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The Red Sox triumphed 4-0 over St Louis - but even sweeter was their comeback from 3-0 down to see off hated rivals the Yankees to win the American League.
Sluggers Jonny Damon and David Bellhorn plus pitchers Curt Schilling and Pedro Martinez were among the Boston heroes.
Schilling, playing through the pain of a bad ankle injury, epitomised Boston's determination to end their barren run.
Boston's Fall Classic victory bookended that of NFL neighbours New England, who edged Carolina 32-29 in a thrilling Super Bowl XXXVIII in February.
It was the Patriots' second Super Bowl win in three years after their 2002 triumph over St Louis - also sealed by a last-gasp Adam Vinatieri field goal.
New England began their 2004-05 season with all guns blazing, stretching their unbeaten run to a record 21 games.
It was ended by powerful Pittsburgh, while Philadelphia also look strong.
In the NBA, Detroit stunned the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers with a 4-1 win in June's best-of-seven finals.
Defeat marked the end of an era for LA, with coach Phil Jackson and mega-star Shaquille O'Neal among those departing. Kobe Bryant is happier without Shaq.
Pistons coach Larry Brown failed to work the same magic with the US 'Dream Team' at the Olympics - his blend of youth and experience won only bronze.
An Emeka Okafor-inspired UConn beat Georgia Tech to win the college crown.
Tampa Bay clinched the NHL's Stanley Cup for the first time in their 12-year history with a 2-1 victory over Calgary in the trophy's game-seven decider.
The win was good news for those keen to promote the sport outside its northern heartland, but did not translate into general interest or good TV ratings.
Tampa's triumph was soon overshadowed by a labour dispute as team owners sought to stem the sport's losses.
The 2004-05 season failed to start on time, with the players locked out.


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Cardinal Donald Wuerl has published a commentary on the Holy Father's interview at America. I do not know the cardinal well, but living in his archdiocese I have come to appreciate his pastoral leadership greatly. An obviously cautious man, it is wonderful to see him almost giddy at Pope Francis' powerful witness. Clearly, +Wuerl "gets" it.
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has also penned a column on the interview. He recounts the number of emails he has gotten, some in praise of the Holy Father, others not. He proceeds to quote only those who are disappointed, even feeling "betrayed," by the new pope's words. I would invite His Grace of Philadelphia to reflect on the quality of episcopal leadership in the United States over the past few years, such that a Catholic, any Catholic, would feel "betrayed" when the Holy Father speaks words that are so obviously filled with the faith and hope and love of the Gospels.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Items in Cart:
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Answers Home
» Behavior & Training
» Chewing
Why are they tearing up their bed?
My pups seem to really love laying on a bed but they keep ripping a hole in it and pulling out the stuffing. What can I do without spending an arm and a lef on a chew resistant bed?
Asked by
Member 1070494
on Feb 3rd 2012
in Chewing
- Cast your vote for which answer you think is best!
Some dogs just like tearing up their beds. I highly recommend getting a bed from Taylor Designed Pet Products. They make the strongest beds out there.
Kong also makes good dog beds.
There's also the FYDO Chew Resistant Dog Bed that you can find here - www.theuncommondog.com
Kuranda dog beds are what a lot of shelters and rescues use nowadays.
Kuranda - kuranda.com
Member 930032 answered on 2/6/12. Helpful? / 0
Then kong beds are great. I had trouble with dogs ripping up beds, but they have done nothing to this one and we have had it for over a year. They cost a bit more, but if you had to keep buying beds it would be more then the kongs real fast.
Ikan answered on 2/9/12. Helpful? / 0


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Oregon Topics: Vital Records
While the Oregon Health Division holds statewide certificates related to births, deaths, marriages, and divorces, many other vital records resources exist. For example, most county clerk offices maintain marriage records dating from the beginning of the county to the present. Most circuit court offices have divorce case files (dating back to the 1800s in many cases) that include a variety of supporting records in addition to the decree. The following links provide access to some of the most useful vital records resources.
Certified Copies
Oregon Public Health, Center for Health Statistics has the following certified statewide certificates:
Birth: 1903-present
Death: 1903-present
Marriage: 1906-present
Divorce: 1925-present
See chart for various payment options and costs including Internet, regular mail, rush mail, walk-in, and telephone.
Oregon Public Health, Center for Health Statistics (includes vital records reports and data)
Uncertified Copies
Oregon State Archives has the following uncertified statewide records and indexes:
Birth certificate affidavit for corrections, 1904-1980
Death certificates, Oregon, 1903-1966
Death index, Oregon, 1903-2008 (microfilm)
Delayed birth certificates, 1842-1900
Divorce index, Oregon, 1946-2008 (microfilm)
Divorce returns, 1946-1966
Marriage index, Oregon, 1906-1924, 1946-2008 (microfilm)
Marriage returns, 1906-1910, 1946-1966
$5.00 in-state and $10.00 out-of-state with exact index citation.
Oregon vital record resources (includes listings and searchable databases for city and county vital records held by the Oregon State Archives)
Oregon Historical County Records Guide (includes inventories of vital records held by counties and other repositories: birth and death until 1920; marriage until 1960; and divorce (circuit court records) until 1983)
Request a certificate or record search via email@example.com (include name, county, and date of death)


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As you know (or may not), Once Upon a Time were in Steveston last week (November 21, 2012) filming scenes inside Mr. Golds, Lana Parrilla in her Mercedes, David Anders running and some scenes on the dock.
I've already posted quite a few images of the day's shoot already:
Jared Gilmore
Lana Parrilla
David Anders
I took so many more pictures that I'm not going to post until it's nearer the air date, but I do have some that I can share with you right now. After all, it is Once Upon a Time Sunday. I hated that we didn't get an episode last week because of an award ceremony going on in the US, but saying that, getting to see them film in Steveston this week took the edge off slightly.
A fan of the show from Miami (@ImaFreeBish) sent this t-shirt to Sarah, the Leaf Lady who wore it with pride for the duration of the day. She absolutely loved it! I'm thinking the Leaf Lady should get her own post on here, she's as much of a star as the cast. She's always in a good mood and greets everyone with a smile.
The shutters are finally down for good on the Storybrooke Library and it will be opening soon according to the banner that was above the main entrance.


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Are there two areas where a user can log in?
I have modified my theme. I have added a button to the comments.php so that when the user wants to add a comment and he is required to register or log in, he is given the option to click on a button (It is part of my design and requirements for my specific web design).
Here is my question. Are there, in fact, two areas where a user can log in?
I noticed that if a user clicks on "log in" from the home page, he goes to a page that looks something like this:
But if he clicks to respond to a blog, he goes to the bottom of the blog like so:
One of the places can be modified by the comments.php page, where can the other area be modified?


text: Penfolds Grange is perhaps Australia's most famous wine, and that fame has often been celebrated in these pages, where this powerful Shiraz-based blend has been honored numerous times. Yet with each vintage, the winemaker Peter Gago manages to further refine the label's flagship wine, whose delicate details make its enormous tannins seem somehow light, just as the traceries and spires of a Gothic cathedral suggest to the observer an illusive fragility. Ornamenting the immense structure of the Penfolds 2008 Grange (www.penfolds.com, $850) are mingled elements of wild berry, clove, toasted cinnamon, baked apple, vanilla, and bittersweet chocolate.


