We issued the call for entries, and readers responded with many nominations explaining why their workplace deserved to be named Happenings Magazine’s 2008 Best Company to work for in NEPA.check out the winning entries in each of three size
categories below!

Community Medical Center Healthcare System, Scranton
Large Company Winner
CMC has attractive benefit packages, competitive salary rates and excellent pension plan. Employee Focused – we recognize the value of staff during national recognition weeks, department specific.
Employee of the Month Program – employees can be nominated by staff, managers and physicians for outstanding service to the organization.
Monthly Employee Appreciation Days – ranging from out door cookouts to ice cream socials, served by administration and management.
Annual Employee Recognition Dinner – honoring years of service and dedication of our employees attended by Administration, Board, Physician leadership, management and honored staff to include 25 year club retirees. Years of service awards are handed out.
We foster professional growth and development with organizations by offering tuition reimbursement, scholarships and grants to eligible employees annually, Graduate Nurse Internships and externships for nursing.
CMC offers a warm and friendly environment with family atmosphere. - Jane Gaul

Fernwood Hotel and Resort, Bushkill, PA
Medium Company Winner - Tie
The Bushkill Group, owners of Fernwood Hotel and Resort, takes pride in its long history of providing Pocono Mountain vacation and meeting experiences. Because of a strong commitment to its employees and the community, resources are consistently allocated towards employee welfare and through donations to the many worthwhile causes throughout Monroe and Pike counties. Employees have an extensive benefits package and are entitled to use many of the resort amenities for free or at significant discounts. The property has been a leader in destination vacations and corporate meeting events for almost 80 years. Recently purchased by a group of local business people, the company takes pride in its employees and their ability to provide guests with outstanding hospitality experiences. Fernwood is a four season resort located in Bushkill, PA on 440-acres adjacent to the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and is one of the largest employers in Monroe County. - Gina Bertucci
The reason I nominate this company is because we excell in every area throughout the workplace and the organization's commiment to its most important assets---ITS WORKFORCE!!
The owners of this company focus on the employees and their benefits. We are fortunate they offer FREE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE for all full time employees,sick time, vacation time, personal time, not to mention the 401k plan where our company match is up to 8%...and the list of benefits goes on.
Beyond the benefits, the owners care about all the workforce from grass mowers & Dishwashers up to the Executives no matter what position you hold you are treated fairly and with respect. Never looked down apon. I would recommend this company to anyone who wants to be respected in all areas, pay, benefits and your emotional well being. That is why I have been here for 16 years! - Shannon Price

The Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort, Shawnee on Delaware
Medium Company Winner - Tie
Employees of The Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort have many things in common. First and foremost, we have the pleasure of working in a location that is unlike anywhere else, the Kirkwood family cares deeply about their business and the community and takes active roles in preserving them, and as many of us live in Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania, we have a strong personal connection with the company.
Shawnee is not simply a place where we come to work each day, but rather a fully functioning member of the community. The Inn's efforts to enhance and preserve the place we live is an outstanding quality that is rarely found in business today. From its annual River Road Clean-up to the Christmas Angel Tree Program and everything in-between Shawnee's community advocacy programs reach members of the Village of Shawnee on Delaware and the surrounding areas like no other.
The resort also is well aware of its carbon footprint and is doing everything within reason to maintain and improve upon its already positive environmental impact. Last year, Shawnee initiated a fully functional back-office recycling program in which all of the resort's recyclable waste is sent to recycling facilities. This year, we already began our next phase of our green initiative. Shawnee replaced all of its plastic disposable items (plastic cups, to-go containers, plastic plates, paper cups, toilet paper etc) with items that are made of all-natural ingredients, such as corn and sugar cane, that are compost-friendly.
These efforts make me a proud member of Shawnee's workforce.
In addition to Shawnee's community and environmental programs, the Inn's full time employees do not fear layoffs in the winter season. The Kirkwood family does everything within their power to ensure work is available for those dedicated employees who rely on the resort for income. As I am sure you are aware, the hotel and vacation industry in Pennsylvania can be quite stagnant in the winter months.
Above all, working at Shawnee is like being a member of a larger family. Unlike working at big companies and corporations, Shawnee employees have liberties others do not. For example, though personal days are outlined in the employee handbook, management is more than happy to accommodate any situation to ensure we are able to tend to our personal needs. We have an open door/communication policy where communication is not only vertical, but also horizontal and every direction you can think of. If ever we have a need, we can facilitate it. - Jeromy Wo

NOW Hair and Nail Salon, Scranton
Small Company Winner
Because this really IS the best place to work in NEPA!
The NOW Hair and Nail Salon is more than a great place to work, it’s a place where employees find a mentor for lifelong learning and a work ‘family.’ As cliché as it sounds, it’s true: Owner Fran Kavulich’s genuine personal connections with everyone here inspire us to meet ever-higher high standards of professional excellence in a welcoming, caring environment. And once we establish those standards, we raise them again with pride, enthusiasm and encouragement. Every NOW employee benefits from Fran’s determination to help us develop solid skills and knowledge.
Fran’s drive and dedication is evident in her firm commitment to her employees’ continuing education. A role model for continuous learning, Fran offers benefits that surpass those offered by most other area salons, bringing current trends from NYC and the runway to Scranton, providing countless professional development opportunities, and sharing priceless knowledge and advice. She really wants us to be happy and confident and successful.
Fran’s consideration for others does not end at the NOW Hair and Nail Salon’s door; she quietly and generously benefits our entire community by supporting non-profit causes and working with small companies and independent consultants to provide others with a chance to learn and grow. She likes to tell us that she loves making people try new things, because that’s how they learn and become more sure of themselves. Then, she says, maybe they’ll take the initiative themselves the next time. She doesn’t just develop us as great stylists with superior customer service – NOW’s business goal – but she also develops us as people, awaking in us the talents and dreams we may not have even realized we had.
Fran’s “staff meetings” typify her motherly appraoch and the family feeling at NOW Hair and Nail Salon: we’re all invited to her home, where she prepares our favorite foods for dinner. Conversation around the table covers everything from business to makeup to emerging style trends to invaluable life lessons. She gives us the ideas, and then she supports them with ways to make them come to life. For example, we had some ideas for a new cosmetics line we sell at NOW. She arranged for a national makeup expert from Sephora to give us one-on-one lessons. And when Fran implemented a new dress code to match our beautiful new salon, she gave us wardrobe budgets and sent us on a shopping trip to New York City.
The opportunities for advancement, exposure to experts, dedication to customer care, sincere encouragement, and extensive benefits make the NOW Hair and Nail Salon a logical choice for employment, but Fran’s unrelenting compassion, commitment to our professional and lifelong improvement, and the exceptional customer service climate are what make the NOW Hair and Nail Salon a great place to work. Actually, it’s more than a great place to work – it really IS the best!
(We all say that we want to be just like Fran when we grow up!) - Mary Mulkerin, Kristy Luongo, Kristen Sherman, Buddy Miller, Melissa Fetsock, Lori Luongo, Lorena Benson, Debra Bochak, Mollibeth Cox, Cristina Cox, Christopher Ross, Ryan Kazmarek and Cindy Grego.