OLYMPIA— The Association of Washington Business recognized 18 businesses and non-profit organizations Wednesday for their outstanding commitment to their employees.

The awards, presented during AWB’s annual Legislative Day in Olympia, were given to employers of all sizes and industries throughout the state for their superior commitment to workplace safety, job training and advancement, and innovative benefit and compensation programs.

“The winners of this year’s awards represent the best of Washington’s business community,” said AWB President Don Brunell. “These are perfect of examples of the kind of innovation and forward-thinking that’s needed to attract the best workers to our state. Building a strong, talented workforce is one of the most important things we can do to help Washington emerge strong from the recent downturn.”

“Congratulations to all this year’s Better Workplace recipients. Your efforts are the kind of efforts we should implement across state government,” said Attorney General Rob McKenna, who served as today’s keynote luncheon speaker. “Improvements in worker safety not only protect your workforce but they save money in the long-run,” he said.

“The training and advancement programs recognized today demonstrate that investments in staff pay great dividends. And the innovative benefit and compensation programs honored today reflect the tremendous flexibility and commitment Washington’s businesses provide to their teams.”

The Better Workplace Awards program is open to all AWB members. An independent panel of judges reviews all the nominees and evaluates the programs based on a variety of criteria, including their impact on employee morale, increases in worker productivity, improvements in recruitment and retention and reductions in the cost of worker training. AWB also gives Continuous Commitment awards to companies that have previously won the Better Workplace Award and have continued to be innovators in their efforts to improve the employee work environment.


This year’s Better Workplace Awards were presented to:

· Acme Concrete Paving, Inc. (Spokane)
· American Distributing (Marysville)
· Andelcare (Bellevue)
· Birds Eye Foods (Tacoma)
· Cairncross & Hempelmann, P.S. (Seattle)
· Check Masters (Lynnwood)
· Columbia Vista Corp. (Vancouver)
· Concur Technologies (Redmond)
· Enterprise Rent-A-Car (Renton)
· Haskins Steel Co., Inc. (Spokane)
· Humanix Staffing & Recruiting (Spokane Valley)
· Marine View Beverage, Inc. (Sumner)
· Medical Imaging Northwest (Lakewood)
· Pacific Power (Yakima, Sunnyside and Walla Walla)
· Skils’kin (Spokane)
· St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute (Spokane)
· Sterling Savings Bank (Spokane)
· Tenaska Ferndale Cogeneration Station (Ferndale)

For photos of the 2010 awards presentation in Olympia, please visit the AWB’s Flickr Web site. To read more about each award winner, click here.


About the Association of Washington Business
Formed in 1904, the Association of Washington Business is Washington’s oldest and largest statewide business association, and includes more than 6,800 members representing 650,000 employees. AWB serves as both the state’s chamber of commerce and the manufacturing and technology association. While its membership includes major employers like Boeing, Microsoft and Weyerhaeuser, 90 percent of AWB members employ fewer than 100 people. More than half of AWB’s members employ fewer than 10. For more about AWB, visit http://www.awb.org/.