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Traditional IRAs, (whether invested in CDs, stocks and bonds or mutual funds) involve PRE-TAX savings that are taxed upon withdrawl. Roth IRAs do not have the pre-tax benefit, however the account will not be taxed when the money is taken at retirement.
1.) If you think you might be in a higher tax bracket in retirment – maybe because you have such a good pile of income and the house is paid off – consider a conversion.
2.) There is no fee to convert a Traditional IRA to a Roth. However, the converted amount may be taxable in the year the conversation is made.
3.) Unlike a Traditional IRA, and other pre-tax vehicles, there is no age at which one MUST take withdrawls at age 70.5 You may leave your money in a Roth for as long as you would like to and do have to worry about Required Minimum Distributions. I know that for me, having the flexibilty to defer withdralws is a comfort.
4.) Do speak to your tax advisor as those with incomes above certain levels are not eligible for Roth conversions. Income limits are set to expire in 2010. But that may change with a new administration.
Marion R. Syversen, MBA – President
[email protected] <:mailto:[email protected]>:
Check out or website that includes weekly streaming videos
WWW.NorumbegaFinancial.com <:
Voted Bangor's Best Financial Planning Firm 2008 by Market Surveys of America
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Only securities and advisory services offered through Wall Street Financial Group, Inc. Registered Investment Advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC. Norumbega Financial and Wall Street Financial Group, Inc., are separate entities, independently owned and operated.


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Exotic Car Buyers Guide: duPont REGISTRY vs. AskMen.com
duPont also commented, "Today's market for exotics continues to expand as manufacturers answer enthusiasts' demands for horsepower, cutting-edge innovation and dramatic designs," and that the REGISTRY team's seven picks "pace the market as the pinnacle of today's supercars."
We are always impressed with the duPont REGISTRY and highly respect their expertise. And as we peruse the guide, it's tough to argue with their choices. Nonetheless, using the same criteria, we respectfully differ in a few categories. After all, good taste is subjective. Rolex or Breitling? Cristal or Dom Perignon?
There are no "wrong" choices, but a multitude of great options. Now it's your turn. Let's take a look at the duPont picks alongside our own, and you can decide.
Best New Convertible
duPont REGISTRY: Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder
AskMen.com: Ferrari F430 Spider
In theory, the Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron will accelerate from a standstill to well over 100 mph in the time it takes to read this sentence. In theory. Well, to be fair, that's what Bugatti assures us. But while photos and manufacturer's test claims are fine to arouse our appetites, the main course has yet to hit the table. After countless delays, we're told that the Veyron will finally be available soon. We don't want to appear dismissive, but we'll believe it when we see it.
In the meantime, those firmly grounded in reality can unburden themselves of just over half a mil and drive home the Swedish Koenigsegg CCR. While it doesn't bear the name of a road and race legend (like the Veyron does), the CCR has just about everything else going for it. Its 800-horsepower V8 will send you to 60 in just over three seconds. Keep the pressure on and blast your way to its record-setting 242 mph top end — if you dare. Actually, the Koenigsegg engineers did their homework on Italy's Nardo test track to ensure this can be done without any undue drama. And you thought the hottest Swede was a bikini-team member.
We may agree with duPont's pick for Best New Exotic, but we gotta call them out on their Best Luxury Sedan...


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Sybase®IS PROUD TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR OUR COMMITMENT
We are pleased to be named as one of the Top Workplaces in the Bay Area for the second year from the Bay Area News Group. Join Sybase! Sybase, an SAP® company, delivers enterprise and mobile software to manage, analyze, and mobilize information. We are recognized globally as the performance leader, proven in the most dataintensive industries, across all systems, networks, and devices. Our information management, analytics, mobile messaging, and enterprise mobility solutions have powered the world's most mission-critical systems in financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, and government. We've been named globally as one of the Best Employers in the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington D.C. and Virginia, Canada, China, India, Singapore, the U.K., France, the Netherlands, and Germany. And these accolades reflect our focus on our employees, our culture and work environment, and our success. Copyright © 2012 Sybase, Inc. All rights reserved. Unpublished rights reserved under U.S. copyright laws. Sybase and the Sybase logo are trademarks of Sybase, Inc. or its subsidiaries. ® indicates registration in the United States of America. SAP and the SAP logo are the trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 06/12
Bring your strengths to a billion-dollar company with 3,500 employees, more than 2,000 partners, more than 200,000 developers using our products, 700+ embedded OEM partners, 60,000+ corporate customers in 60 countries, and 91 of Fortune 100 companies using our technology. Sybase offers highly competitive pay, benefits, educational plans, career development and much more. To learn more about Sybase, visit our employment site at www.sybase.com/jobs. Sybase is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Stryker would like to thank its employees for making Stryker a Top Place to work in the Bay Area
Our Commitment to Our People Stryker's 21,000 employees worldwide carry out our commitment to social responsibility. We hire people who share Dr. Stryker's vision for improving patients' lives, and improving clinical efficiency and effectiveness. Our employees understand how Stryker's mission supports the work of our customers, and how important that work is.
Stryker – Making A Difference Learn how a career at Stryker allows for employees to make a difference in the lives of patients and families. Visit us at www.stryker.jobs
"We are extremely proud to once again, be recognized as a Top Workplace in the Bay Area. Our culture empowers employees to develop their careers based on their strengths and potential. We know that happier employees drive our success and we are honored to create medical technology that improves people's lives around the world." Mark Lipscomb Vice President, Stryker
#1 in 2011
TOP WORKPLACES 2012 WINNERS In this survey, small companies have less than 150 employees, midsize companies have 151-499 employees and large companies have 500 or more employees.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
Workday | Pleasanton Stryker Endoscopy | San Jose FedEx | Oakland Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati | Palo Alto Citrix Systems Inc. | Santa Clara Hitachi Data Systems Corporation | Santa Clara Integrated Device Technology, Inc. | San Jose SAP Labs LLC. | Palo Alto Tesla Motors | Palo Alto Stanford University | Palo Alto Sybase, Inc., an SAP Company | Dublin Fremont Bank | Fremont TiVo Inc. | Alviso VMware, Inc. | Palo Alto Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District | Livermore
Sereno Group Real Estate | Los Gatos Stonebrook Healthcare Center | Concord A10 Networks | San Jose The Container Store | San Jose, San Francisco, Corte Madera, Walnut Creek Hyatt Regency Santa Clara | Santa Clara Viasystems Group, Inc. | San Jose Del Grande Dealer Group | San Jose Microchip Technology, Inc. | San Jose Riverbed Technology | San Francisco NetSuite, Inc. | San Mateo Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport | Burlingame Pet Food Express | Oakland Actuate Corporation | San Mateo One Workplace | Milpitas Wyse Technology Incorporated | San Jose East Bay Agency for Children | Oakland Coupons.com Incorporated | Mountain View Taos Mountain, Inc. | San Jose Air Systems, Inc. | San Jose Synaptics, Incorporated | Santa Clara BMW Concord | Concord California Water Service Group | San Jose Rambus, Inc. | Sunnyvale WORLDPAC, Inc. | Newark Qualcomm MEMS Technologies | San Jose
You deserve a round of applause. You inspire us. FedEx is proud to recognize our Bay Area employees for a job well done.
Š2012 FedEx. All rights reserved.
TOP WORKPLACES 2012 WINNERS In this survey, small companies have less than 150 employees, midsize companies have 151-499 employees and large companies have 500 or more employees.
