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Last updated on Friday, March 1, 2013
(UNDATED) - A pair of locally based small businesses found their names on a list of the best places to work in the state.
Rick Seltzer of the Herald-Times reports that JA Benefits LLC of Bedford and Hanapin Marketing LLC of Bloomington landed spots on the Indiana Chamber of Commerce's 2013 Best Places to Work in Indiana list. Both firms made the list's small companies grouping, which is for businesses with between 15 and 74 U.S. employees.
Appearing on the list meant different things to the two companies' owners.
For JA Benefits, appearing on the list of the state's best places to work is an affirmation of its staffing practices, said its managing partner, Doug Johnson. The firm, which is based at 1630 H St. in Bedford, tries to be flexible with employees' schedules, he said.
"We were doing a lot of things that some of the folks who were winning were doing, and we wondered where we stack up," he said. "This was an opportunity to really evaluate and see if we were making the grade."
JA Benefits is unlikely to immediately ramp up its recruiting as a result of being named a best place to work, according to Johnson. The company, which has 22 employees, deals with employee health benefits, wellness benefits and retirement benefits , as well as technology. It's in a holding pattern until the effects of the federal health care reform law become clearer.
"We're going to be very, very busy this year," Johnson said. "But we're also going to have to see how that affects our clients."
For Hanapin Marketing, it is a chance to bolster recruiting, according to its president and CEO, Pat East. Hanapin recruits experienced workers from across the country, he said.
"As much as we tell them Bloomington is like a big city but without the high prices , it sounds self-serving to them," East said. "Against other companies in our industry, we can be comparatively small. We hope that this can outweigh some of the negative perceptions someone may have."
Hanapin has 20 employees and is attempting to fill two more positions. The firm, headquartered at 501 N. Morton St. in Bloomington, calls itself a point-per-click management company.
That means clients hire it to manage paid advertising appearing in Internet search results. The company's major clients in the Bloomington area include the self-publishing company Author Solutions Inc.
One of Hanapin's practices that is popular with employees is allowing them to work from home several days a week, East said. Plus, the company gives workers the day off on the second Friday of the second month of each fiscal quarter, he said.
"They take a three-day weekend," East said. "It gives people a chance to recharge, rejuvenate."
The Best Companies Group of Harrisburg, Pa., selected firms appearing on the best places to work list for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. It handles similar lists in 21 other states.
It selected Indiana's top companies using employer reports and employee surveys. This year's list named 100 companies, up from 70 last year.
In addition to the small companies category, the list contained categories for medium-sized companies, with 75 to 249 U.S. employees; large companies, with 250 to 999 U.S. employees; and major companies, with more than 1,000 U.S. employees.
Several firms with local operations appeared on the major companies list -- Edward Jones, which has its U.S. headquarters in St. Louis; Hilliard Lyons, which is based in Louisville, Ky.; and Trilogy Health Services LLC, also based in Louisville.
Tuesday's best places to work list did not rank companies. Rankings are scheduled to be released May 2 at an awards dinner in Indianapolis. This is the eighth listing of the Best Places to Work in Indiana.
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