NB among Best Places to Work for third year

NORWAY — New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., took sixth place this year in the seventh annual "Best Places to Work in Maine" program, according to a Heather MacIssac, a New Balance representative. 

The rankings were announced October 11 at the Ramada Conference Center in Lewiston. 

New Balance was among 41 other companies in the state that made the 2012 "Best Places to Work in Maine" list – this year New Balance ranked 6 out of 11 companies in the large company category, says MacIssac. 

This is the third year New Balance has made the cut, says MacIssac. 

Last year, New Balanced ranked 11 among 40 companies honored, she said. In 2010, New Balance ranked third in the large company category. 

Participation

According to MacIssac, the assessment process, administered by the Best Companies Group, evaluated each company's employee policies and procedures, as well as responses from the company's employees from an anonymous survey.

In order to make the rankings MacIssac says at least 40 percent of the company's employees must fill out the survey. 

According to MacIssac, New Balance, the last major shoemaker in the U.S., employs 900-plus people at three Maine facilities in Norway, Norridgewok and Skowhegan. 

"The company has grown," says MacIssac. "Between the three facilities we've added 84 jobs [since last year.]" 

MacIssac says the company's ranking is "a compilation of things." She said the company has had "an ongoing focus on increased communication with our associates about the business, and really funneling  down information corporately to our associates." 

"I think, certainly, that would help any business," MacIssac says. 

Westbrook-based Cintas Corporation ranked first in the category, according to the release. Saco-based PeoplesChoice Credit Union ranked first in the small-medium company category. 

The 2012 "Best Places to Work in Maine" program, sponsored by Portland law firm Bernstein Shur, recognizes companies that have established and consistently fostered outstanding workplace environments.

It also "marks the most recent step in a long-term initiative to encourage growth and excellence throughout all Maine companies," an October 12 news release states. 

For the community

MacIssac says what makes New Balance one of the best places to work in Maine is its "commitment to domestic manufacturing, especially now with the all tariff issues that are upcoming." 

"It's certainly a large contributor [to the ranking,]" she says. 

According to reports, possible lowered tariffs on imported footwear in the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership currently being negotiated, companies like New Balance would be forced to adapt or close their U.S. manufacturing facilities.

That means all those jobs could be lost, says MacIssac. 

She said what also makes New Balance one of the best places to work in Maine is the fact that the company is committed to giving back to the community and sending its associates out to volunteer. 

Every Monday two NB employees are sent to volunteer at Guy E. Rowe School in Norway to assist a teacher with their daily instruction, MacIssac says. They also volunteer at local community luncheons once a month. 

She said every month New Balance completes 15-30 hours of community service. 

"I think that, in part, really speaks to the company as well as to our associates," says MacIssac. "In addition, I think that presence in our community truly makes New Balance one of the best places to work." 

"We are very excited," she says.