APN Software Services, Inc. | Newark J&J Air Conditioning | San Jose iD Tech Camps | Campbell Fehr & Peers | Walnut Creek Arena Solutions | Foster City RedSeal Networks | Santa Clara McManis Faulkner | San Jose The Cooper Companies, Inc. | Pleasanton Appirio | San Mateo Medallia, Inc. | Palo Alto Xactly Corporation | San Jose McGuire and Hester | Oakland Bank of Commerce Mortgage | San Ramon Integrated Archive Systems, Inc. | Palo Alto Intacct Corporation | San Jose Loring Ward | San Jose College Nannies & Tutors | Danville ISCS | San Jose
19. Rocket Fuel | Redwood City 20. Diablo Valley Oncology / Hematology Medical Group | Pleasant Hill 21. Berding & Weil LLP | Alamo 22. Celestica, Inc. | San Jose 23. Starlight Community Services | San Jose 24. Composite Software, Inc. | San Mateo 25. Simply Hired | Sunnyvale 26. Environmental Chemical Corporation | Burlingame 27. InfoStretch Corporation | Santa Clara 28. Nelson Family of Companies | Sonoma 29. Hologic | Santa Clara 30. The Australian Tanning Company | Morgan Hill 31. Edelman | San Mateo 32. Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corp. | San Ramon 33. Curtis Instruments | Livermore 34. Location Labs | Emeryville 35. DigitalPersona, Inc. | Redwood City
Del Grande Dealer Group is Silicon Valley's Largest Family Owned Automotive Group! We are interested in growing our Sales, Service and Parts Teams with individuals who listen well, care deeply about Outstanding Customer Service, are conscientious and want to be part of a Team that prides itself on the "Ultimate Automotive Experience." PROJECT100TM is "Our commitment to provide 100% customer satisfaction to 100% of our customers - 100% of the time!" It also extends to every member of our DGDG team. We firmly believe that "Happy Team Members" make "Happy Car Buyers."! Visit DGDG.com to view our 12 Bay Area dealerships and how to join our World Class Team!
Special Awards for Bay Area Top Workplaces 2012 Employees' comments were used to determine Top Workplaces in specific categories of awards.
Stonebrook Healthcare Center
Direction Stonebrook Healthcare Center Managers Stryker Endoscopy How does your manager make it easy to do your job well? My manager is very supportive of the work-life balance and makes this possible through flex hours. He is also a very supportive of the work I do without micro-managing and is a great mentor… Is a coach and mentor…Great critique of work with solid feedback.
Doers J&J Air Conditioning What impresses you most about how this company does things efficiently and well? The teamwork, knowledge and wealth of experience of the team.
Ethics The Container Store New ideas Appirio How does this company encourage new ideas? Technology driven, Ideas platform which drives consensus on all ideas… Employees have incentive to come up with Ideas, and are recognized for bringing about a difference… Makes everyone feel as if this is their company and they are not just tasked to perform activities.
J&J Air Conditioning
East Bay Agency for Children
Meaningful East Bay Agency for Children
Appreciation RedSeal Networks
What do you find most meaningful about working at this company?
What makes you feel appreciated at this company?
Knowing that we are making a difference in children's lives… To be with other mindful souls who feel compelled to healing the youth in our community!
That management empowers me to do my job… The job I do is appreciated.
Benefits The Cooper Companies, Inc. Clued-in senior management A10 Networks What impresses you most about senior managers at this company? Most of our senior managers are hands-on managers and they can actually code / design / perform / do stuff better than your fellow team members when there is a need. Besides having the capability of pertaining to details and knowing where each team member is at, our managers also have a pretty good grasp of the overall pictures and are able to coordinate and put each member in the right spot.
Communication iD Tech Camps What ways do you find most useful for being informed about company decisions? Company-wide meetings... Talking to people.
Work/life flexibility Arena Solutions What do you appreciate most about how this company supports work/life flexibility? Arena allows employees to come to work and leave work at times that work best with their schedules. Arena encourages employees to work from home when necessary, and trusts employees to be effective regardless of geographic location.
Training Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati What formal training have you found to be most helpful? Training on specific topics in the corporate practice, especially when there are changes in the law… I think it's the informal training that helped me the most.
Just Right Checking and Saving Plans SM
Residential and Commercial Lending Wealth and Retirement Planning
Honored to be one of the Bay Area News Top Workplaces
We're Hiring www.fremontbank.com/careers (800) 359-BANK (2265) www.fremontbank.com PR-0066-0612
Join Us! Actuate – The People Behind BIRT® At Actuate, we believe people and passion build great technology products. As a result, our employees have voted us one of the Top Work Places in the Bay Area. And we're grateful. We're the people who disrupted the world of Business Intelligence. We come together as a company of individuals to create ground-breaking software and Cloud products that provide maximized insight into data -archived data, social data, Big Data. All built around the open source BIRT code that our engineers created as part of the Eclipse project. If you have the kind of passion that allows you to be bold, to offer ideas and to team with other brilliant minds, we want to hear from you. Join us in the way forward. The way toward customizable, intuitive, and portable applications for better decisions from business data.
Pete Cittadini, President & CEO
Actuate – One of the Bay Area's Top Places to Work. Join our conversation: www.actuate.com/best2012
Leaders of Bay Area Top Workplaces
Small Workplaces
Top ranked in each size category
APN Software Services
No photo available
Aslam Chandiwalla CEO
Midsize Workplaces Large Workplaces Sereno Real Estate Group
Chris Trapani Workday
Dave Duffield & Aneel Bhusri
Stonebrook Health Center
Lori Cooper Administrator
J&J Air Conditioning
Jerry Hurwitz CEO iD Tech Camps
Pete Ingram Caushi CEO RedSeal Networks
Stryker Endoscopy
Bill Enquist President Global Endoscopy
A10 Networks
Lee Chen Founder & CEO
CEO McManis Faulkner
The Container Store
Kip Tindell
No photo available
Jain Parveen
James McManis Founding partner
Guy Capriulo Robin Van Galder Steve Seymour Managing Directors Oakland / Bay Area
Hyatt Regency Santa Clara
Dania Duke General Manager
Arena Solutions
Eric Larkin CTO and Founder
Craig Livingston CEO
Fehr & Peers
Matt Henry CEO
OUR PEOPLE FUEL THE ENGINE OF OPPORTUNITY AT VMWARE At VMware, we thrive on forward momentum. We are an engine of opportunity fueled by the transformative products and solutions we bring to market, the passion and trust we inspire in our customers, and our collaborative drive to define and deliver the future of IT through cloud computing. If you are passionate, innovative, driven, and inspired by the opportunity to learn and contribute something back to the broader community, connect with us!
vmware.com/careers Visit our mobile site by texting VMWCAREERS to 424242
OUR PEOPLE FUEL THE ENGINE OF OPPORTUNITY AT VMWARE At VMware, we thrive on forward momentum. We are an engine of opportunity fueled by the transformative products and solutions we bring to market, the passion and trust we inspire in our customers, and our collaborative drive to define and deliver the future of IT through cloud computing. If you are passionate, innovative, driven, and inspired by the opportunity to learn and contribute something back to the broader community, connect with us!
vmware.com/careers Visit our mobile site by texting VMWCAREERS to 424242
Words to live by Excerpts from the vision statements and goals of some of the Top Workplaces 2012 Actuate Corporation: Actuate helps organizations succeed in increasing customer satisfaction and operational performance by ensuring their employees, customers and partners have the information they need to make sound business decisions and affect positive change. Appirio: In the cloud computing gold rush, Appirio is the picks and shovels.
