union, South Portland
- Turner Barker Insurance, Portland
- Tyler Technologies Inc, Yarmouth
- Unum, Portland
- Winxnet, Portland
?
What a joke!
Human Resource Managers rating the best places to work!
The best way to rate that is to ask the employees and double check the turn over rate!
You’re spot on. This ranking has always been a joke. The companies actually have to pay money to the rating organization in order to be considered for the list.
They do include an employee survey as part of the rating process, but I don’t know how heavily those responses are weighted.
Anecdotally, I used to work for one of the companies on the list and it was the absolute worst job I’ve ever had. Our relationship ended with a lawsuit involving many dozens of employees because the company didn’t pay us for the work we did.
Imagine claiming Bonney Staffing is one of Maine’s best places to work! What complete horse doo doo. The vast majority of these companies do not pay a living wage and Bonney is one of the worst. Imagine paying $9/hour or less for a skilled machinist! What total BS this ranking is. BDN would do its readers a great justice by doing a little research journalism and looking into what employee’s think makes a company good to work for and then looking at this ranking from their point of view. The results would be vastly different. Hey BDN, contract me to do this research.
The article wasn’t written by anyone at the BDN. It’s syndicated from The Associated Press, so they clearly wouldn’t have a clue.
Many commentators here apparently never noticed the origin of this article. Also never mentioned was a single business north of Waterville. Very poor article.
Are there any businesses operating north of Waterville?
There are many businesses north of Waterville. Nice try busta..
Exactly. Ask the common Man/Woman and this would be a much different list.
I’m waiting for the Worst Places to work list … any guesses 1-10 ?
Ever heard of The Getchell Agency in Bangor? I expect some response to this question given their management practices, working environment and well known, high turnover rate.
Mardens
Though it got a whole lot better in January of 2009.
Even got a whole lot cleaner too. I bet employees are asking for a contract with a “No Lepage” clause
more hate speech by tyke. i would have guessed you’d be more mature than this.
I declare The Maine State Council of the Society for workers is now in session. Submit your votes for the worst place to work and I will have the results published October 15,2012. Place in your vote for the worst place to work taking into consideration lies, such as but not limited to outstanding workplace environments, that wasn’t so outstanding.
In November everyone including the employers will see their ranking at a banquet that won’t happen because we don’t want to spend money on a company that is the worst to work for.
Yeah the State of Maine since lePage left Marden’s.
Sounds like you all are choking on your pablum. I dare you to enter any Mardens and tell the employees what you think of their working place.
I have talked to a few of them and they were glad LePage left. I credit them for him wining the election as they wanted him gone.
Subject: [bdn] Re: 42 companies make year’s Best Places to Work in Maine list
Hey that is great news for all the Le Page dis likerss. As for me, I will ask all the employees in Mardens the next time I shop there. It has always been a fun place to shop. The Fact that the AP wrote the article explains the reason that the AP surely has no clue that Northern Maine is on the map. As for your dis like of our Gov. I could care less. He is doing a great job and it is so fun when he P’s the lefties off. Really is a lot of laughs.
MMA railroad should be #1
I think that I have been at least through 1-5!
LOL
Employees ARE surveyed for this, I have filled out the survey two years in a row now. It is false that Human Resource managers are rating the companies.
I would expect an employee survey to be the basis of this, but many people would rather not let these details interfere with their opinions.
I want to know why the Pelletier’s Logging Co. was left out. Weren’t the employees happy to get all the TV face time? :0
Today maybe one of those days that you don’t know to much!
Where did you get those surveys from?
Your Human Resource Manager?
I spent 40 years in a couple Union Shops where NOBOBY ever left volountarily except for retirement and I never saw a one!
It’s “too” much Dlbrt…….. and no it didn’t come from my HR manager, it came from the Best Places to work site via email. I don’t particularly care about your past, it has no bearing on my present.
I came closer to “Too” than– “2”!
LOL
The ‘union shops’ have gone the way of the telegraph; and, by the way, I too received a survey by e-mail.
The employees will give a more accurate assessment of how it is to work at a particular business. Human Resource folks are the ones that can mess up your experiences in the workplace. Years ago, I had to go more than a year without health insurance that I was eligible for because the HR person did not submit my paperwork within the enrollment period. Another HR person used the wrong birthdate for me, so that after I left and tried to get back my money that I had paid into a retirement fund, it took more than a month to straighten that out. More recently, the HR person used the wrong social security # for me, which affected filing my taxes, and later on, the processing of my Unemployment claim. All of these kinds of experiences can and do take away from the experience of being a working stiff.
So basically, if you pay to be in this society then you will have a chance to be on this list. If you are not in this society then you will never make this list. How about asking the employess? I’ll bet most of those companies wouldn’t even make the list if you asked the employess. Funny how LL Bean didn’t make the list. They are very well known to be good to their employees.
That is the point of the awards to pat club members on the back.. Most awards not all are to make each other feel important. Look at the Bangor Chamber, it’s a love fest. The coverage of the story is needed, without that the award becomes useless
Yes, thats what LL Bean keeps telling their employees. I’d like to see an independent survey done there too. I KNOW they wouldn’t win any prizes.
