Milwaukee-area Firms Repeat on Fortune 'Best Companies' List

 

The Business Journal of Milwaukee

Jan. 22, 2009

 

Three Milwaukee-area companies are making repeat appearances on Fortune magazine's list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America in 2008.

 

Milwaukee investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. surged to the 14th spot on the list, rising from 39th last year. Racine financial services company Johnson Financial Group, which premiered on the list last year, also made the top 25 with the 25th ranking.

 

Another Johnson family company in Racine, consumer products giant S.C. Johnson & Son Inc., fell to the 81st spot from its ranking of 27th a year ago.

 

No other Wisconsin company made the list.

 

Baird has been on the list every year since 2004, while S.C. Johnson made the list in 1998-1999 and in every year since 2003.

 

NetApp, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based data storage and data management firm with more than 5,000 worldwide employees, ranked first, unseating Google Inc.'s two-year reign in the top spot.

 

Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list is based on the publication's evaluation of the policies and culture of each company and the opinions of the company's own employees. Two-thirds of the total score is based on employee responses to a survey created by the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco. The study looks at factors such as average annual pay, health care coverage, job growth, work-life balance and diversity. See the full list here.