Curtis Instruments: Our people are our most important resource. Our customers are the source of our well-being: every person in the company is responsible for exceeding customer expectations. We strive to design and manufacture only one level of quality – the highest. As a global company, we recognize that strength comes from the diversity of our culture. Creativity in our engineering and in all aspects of our activities is the most essential ingredient of our progress.
Arena Solutions: Arena Solutions helps innovative manufacturers bring better products to market faster with a suite of cloud PLM applications that enable engineering, manufacturing and their extended supply chains to work better together — from first prototype to full-scale production.
Del Grande Dealer Group: Our company follows the value statement of Project 100: is "our commitment to provide 100-percent customer satisfaction to 100-percent of our customers — 100-percent of the time!" This vision is spread throughout the organization and affects how we treat one another. We have a "10 Foot Rule" that encourages us all Bank of Commerce Mortgage (Simonich Corporation): Bank of Commerce Mortgage is to acknowledge, smile, welcome or catch up to be the premier provider of superior mortgage with any employee or customer within 10 feet services and products to the communities in the of us… it really helps to foster our family-like atmosphere. markets we serve. We will develop profitable business strategies that allow us to enhance Diablo Valley Oncology / Hematology our relationships and build new ones. Medical Group: Our goal is to be the leader in the delivery of comprehensive, state-of-the-art California Water Service Group: California oncology and hematology care by providing the Water Service Group is committed to being latest in technology, therapies, techniques and the leader in providing traditional and innovative utility services to the customers and clinical trials all in one convenient location. communities it serves. Celestica: At Celestica, we are solid partners who deliver informed, flexible solutions to enable our customers' success. We are adaptive and agile, and help our customers anticipate and prepare for unexpected changes. Citrix Systems: Citrix is the strategic technology company transforming how people, businesses and IT work and collaborate in the cloud era. Everything we do supports our belief that work should be fun, and that working hard while still enjoying life is essential to our success.
East Bay Agency for Children: East Bay Agency for Children builds brighter futures and stronger communities by promoting the health, safety and educational success of our children and youth, and their families. Edelman: Our diverse staff reflects our client service approach and ability to bring different perspectives with wide-angle views to communication challenges. Fehr & Peers: Our mission is to empower every employee to develop effective and innovative transportation solutions that improve communities. Our internal core values and guiding principles are fairness, generosity, respect and openness, personal growth and self-improvement in a collaborative environment with the flexibility that supports life balance.
Fehr & Peers
Fremont Bank: Fremont Bank is one of the Bay Area's leading financial services provider for a very good reason; we care. Our commitment to serving our community has produced an outstanding, diverse team of professionals, providing top-quality products and services.
East Bay Agency for Children
a poster on the wall. It's how we operate every day, how we get things done. It's who we are. The Hitachi Spirit has three parts: Wa (Harmony – Trust – Respect), Makoto (Sincerity – Fairness – Honesty – Integrity), and Kaitakusha-seishin (Pioneering Spirit – Challenge). These principles give our work a greater meaning. Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport: We seek out others who share our passion for service and welcome them to join the Hyatt family. We extend a friendly, professional and warm welcome to Hyatt. We create a caring and rewarding environment, fostering a fully engaged workplace. We provide development opportunities that enable our people to achieve their personal and professional goals. Hyatt Regency Santa Clara: We provide authentic hospitality. We make a difference in the lives of those we touch everyday — that is our definition of hospitality. We do this in an environment that respects all people and all ideas. We do it in an efficient way that leads to positive results. iD Tech Camps: iD Tech Camps and iD Teen Academies strive to make technology education fun and accessible. Our programs teach tech skills in a hands-on environment and provide students with the hard and soft skills necessary for success. We go all-out to ignite new interests and ideas, empower students while delivering the highest caliber hands-on instruction exploring relevant software and curriculum.
Integrated Archive Systems: [We are] a data management solution provider, specializing in Enterprise Storage — providing environmentally responsible solutions for data storage, high availability, security, backup and recovery, clustering, networking, virtualization, disaster recovery, cloud infrastructure, RAID Hitachi Data Systems: Hitachi Spirit is what distinguishes us as the employer and partner of and SAN and NAS. We are 100-percent choice. It's more than our foundation, more than customer focused 100-percent of the time. Our
Thank You... to our employees for continuously devoting the essence of their work to our Core Values and making Stonebrook Healthcare Center a preferred provider of post-acute and long-term care services in Contra Costa County. • Earn and give respect • Go the extra mile to serve • Communicate openly and honestly • Care for others with compassion and empathy • Have fun and enjoy what you do
• Build personal relationships • Have a positive attitude • Think outside the box • Strive to be the best
Stonebrook Healthcare Center • 4367 Concord Blvd., Concord, CA 94521 • (925) 689-7457 • www.stonebrookhc.com
VISION STATEMENTS customers, partners and colleagues enable us to get up and come to work every day. The reason we do so is because we whole-heartedly enjoy the work we do, the people we serve and the company we work for. Amy Rao, our founder and CEO, is an incredible gift, a brilliant leader with an enormous heart and a passion for both business and philanthropy. IAS is a place unlike any other. Integrated Device Technology: Our vision is for every digital processor to connect to the real world through IDT silicon. We empower our employees to be creative, innovative and collaborative. We promote an innovative mindset, and drive the intrapreneurship spirit. Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District: Our vision reflects our core values and guides our work in living our mission to help each student to graduate with the skills needed to contribute and thrive in a changing world, honoring our non-negotiables and attaining our goals.
By extending the greatest possible courtesy and respect to others, we share the best of ourselves and provide the best possible service." Nelson Family of Companies: We at the Nelson Family of Companies believe that the long-term health of our company depends on maintaining the high standards of business conduct, integrity, quality and respect for the people within and without our organization.
Loring Ward: Loring Ward was founded with one simple, straight forward mission: to serve and support independent Advisors and their clients. We are committed to helping independent advisors become the most trusted and valued professional in their clients' lives. McManis Faulkner Law Firm noted "Our mission statement is summed up in three words: excellence, integrity and kindness. We believe in compassion and respect – for our clients, our colleagues and our community.
Simply Hired: Our mission is, "To help people find a job they love." Beyond our mission, we believe that everyone can find a job they love and if they focus on mastery, results will follow. Your contribution matters. Your title doesn't.
One Workplace: We create spaces that transform people's lives. Rambus: At Rambus, our mission is to continuously enrich the end-user experience of electronic systems. We have based our business on a set of core values that all of our employees live by: Technological Leadership, Innovation, Customer Success, Integrity and Accountability to each other, our customers, shareholders and to others who partner with or rely on us. Riverbed Technology: Riverbed delivers performance for the globally connected enterprise.
Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District
resulting in the development of "Socially Responsible Real Estate" as a business practice.
