According to Fortune’s 2018 ranking of the best medium-sized businesses in the nation, three companies based in Huntsville are among the ten best places to work, including the best workplace of its size in the United States.
Intuitive Research and Technology, a 378-employee Alabama aerospace engineering firm, was named as the nation’s top medium-sized workplace.
BCA member INTUITIVE was named the #1 Best Medium-sized Workplace in the NATION! This is their 9th consecutive year to be named a Top Ten company, and their 3rd time to be named #1. Congrats @its_intuitive https://t.co/Mhj8Evzbck
— BusinessCouncil ofAL (@BCAToday) October 18, 2018
The other Huntsville-based companies ranked were PeopleTec, coming in third , and Torch Technologies, listed at number six.
PeopleTec is a 323-employee “high performance, employee-owned small business that provides technical expertise in diversified engineering, modeling and simulation, cyber security/intelligence, rapid prototyping, and program support solutions for the Department of Defense and Civilian Federal agencies.”
Torch employs 855 people and “is a 100% employee-owned, growing small business dedicated to quality technical services, competitive costs, and ethical business practices headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. Torch provides research, development, and engineering services to Department of Defense customers.”
Fortune featured PeopleTech in a writeup about the list, saying, “It’s no accident that this defense industry contractor has ‘people’ in its name. After many years in the industry, CEO Terry Jennings had a vision of a company that put its people first and encouraged open communication, personal and professional development, and community and customer relationships.”
The article continues, “She has tried to stay true to that goal ever since co-founding PeopleTec in 2005. The company’s 350 or so employees tackle complex issues like cybersecurity, technology integration for missile defense systems, and command and control systems for Department of Defense weapons. But Jennings has found that little things can make all the difference to her highly trained staff. As part of a rolling series of meetings she has with groups of a few dozen employees, Jennings asked one team what problems she could fix. The response she received had nothing to do with high-tech gadgetry, workplace pressures or health benefits.”
“They said, ‘you took away the chocolate we used to have, and gave us a vending machine,’” Jennings told Fortune, with a laugh. “I put chocolate back there the next day.”
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
