GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Please replace the release due to multiple revisions.
The corrected release reads:
turnstone ANNOUNCES 2013 ‘BEST YOUNG COMPANIES TO WORK FOR’
15 Small Businesses Recognized for Creating an Outstanding Culture
After receiving more than one hundred nominations from across the country, turnstone, a Steelcase brand, in partnership with Wharton management professor and human resource expert Peter Cappelli, today announced the inaugural 2013 Best Young Companies to Work for. The list recognizes innovative and forward-thinking young companies that demonstrate excellence in a number of areas, including positive work culture, forward-thinking leadership, talent retention, business innovation, community outreach and an intentionally designed workspace.
To be considered, nominated companies had to be no more than 10 years old and employ no more than 100 people. Companies were not eligible to nominate themselves. Evaluation was based on four main criteria, each given equal weight: Business Goals / Societal Impact; Outstanding Leadership; Positive Culture / workspace design; and Success Potential.
“An intentionally designed workspace can bring people together to foster collaboration, attract and retain top talent, build a brand and culture and ultimately promote growth,” said Kevin Kuske, general manager and chief anthropologist for turnstone. “These 15 companies have created environments which embrace the company’s personality by vividly representing their culture, fostering a tight community and exuding fun. We’re thrilled to honor these 15 Best Young Companies to Work for.”
From Portland, OR to Boston, MA and ranging from social media to IT staffing, the 15 companies were discovered through a nationwide search and selected by an esteemed panel of judges, including Marc Nager, President/CEO of UP Global; Lesa Mitchell, Vice President of Innovation and Networks at Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and Kevin Kuske, General Manager and Chief Anthropologist at turnstone.
“What sets ‘Best Young Companies to Work for’ apart from the countless other listings out there is that there were no self-nominations,” said Peter Cappelli, Wharton professor of management and director of the Center for Human Resources. “These companies were nominated by industry leaders and peers, partners, customers or other professionals who witnessed their success in building a place where everyone wants to work.”
The full listing of young companies that excel in the award criteria and have successfully differentiated themselves from other young companies include:
- Chalkfly (Detroit, MI) – an e-commerce office and school supply company that gives 5% of all sales directly back to teachers
- Cloudability (Portland, OR) – a cloud cost analytics company that lets users monitor, manage and communicate cloud spending
- Fanology (Los Angeles, CA) – through the power of storytelling, Fanology Social is dedicated to building the social media influence of celebrities & brands; cultivating meaningful relationships with fans and consumers that drive real world tangible results
- Greatist (New York, NY) – a fitness, health and happiness Internet media startup
- Groove Commerce (Baltimore, MD) – a creative digital agency with a focus on eCommerce, web design, inbound marketing, and branding
- Hoopla.io (Kansas City, KS) – formerly called Local Ruckus, an event marketing platform and syndication network powering local event discovery
- nexus IT group (Overland Park, KS) – an IT staffing agency
- Parking Panda – (Baltimore, MD) an OpenTable + ITA for the parking industry, allowing consumers to find, reserve, and pay for parking from their computer or mobile phone
- Privy (Boston, MA) – an online platform that helps local business marketers acquire customers and harness customer data to make retention marketing more relevant and effective
- SocialRadar (Washington, DC) mobile applications that give you real-time information about the people around you
- SpareFoot (Austin, TX) – online marketplace for self-storage, making it easy to find, compare and book the best storage space in one simple place
- Sparkhouse (Costa Mesa, CA) – a video production and marketing studio
- Sprout Social (Chicago, IL) – a social media management platform that provides businesses with three key social media capabilities: engagement, publishing and analytics
- Sputnik Creative (Austin, TX) – a full service digital and branding studio
- Thanx Media (Glen Ellyn, IL) – an enterprise technology company delivering fully-integrated, web-based e-commerce solutions
About turnstone
turnstone is a Steelcase Inc. brand inspired by the spirit of small business. The company designs solutions that help create great work environments that are easy to own and exhilarating to use. We provide ideas and attainable solutions that help our customers stay focused on what’s most important to them – their exciting journey through business and life. Running a small business is hard enough— having a great space to work in should be easy. For more information, visit www.myturnstone.com.