Rocket Fuel: We're aiming to become the leader in digital advertising — to be the best partner our customers have ever worked with, and to become the best company our employees have ever worked for. We've built our culture on cutting-edge technology and back with it with a relentless pursuit of customer success and happiness — we try to make our customers everyday heroes, every day. SAP: SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device, SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. Sereno Group Real Estate: At Sereno Group, we believe it is our social responsibility to set in motion a self-sustaining process of continuous improvement; an evolution into excellence
Stryker Endoscopy
Taos Mountain: To be the most soughtafter professional IT consulting and services company in the Nation. Mission Statement: To deliver outstanding value to our clients by providing the insight & technical expertise to achieve sustainable operational excellence in IT. Simply Hired
STARS Inc.: Stars Behavioral Health Group brings vision, passion and humanity to behavioral healthcare, social services, special education and other human services by helping individuals and families use their skills and strengths to achieve positive change, resiliency and lasting wellbeing. Stanford University: Through the contributions of Stanford faculty, researchers and students, we seek to change the world by finding solutions for some of the world's most complex problems, educating our students to become leaders of the world they are inheriting and provide world-class patient care.
Tesla Motors: Tesla is on a mission to accelerate the world's transition to electric mobility with a full range of increasingly affordable electric cars. Viasystems Group: Doing the right thing in all that we do at Viasystems creates an environment where people are the source of our success. Leadership and excellence in performance are sought and rewarded. Customers are the reason we exist and our products and services reflect our dedication to quality, innovation and value.
Stonebrook Healthcare Center: Stonebrook helps the community to "Live your life to the fullest" through striving to be the preferred provider of post-acute and long-term care services in Contra Costa County. Stryker Endoscopy: At Stryker, we strive to be the world's most admired, fast-growing medical technology company. We do this by making a Viasystems Group difference by caring for the caregivers, helping them maintain order in their organizations and Not all companies responded to all questions. n restore health to their patients.
Clear and constant communication is a major focus in Top Workplaces t's a high-tech global marketplace, but this year's Top Workplaces also depend on face-to-face and personal communication as they strive to keep staff motivated and collegial. Encouraging teamwork and support of employees, each company focuses on frequent communication within their operations.
Following are some of the many comments recently submitted by the 2012 Top Workplaces: "We have implemented monthly cross-functional, international communication meetings and internal webinars, confidential employee communication surveys, departmental team meetings, open door interaction with teams and managers and open floor-plan office arrangements to maximize collaboration and seasonal social events," noted Acutate Corporation. Arena Solutions: We encourage communication from all levels within the company. We are not top-down in our communication, that's not our culture. We're very informal and our communication systems reflect that. Information is often shared in the hallways, the kitchen or during casual office chats. Our CEO and other execs are very approachable and make themselves available for drop-in discussions or to answer quick questions. When asked, "hey — do you have a minute?" the answer is almost always "yes." And that casual collaboration is what helps us work together so well as a team. California Water Service Group noted that the company intranet provides a channel for daily communication and news updates. "We are also piloting social interaction sites similar to Facebook for both employees and retirees." With 35,000 employees around the world, Celestica uses global, regional and site online communication vehicles. It also has "Connections," an online business networking tool that helps employees collaborate with each other and share best practices with peers. At the San Jose site, monthly "all hands" meetings provide a place for employees to ask questions and the "open door" policy means any employee can go to the general manager and ask questions, too. Del Grande Dealer Group: A monthly newsletter is emailed to all employees to announce top achievers, discuss upcoming events and update staff. Managers hold weekly meetings with
California Water Service Group
Curtis Instruments
their teams, and the company conducts an annual, companywide employee satisfaction survey.
importance on making sure employees at all levels are informed about the business at the global and local level through a variety of touch points." Strategic developments and company news are communicated through live video chats with the executive team to allow employees to understand and hear information first-hand.
"We believe that communication IS leadership – they are one and the same," responded The Container Store. "We don't work on a 'need to know' basis, but rather we ask ourselves who will benefit from having this information?" The goal is to help staff do their job better and be the best employee and leader and person they can be, noted the company. "We believe the advantages of our open, honest, transparent and thorough execution to communication far outweighs and possible disadvantages …. It's consistent with our belief in valuing our employees … making sure we all feel appreciated, included, empowered and receive the information and training we need to be successful in our roles." The Cooper Companies has an intranet which helps employees communicate as well as have access to company resources and information. Monthly email blasts share news and announcements and departments and groups circulate news as well. Road shows and local meetings plus a familyoriented culture also facilitate face-to-face communication. In addition to quarterly company-wide webcasts, Curtis Instruments holds one-off meetings as needed. "In all meetings, employees are encouraged to ask questions, no matter how tough they may seem." Bi-monthly "Coffee with the CEO" also fosters discussions, and there are monthly "Cookies with the Rookies" which encourage interaction between experienced employees and new hires. Edelman, a communications business, said, "We place great
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation holds quarterly town hall meetings at its headquarters, has an internal community platform for discussion and collaboration, an "Open Channel" which allows employees to submit anonymous questions which will be answered within a few days, and has regular email communication to all employees. "Empowerment, accountability, transparency and the practice of 'team before self' are all manifested in the way we communicate with our employees around the world." iD Tech Camps responded that the company "is passionate about developing a transparent culture built around open and honest communication." The CEO holds a "Quarterly Ketchup" meeting "to update all employees on how the company is doing, reviews successes, plans for improvement and goals for the future." And, "all employees are encouraged to pass along iDeas, and several of these, including a new wellness program, have been implemented." Integrated Device Technology reported it has a "transparent culture built around open and honest communication." There's a suggestion box on the home page and employees are welcome to submit comments and suggestions, which are visible to all. Video conferencing allows all employees to communicate with each other around the globe and a quarterly company-wide
hyatt regency santa clara recognized as a 2012 bay area top workplace. Thank you to our associates for recognizing our hotel as a top workplace two years in a row. We appreciate your hard work and dedication to our past and future success. Your authentic hospitality leaves a lasting impression on every guest and associate. You truly make a difference. To apply for positions, visit santaclara.hyatt.com. Hyatt. You're More Than Welcome.
408 200 1234 santaclara.hyatt.com HYATT name, design and related marks are trademarks of Hyatt Corporation. Š2012 Hyatt Corporation. All rights reserved.
