Best Places To Work Winners

MO.com has selected our 2013 list of the Best Places to Work. We received applications for everything from small mom-and-pop stores to large corporations. After receiving over 100 applications, we’ve determined the companies that truly prioritize their company cultures. These companies have successfully created atmospheres that employees love and look forward to being a part of every day.

New Belgium Brewing

New Belgium Brewing is one of the best when it comes to developing a great company culture. When you deal with beer all day, how could you not? From the moment you step into the factory, New Belgium’s unique culture is apparent in many ways. Whether it’s the slide down the hallway or the foosball and ping pong tables in the packaging area, employees always have a place to relax. In addition to its fun side, New Belgium likes to reward longstanding employees. At their one-year anniversaries, all employees receive brand-new cruise bikes emblazoned with the company logo. At five years, each employee is granted a two-week paid vacation to Belgium, where the foundation of New Belgium Brewing lies. Finally, New Belgium has recently decided to become 100-percent employee-owned. Through that ownership, employees feel more inspired by — and more connected to — the brewery.

Ascendant Group

Ascendant Group helps guide CEOs and executives in strategically building their professional brands to transform them from rising stars to industry leaders. Ascendant Group has assembled an incredible team and a highly flexible company culture. Employees are scattered across the world, which has helped create a diverse and efficient team. In addition to the growing business, Ascendant Group cares greatly about helping those in need. This past year, Ascendant Group donated countless hours to Hurricane Sandy relief on the Jersey Shore. Their time was spent helping people, bonding with team members, and cleaning up the area. Overall, Ascendant Group offers employees a growth-oriented culture that prioritizes employees’ job satisfaction and personal growth.

Apptentive

Apptentive is the kind of place where the CEO offers to pick you up from the airport at midnight, where co-workers help one another move into their new apartments, and where true camaraderie is fostered by the enjoyment everyone gets from working together. It doesn’t matter if it’s marketing, sales, or developing the product — the team draws energy from the happiness of one another. When one person is happy, it spreads around the office. Despite great working relationships, for Apptentive, it’s not all about work. Whether it’s taking a random day off to visit the Seattle Art Museum or packing up to spend four days on the San Juan Islands, the Apptentive team is always looking for interesting and meaningful ways to connect.

InvenQuery

InvenQuery is deeply committed to positively impacting the planet, a passion that fuels every decision they make. Equal to that environmental enthusiasm, however, is their dedication to their company, to each other, and to having fun. At InvenQuery, they “encourage candy breaks along with coding, ping pong along with PowerPoints, and dance parties along with deadlines.” Although many would consider the InvenQuery team “live-to-work” people, they are dedicated to making work lively and fun for everyone who works there.

Front Flip

Front Flip is one of the places you want to be as an employee. In a fast-growing market, with game-changing technology, Front Flip is poised for growth. Not lost within that meteoric growth is their priority to deliver an incredible work experience for their employees. A weekly meal for the whole staff, regular happy hours, and in-meeting snacks and drinks make Front Flip a tasty place to work. In addition to food, Front Flip hosts regular parties, and this past holiday, Front Flip had a big casino night for employees with craps and blackjack. Grand prizes included a 50″ flat screen TV, a Bose sound dock, and an iPad Mini.

All these companies have done incredible things for their employees. Many other applicants were outstanding and should feel proud of the efforts they take to create an amazing atmosphere for their employees. Congratulations, and keep up the awesome work!