The list is actually compiled based on the responses of employees to questionnaires. The questions revolve around whether employees feel respected and have opportunity for advancement and things like that. The questionnaires are e-mailed to random employees who choose whether or not and how to answer them. Of course, companies who covet being on the list encourage employees to respond, although they supposedly do not know who does and who does not, or what the nature of their responses are. That said, I do work for one of the companies on the list, but don’t think it necessarily correlates to the actual best companies to work for. As someone wrote, I am sure a company has to pay for the consideration because of the cost of compiling and administrating the list. The best companies care for their employees more than their own perception. Companies want to be on the list for their own selfish reasons.
Just like when schools have to apply to be a “Blue Ribbon” school.
I would guess that there are just these 42 members in the entire Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resources Management.
Every company wins an award!!! Yay!!!
Nearly every hospital in Maine should be on this list. We’ll- perhaps the nurses and other medical professionals might not always agree, but I guarantee the CEOs would think so- $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Can’t do that , most of them are Unionized!
HR Managers that made up a list of Union Companies would be fired in a heartbeat!
Notice , CIANBRO made the List!
Now that I think of it I am going to print this list off and avoid them like the plague!
Jackson Lab isn’t on there?
Maybe they wouldn’t pay.
I didn’t realize that Maine actually had 42 viable companies left in the state.
Of course Hollywood slots is on here, probably paid the person doing this big money to put them on list
my place of employment isn’t listed here. lol
This has gotta be rigged. No McD’s, No Dunkin’s, No KFC or TacoBell? Not even Wally World, and they own part of the company? Who came up with these results…Surely all those out there making 7.50 an hour must love their job so they can turn around and put 4.00 out of every hour they work in the gas tank just to get them there? Obviously this is a report brought up and made by the GOP and 1%…yep, most definately.
And the rankings are based on what? Salary? Benefits? Health plans? Cafeteria offerings? Vacation time? Holiday pay? Overtime pay? Sick leave? Disability pay? Opportunities for advancement? Humane treatment of employees? Job openings for new employees? Just to name a few of the things that I’d seek in an employer before giving kudos.
You just took all of them off the list.
I don’t hand out kudos freely!
Don’t ask for any details, I tried that with the Realtors list of homes sold, we are supposed to take all this for face value.
I see my employer isn’t on the list LOL
So Hollywood Casino made the list? Thought this was the best places to work not the ones with the highest employee turnover ratio…and wheres Husson University on this list….Full tine?
Banks, insurance companies, healthcare joints, a casino – places that know it is beneficial to maintain a positive public facade. It is not a list of places with the best wage and benefit packages, that is for sure. Don’t let this list affect your employment decisions…
Athena????!!??Really???? Maybe if you are an alcoholic…
They have lost several discrimination suits already!
notice they didn’t mention any in aroostook county
”
the annual Best Places to Work program recognizes businesses that have outstanding workplace environments. ”
BDN can you go back and ask the council to define “outstanding workplace environments”? I would say based on some comments here their definition is different.
Did you notice no State Gov’t Offices made the list.
I work at a great place, but … we have no Human Resources department, therefore no one belongs to Society for Human Resources Management. So this cooperative that we run ourselves, for ourselves and our customers, will never show up on a list like this.
Phoney listing when they didn’t check with the employees and LL Bean isn’t included? No credibility here.
dead end jobs.
Notice that there are no good places to work North of Bangor ( all jokes aside ) I can think of a few places , that pay well, that people love to work at
“The scientifically validated survey will incorporate a company’s employee benefits and policies and responses from a comprehensive employee engagement and satisfaction survey. The data collected from the assessment will be used to determine the Best Places to Work in Maine.”
For anyone who really wants to know how the rating is determined, the link is http://meshrm.shrm.org/news/2012/03/maine-state-council-kicks-7th-annual-best-places-work-maine
Come on! Facts take the fun out of it.
You won’t see any endorsements from Le Page on this one.
Anything good, is bad. At least to him and a column full of negative posters who have turned their noses up at the report.
Everyone would have been happier had AP and the BDN listed the “Worst Jobs.” Not hard to find. People here snorting at the working conditions and wages for the companies listed, should take a look at some other jobs to see what they’re missing.
For instance – you could be a Grave Digger, a Gas Station Attendant, an elementary school janitor. Each job boasting its own merits and weird duties, according to College Humor.
The worst 25, aren’t just spade jobs. Actually, they’re probably more preferable than say, working as a DMV employee, or, catering to Lindsay Lohan’s tastes as her Personal Assistant. Perhaps grave digging would be better.
The Humor page covered everything within 25 lines of the worst jobs including a bathroom attendant, stable cleaner, Taser Tester, Embalmer. For between $70k to $200k you could be a Podiatrist – if you like messing with other people’s feet. The great part of the job is being called doctor. It’s also one of the “worst.”
A “Lunch Lady” in a school cafeteria is yet another “worst.” Then there is the “Wall Mart Greeter,” a Toll Booth Attendant,” and a “Cremator.”
Just the other side of the coin.
Thank you lepage for the millinocket mill being reopened and blessing our state with candid honesty and backbone in such difficult times that baldacci left us in ;)
One out of three.
Too be fair, there are only 42 places to work IN Maine…
ask the people who are actually working on the floors of these companies, I bet you get a different reaction. Those are the people who make these companies all their money……..while the CEO is the one taking it all
I hope Bain Capital doesn’t buy any of these companies and outsource them to China, Singapore or India!