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation
meeting includes the CEO's updates on the company. An "ask the CEO" section online encourage employees to ask questions and the CEO also uses this as a forum to gain feedback from employees. As a school district with 1,200+ employees working at 22 different worksites, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District "works hard to create a unified vision and message that is communicated and reinforced with all constituents." Through a combination of formal and informal meetings, a summer Leadership Institute and a Back to School Kickoff as well as other events through the year, they work to keep everyone updated. The superintendent has a bi-weekly Grapevine newsletter and the district publishes a three-times-annually Community Connections update. Students and parents also have email access to teachers and administrators. Mason McDuffie Mortgage Corporation's BEST program — Bringing Excellence and Service Together — recognizes an operations team member each month with a prize and "gives us an opportunity to say to them how important they are to our success individually, collectively and as a company." Operations employees may nominate a co-worker; managers and executives are not eligible. Nelson Family of Companies, in addition to publishing news and information on line, has a Community at Nelson blog "where we share information about the ways our employees are giving back to the community. We also have a peer-topeer recognition program where individuals are recognized company-wide to celebrate their contributions and successes." While "Email is the most efficient way to get important messages out to everyone, and it is utilized by all levels of management," noted Pet Food Express, each store also gets a weekly visit from a senior management (AKA "road warrior") who make themselves available for questions, concerns and
Rocket Fuel
conversations from any employee. Qualcomm MEMS Technologies: We are a global organization so we utilize streaming video for all-hands meetings at both corporate and divisional levels and regularly use technologies such as TelePresence and Lync for staff meetings and program reviews. To foster communication between teams, RedSeal reports a "vibrant corporate intranet where individual teams post their latest work (such as any new marketing materials) and our CTO surfaces his emerging research in his own 'CTO Corner.'" Riverbed Technology augments its all-hands meetings with fun, social activities offsite. Sales teams in different global regions host mid-year kickoff meetings. "At the end of each earnings quarter, our CEO, CFO and other executives host company-wide information-sharing meetings. Remote employees attend via web conferencing and all employees are given the opportunity to ask questions." Rocket Fuel reported they use face-to-face meetings along with high-tech systems. "Our all-hands Monday lunches are a great forum to keep everyone informed. We give weekly sales updates, department updates including client wins and customer successes." They also "leverage tools like Apple's FaceTime, Skype and Yammer! to capture the latest happenings within the company along with funny or relevant tidbits that could affect the company, or give an employee a chance to take a break and smile." At Simply Hired, open communication is a priority. "One of the values we follow is 'You owe people your candor.'" Every other week we hold a company-wide meeting where everything from company revenue to product changes are openly discussed. Workday's co-founder and co-CEO Dave Duffield sends a weekly email to the company reviewing activities, programs and events on the calendar. It also recognizes "special contributions
The Container Store
of staff. Employees contribute to the content of this email to ensure it is broad in scope and relevant to the entire company." VMware, Inc. reported that more than 95 percent of their employees are linked on the "internal social network where people communicate across departments, levels and geographies." Benefits are "idea sharing that keeps us innovative and ongoing feedback from all directions ensures progress and forward momentum." A global livestream broadcast is done quarterly. Not all companies responded to all questions. n
Ideas! Have employees participate in brainstorming sessions, create a list of what is not going well and from that list each employee selects a problem(s) he or she wants to resolve. – Californa Water Service Group Committees led by staff drive passion iniatives such as office culture, health and wellness, philanthropy and social. – Edelman A new headquarters was designed with no walled offices to facilitate an "open door" policy. The building also has "collaboration areas" where all employees are encouraged to congregate. "We've made these areas conducive to exploring new ideas with large screens and printable white boards." – Rambus, Inc. Mason McDuffie Mortgage Corporation's BEST program – Bringing Excellence and Service Together recognizes an operations team member each month with a prize and "gives us an opportunity to say to them how important they are to our success indivually, collectively and as a company." Operations employees may nominate a co-worker; managers and executives are not eligible.
Viasystems Group is a Great Place to Work
Join the mortgage company that puts its clients and employees first.
Our Values: • • • • •
People are the source of our success. We treat one another with respect, promote teamwork and encourage personal freedom and growth. Leadership and excellence in performance are sought and rewarded. Customers are the reason we exist. They receive our strongest commitment to meet their needs. Our products and services reflect dedication to quality, innovation, and value. Our conduct demonstrates integrity and commitment to ethics, safety, health and the environment.
Human Resources Philosophy • • •
Do the right thing in all that you do. Do the best that you can do. (Help employees realize their maximum potential) Treat others as they want to be treated. (Understand the advantages of a diverse workforce)
Human Resources Strategy • • •
To establish Viasystems as one of the world's most successful PCB & E-M Solutions companies, as measured by our customers, employees, stakeholders, competitors and communities. To achieve and maintain the competitive edge by retention, development, and motivation of our employees enabling them to maximize their performance. The quality of Viasystems' human effort is the most significant source of our competitive edge.
We're looking for experienced loan officers who seek an entrepreneurial culture and are committed to the best client service.
Our streamlined banking model, in-house AMC and exceptional staff will help you originate more home loans.
BOCM's fully-integrated platform provides more funding options (including the premiere Jumbo loan program in the market), compliance and underwriting.
Branch opportunities available. Contact: Don Emerson, V.P. of Sales and Production, firstname.lastname@example.com 925-498-2291
Open Positions • • • •
Equipment Maintenance Specialist Lab Technician Manufacturing Operations Supervisor Production Operators in the areas of Drilling, LDI, Immersion Tin and Plating
To apply, please visit us at viasystems.com.
BankofCommerceMortgage.com HUD Approved FHA Full Eagle Lender
NMLS ID #1839. Lending available in California (Dept. of Real Estate Broker #01218426), Colorado, and Nevada Mortgage Lending Division #3580.
Together we ... INFORM • INSPIRE • INCLUDE • INNOVATE LIVERMORE VALLEY JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Each student will graduate with the skills needed to contribute and thrive in a changing world.
To learn more about our award-winning schools, please visit: www.livermoreschools.com.
Altamont Creek Elementary • Arroyo Seco Elementary • Croce Elementary • Jackson Avenue Elementary • Marylin Avenue Elementary • Rancho Las Positas Elementary • Smith Elementary Sunset Elementary • Vineyard Elementary • Joe Michell K-8 School • Junction Avenue K-8 School • Christensen Middle School • East Avenue Middle School • Mendenhall Middle School Granada High School • Livermore High School • Del Valle Continuation High School • Phoenix Continuation High School • Vineyard High School • Livermore Adult School
Bay Area Top Workplaces embrace commitment to community
East Bay Agency for Children.
By Linnea Smith Jessup Special Sections Editor ime, money and other resources are bestowed in large measures upon students, community projects, non-profits and international charities by the Bay Area Top Workplaces.
Through individual and corporate donations, as well as personal hours volunteered and corporate sponsorship of organizations and/or their events, the 75 Top Workplaces collectively support hundreds of programs throughout the Bay Area and the world. Here's a sampling of how these Top Workplaces benefit everyone. Notes Hitachi Data Systems, their Community Action Committees (CAC) program encourages HDS employees "to enhance the quality of life in their communities." Among the groups who benefit from the company's volunteer efforts are shelters for various groups, as well as the Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative, with whom Hitachi partners to sponsor events and activities for young women in low-income areas. As a corporation, Hitachi also makes grants to groups including
Hyatt Regency Santa Clara employees participated in the AIDS walk 2011.
Del Grande Dealer Group staff helped promote Go Red for Women's heart health campaign.
Hospice of the Valley, Ronald McDonald House and United Way.
supports the idea that as a team "we can make a difference" and raises funds through potlucks and barbecues prepared by employee "chefs." Among projects and funding last year were building bikes for Turning Wheels for Kids, providing toys and backpacks with school supplies, transplanting trees for San Jose's Our City Forest, a employee Relay for Life team raising funds to fight cancer and sponsorship of the Downtown Doors program that features local students' artworks and supports the Music in the Park and San Jose Jazz Festival.
Several corporations, including Citrix Systems, Celestica and Edelman, give their employees specific amounts of time off per year to volunteer at a non-profit organization of their choice. Citrix also matches up to $1,000 per employee per year in donations to the employee's designated charity. Coupons.com staff last year took a day off to renovate and rebuild two local family shelters and has also supported Blue Star Moms, Second Harvest Food Bank and the Japan Tsunami Disaster Relief efforts with matching corporate funding. Fremont Bank's FB Team Heroes is a group of employees that volunteers to provide team-building activities which help the community, such as painting rooms at a shelter, planting trees in a local park and filling up holiday baskets. The Fremont Bank Foundation, established in 1995, has contributed from $1,000 to $1 million to area non-profits. At the Hyatt Regency San Francisco International Airport, each Department of the Month holds a "Casual for a Cause" day whereby all hotel associates are encouraged to donate $5 each so they can wear jeans to work that day; all money raised goes to a non-profit selected by the specific department. Recipients have included Make-A-Wish Foundation, Pathways Hospice, AIDS Lifecycle and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Xactly One, the corporation's community service organization,
In San Mateo, Actuate has an annual undergraduate internship program and "takes pride in sharing our skills, resources and enthusiasm with others." Among recipients of their volunteer and donation efforts are Habitat for Humanity (sponsoring three homes), American Cancer Society, Daly City Relay for Life, Science Buddies, Foster City Elementary School, Second Harvest Food Bank and Toys for Tots. Del Grande Dealer Group has established an annual scholarship fund and provided $10,000 in scholarships to students in this year's graduating class. The company also supports youth sports leagues, community events and Go Red for Women (heart health awareness) as well as hosts quarterly community service events such as assembling gift bags for homeless youth. Edelman has many "global citizenship" initiatives, including offering community investment grants for which employees
Actuate has helped build three homes for Habitat for Humanity.
Diablo Valley Oncology and Hematology Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.
may apply for on behalf of a specific program. Their Silicon Valley office supports Shelter Network and staff raise money for American Cancer Society, San Francisco Food Bank and Teach for America.
Community Relations Committee and get matching funds for programs they support on their own. The philosophy of this company is to promote and support science and math education and some of their funding recipients are Berryessa Education Foundation, Tech Museum, Resource Area for Teachers, Industry Initiative for Science and Math Education (IISME) and Youth Science Institute. The company has also provided emergency fund donations to U.S. and international destinations following earthquakes and other natural disasters.
The Diablo Valley Oncology / Hematology Medical Group works within the world of cancer support and research and provides educational programs such as "Look Good Feel Better" and "Living with Cancer." The group supports and raises funds for American Cancer Society Relay for Life, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer and Pints for Prostates. An annual "Many Faces of Cancer" workshop provides free education to the public on prevention, treatment and surviving cancer. At Integrated Archive Systems, employees each year shave their heads to support St. Baldrick's Foundation, while others collect cash and socks for Harvest from the Heart at Thanksgiving and adopt 40 families for Friends Outside at the holidays. Others participate in Breast Cancer and other walks and events. Stanford University students want to engage with the world — not simply for their own advancement, but for the betterment and benefit of others. With hundreds of opportunities, including service-learning courses, communitybased research projects, leadership opportunities and summer fellowships, the University gives them the tools and resources to make a difference. More than 100 student organizations have a community service component. Like students, faculty and staff are also involved in endless volunteer and community activities that benefit the Bay Area. Integrated Device Technology employees can suggest organizations which get funding from the company's
Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, Breathe CA, AIDS Walk, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Dress for Success and Toys for Tots all benefit from support of Hyatt Regency Santa Clara employees. Pet Food Express, not surprisingly, focuses their charitable giving on animals, from adoption events to supplying protective vests to police dogs. Each location chooses which community events they want to take part in, and help with in and out-ofstore promotion for those events. Several Top Workplaces are non-profits and as such are intimately involved with giving and serving others. As East Bay Agency for Children noted, "Our entire reason for being is to aid the community." Their mission statement: "… build brighter futures and stronger communities by ensuring the health, safety and educational success of our children, youth and their families." And similarly, the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District noted, "Our primary purpose is to educate Livermore's children and we provide this most important public service to our community." The district serves students from kindergarten through 12th grade, and also provides adult education
Pet Food Express' Save a Kitten project provides supplies to people adopting cats.
Fremont Bank employees team up to help a local food bank.
programs including English as a Second Language, enrichment, citizenship, GED, technology and career transition skills. "We also offer parent education and programs to help their students succeed in school and beyond." They partner with community resources to benefit students, their families and the larger community. Staff and students regularly participate in community service activities as well. iD Tech Camps participates in the annual Family Giving Tree gift drive for children with presents and volunteer help to distribute the gifts and supports the Campbell Valentine's Fun Run. The company also works with 100 Black Women, Breakthrough Austin, the Starlight Children's Foundation and Double Discover Columbia to help send underprivileged students to camp. Not all companies responded to all questions. n
Bay Area Top Workplaces are 'green'
ur west coast geographic location has been a leader in the U.S. for preserving our environment, working to reduce landfill waste, recycling paper and other substances as well as striving to preserve water and operate in an energy-efficient manner. It's no surprise that our Top Workplaces already embrace these practices and are taking brave new strides to further our region's "green" footprint. Bank of Commerce Mortgage (Simonich Corporation) has been Green Certified for some time, with sustainability initiatives which include working in an energy-efficient and eco-friendly building, operating with a paperless work system and utilizing technology that supports their growing mobile workforce. As a water utility, "California Water Service Group makes the greatest positive environmental impact by promoting efficient water use, and we have the largest conservation program in the private water industry in the U.S." They have accelerated efforts to install water meters for thousands of customers, ending a flat monthly rate and encouraging conservation; provide rebates for water-efficient appliances; install water-saving toilets; and sponsor a number of water-use education programs for schools. The company uses alternative energy, including solar and wind power. Cal Water follows LEED standards for new and renovated buildings and furnishings, and performs energy audits at their office buildings. Coupons.com is Green Business Certified by the state's Green Business Program. It also composts in its kitchens and composts lawn and yard clippings, refills printer cartridges, uses recycled paper, has low-flow toilets, low-energy lightbulbs and participates in an eRecycling program. Diablo Valley Oncology / Hematology Medical Group sponsors a community service event – a document shredding fundraiser. Employees volunteer to help and the company pays for a shredding truck to which people bring old documents to be shredded. "They make a donation and we dump their stuff in the shredder. All proceeds benefit the Cancer Support Community." East Bay Agency for Children reported: "We recycle, share and borrow. The coat and book drives and clothing exchanges held in our programs are great examples of this practice. There are so many needs and often few resources. If one piece of equipment is not needed in one office, it may be moved to another office where it is needed." Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport just installed nearly 800 new, eco-friendly toilets in all its guestrooms and public
restrooms, saving 500,000 gallons of water a month and an annual savings of $125,000 in water/sewage costs. The hotel recycles cardboard, aluminum and office paper and purchases recycled/recyclable products whenever possible.
provides trash, compost and recycle containers in every kitchen.
J&J Air Conditioning: This company has pledged to recycle all old equipment removed from the job site, all scrap metal, all refrigerant, oil and office supplies including paper and cardboard, batteries, ink/toner cartridges, computers, printers and other electronic components.
Sereno Group Real Estate: We offer a transaction coordination platform that has paperless capabilities, complete with electronic signature identification, decreasing paper waste and redundancy. Our Los Altos office used recycled flooring and carpet and environmentally sensitive lighting in its build-out.
Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District: In 2010, the District formed an Energy Conservation Committee to review thoughtful ways to save energy, resources and costs. The committee meets monthly to review programs and projects that can be implemented. During the first year, implemented programs included mechanical and behavioral modifications, rebate and cost incentive programs and energy audits and participating in no-cost programs with PG&E.
Stryker Endoscopy: earned Santa Clara Green Business Certification in 2008. Partnership with a Medshare – donating excess and obsolete products to Medshare program that finds uses for these medical devices in less fortunate hospitals.
SAP: Improving our own sustainable performance gives us insight that will help our customers do the same. In addition to using 100-percent renewable energy on our Palo Alto campus, iD Tech Camps has a carpooling app available for parents who we have installed LED lighting that is controlled by intelligent software, a rectifier for our data center (uses DC power without want to share driving. It also has had a green summer camp movement since 2010 with a "One Camper One Tree" program. conversion to AC), an airside economizer for cooling the data center in lieu of air conditioning, 650 solar panels, 15 electric By the end of 2012, iD will have planted over 45,000 trees, one for each camper who has attended iD. The ultimate goal is to get vehicle charging stations (free charging for employees) a bioswale and we have a LEED designed building. other camps involved and plant one million trees by 2015.
Loring Ward: "We have put in place a number of conservation efforts in place both big (reducing the use of paper) and small (putting all our lights on timers). For the last several years, we have conducted a 'Go Green' initiative, encouraging our clients to opt for e-delivery of their statements and reports. Last year, we also supported the planting of almost 1,000 trees through American Forests." One Workplace: To further our recycling initiative, we have partnered with The Recycling Network to help customers donate surplus furniture to relief organizations around the world. For example, recently we helped Bellarmine College Preparatory donate excess furniture to schools in Haiti. Ten of our in-house designers are LEED certified and can help customers meet their goals in the design process.
The Container Store: At The Container Store, we firmly believe that there is no conflict between economic prosperity and environmental stewardship and that the two are mutually dependent upon each other. We offer high-quality, sustainable products that can be used for a lifetime in addition to ecofriendly products made from a variety of materials. VMware: Being "Green" is who we are as a company. At our headquarters in Palo Alto, our café that serves thousands of people every day generates zero trash, everything is sustainable, compostable or recyclable. We reduced electrical power consumption during peak hours by designing our windows to provide extensive daylighting. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati: The firm participates in several significant sustainability initiatives and activities, including participation in the American Bar Association-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Law Office Climate Challenge. It participates in RideSpring, a carpooling service and provides electric-car charging stations.
Pet Food Express: In our newer stores, we have been installing Workday: has offset 100-percent of the electricity use in our solar-heated, self-service pet washes. office buildings and data centers. To achieve this, we have partnered with Renewable Choice to purchase over 4 million Riverbed Technology: Our current green practices include kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy credits (RECs). occupancy at LEEDS-certified buildings. This includes reduced electrical use and limited HVAC during after-hours. We sponsor a bike program and provide bike lockers at our facilities. Riverbed Not all companies responded to all questions. n
Work better. Live better. With our cloud, collaboration, networking and virtualization technologies, people can work anywhere inspiration strikes, with anyone, on any device. www.citrix.com/better
What is important to workers Survey Factors Direction 71% Conditions 71% Career 70% Execution 68% Managers 58% Pay & Benefits 47%
Survey Statements
About the Top Workplaces 2012 Survey Provided by WorkplaceDynamics, who conducted the Top Workplaces Bay Area 2012 project.
Outreach WorkplaceDynamics reaches out to employers with at least 50 employees in the Bay Area to participate. We use a combination of print and online ads, and direct outreach to employers using direct marketing lists (e.g. infoUSA).
Employee survey We survey employees at participating employers using either paper surveys or an online survey application. Employees respond to a set of statements using a seven-point Likert scale. Each of the statements has been tested to ensure it has a high correlation with how employees feel about their workplace, which is calculated by correlating the statement responses to a control question which asks each employee to rate their workplace on a scale of zero to 99.
Response requirements We require a response rate of at least 35 percent for employees based in the Bay Area. In addition, employers with 85 or fewer Bay Area employees must have at least 30 responders. We encourage employers to survey all employees, but large employers can choose to randomly sample their Bay Area employees. At least 500 employees must be included in the random sample for employers of 2,500 or less. For those employers over 2,500 but less than 5,000 employees, we require 20 percent minimum distributed. For employers 5,000 or more the minimum is 1,000 surveys distributed.
Testing for questionable results After the survey is complete, we first run a series of statistical tests to look for any questionable results. We disqualify a small number of employers based on these tests. As the effectiveness of these tests depends on employers not being aware of them, we do not publish the details.
Selection of Top Workplaces We categorize the employers into size bands because smaller employers tend to score higher than midsize employers, and midsize employers tend to score higher than large employers. We then rank the employers within their size band based solely on the employee responses to the survey statements. The top employers in each size band are then selected as the Top Workplaces in the Bay Area for 2012. n
I feel genuinely appreciated at this company 67% My job makes me feel like I am part of something meaningful 62% There is not a lot of frustration at my workplace 47% I have the flexibility I need to balance my work and personal life 42% I believe this company is going in the right direction 65% This company operates by strong values and ethics 61% I have confidence in the leader of this company 60% I am confident about my future at this company 64% This job has met or exceeded the expectations I had when I started 57% I get the formal training I want for my career 50% Senior managers understand what is really happening at this company 58% At this company, we do things efficiently and well 57% New ideas are encouraged at this company 55% I feel well-informed about important decisions at this company 53% My manager cares about my concerns 56% My manager makes it easier to do my job well 53% My manager helps me learn and grow 52% My pay is fair for the work I do 43% My benefits package is good compared to others in this industry 34%
Published on May 15, 2013
Top 75 workplaces in the Bay Area, Winning Workplaces, Words to live by, Communicating to employees, Commitment to community, Going green.


text: PHOENIX, Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct Energy, one of North America's largest energy services providers, is expanding the company's footprint in Arizona with a new, comprehensive call center, which will play an important role in the company's growth. Direct Energy already has a thriving call center in Phoenix employing 150 people. With the new call center to be located in Tempe, Direct Energy will expand its Phoenix regional base and employ an additional 250 to 300 people, creating new jobs in the Greater Phoenix region. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121004/MM87276LOGO) "Our existing Phoenix call center has been successful for Direct Energy and is bursting at the seams," said Eddy Collier, president, Direct Energy Services. "Our new call center is being expanded to cover call taking for our very large Residential Energy business, allowing us to offer a wide range of products and services in one location for the benefit of our customers." Direct Energy continues to pursue an aggressive organic and acquisitive growth strategy in North America and position itself to meet all the energy needs of services, business, and residential consumers. "The new call center shows Direct Energy's commitment to harnessing our energy expertise to make a difference in Arizona among the community, the people we serve, and our employees while also intending to grow our business and footprint in the state through enhanced retail market competition," said Steven Murray, president, Direct Energy Residential. Direct Energy worked with the Arizona Commerce Authority and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council to understand the positive business value and the qualified and educated workforce that the Greater Phoenix region offers. The new call center is expected to provide a $7 million capital investment to the region. "Direct Energy's expansion in Arizona speaks to the state's advantageous business operating environment and national competitiveness," said Sandra Watson, President and CEO, Arizona Commerce Authority. "We look forward to continuing our strong working relationship with Direct Energy, assisting the company as it increases its operations, invests capital in our state, and creates hundreds of jobs for Arizonans." "As a community, we've worked hard to improve the region's competitiveness and spur job creation," said Jim Lundy, Chairman of GPEC's Board of Directors and CEO of Alliance Bank of Arizona. "Direct Energy's investment in Greater Phoenix is testament to our success as we've built a robust business landscape and a strong, capable workforce – both of which were a major factor in the company's choice of Tempe over other competitive markets like Dallas and Tulsa." "We are thankful that Direct Energy has selected Tempe as the place to expand its customer care center," Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said. "In addition to bringing hundreds of new jobs and opportunity to our city, Direct Energy has a proven track record of community support in the region." Direct Energy will move into the new facility in February. The company expects the call center to be fully functional by the end of the first quarter of 2013.