SMALL COMPANIES: FINALISTS

It would be easy to say that ER Marketing merits recognition based on its wry sense of humor alone—the corporate statement, after all, is CRAP: Curiosity, Respect, Accountability and Performance. But there’s much more to like about this 13-year-old River Market agency, specialists in B2B marketing campaigns. The agency’s 13 employees know the difference between hard work and hard play, and embrace each. The work entails strategic storytelling; the play can be as simple as firing up the company grill for lunch, knocking off early for the patio at Harry’s Country Club, or heading to the playing fields for the summer kickball league. Open-book administration lets employees know how the organization is faring—and it’s faring well, coming off a record year in 2013, with additional growth expected this year. That financial strength allows this small business to provide health, dental and prescription drug insurance coverage, with 80 percent of the employee’s costs for health insurance company-paid. Long-term and short-term disability plans—are both 100 percent company-paid, and in addition to a 3 percent company match on the 401(k) plan, associates collected a 2 percent bump from profit sharing, a combined 5 percent contribution many big businesses don’t provide.

Now this is a cultural attribute you just don’t find anywhere: Meers Advertising is a dog-friendly environment. “Having dogs in the office helps everyone relax, even in a whirlwind of daily activity,” says channel manager Aubrey Ammon.

Like many in the creative-services sector, owner Sam Meers has embraced the concept of an open floor plan for his integrated advertising/marketing agency. But it’s not just about the way the furniture and walls are arranged: Instead of silo-fostering departments, the agency is built around disciplines—creative, channel, interactive, insights and client services—designed to surround clients with senior-level thinking.

Staff members have access to developmental seminars and workshops, and are encouraged to serve on boards of associations and provide pro bono work for area non-profits at reduced fees or at no charge.

Consider this: During the long recession and weak recovery, nearly 73 million lay-offs took place in the United States. Because of financial considerations, Renaissance Financial accounted for … not a single one of those.

The St. Louis-based wealth management company, which has 17 people at its office in Leawood, indeed takes care of its own, in that way, and in other significant ways. You’re pregnant? Two weeks additional leave, paid, a gift from the company. Your wife is pregnant? You get the same two weeks, for paternity leave. There’s a clothing allowance to help ensure that the staff is professionally attired, and—this is huge—if you kick a dollar into your 401(k), Renaissance kicks two. And training. Indeed: Each new advisor undergoes a 4-year development program.

Like a lot of companies that tightened belts during a protracted economic downturn in this country, Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice is a leaner law firm than it used to be. All the more reason to ensure that those still getting the work done are taken care of in ways that keep them both productive and satisfied. So does anything say “We Care” quite like a chair massage on Mondays? Or wellness initiatives directed at employee well-being like a Biggest Loser contest, on-site-flu shots and health assessments? Or even the little things, like a private room designated for mothers who are nursing? Those are just a few of the benefits employees enjoy at this 32-year-old Downtown law firm. Always a nice perk: the firm pays 100 percent of the costs for employees to park Downtown, where parking is a hassle for many other companies’ workers.

Many small companies are happy to have employees’ attend out-of-town seminars and training sessions—at their own expense. But Staffing Kansas City will even cover the travel expenses for staff members to acquire continuing-education courses or certifications.

President Shelley Seibolt cedes nothing to her big-business counterparts—her 16-year-old firm may have just four full-time employees (supplemented with 450 temp workers during the year)—but Staffing Kansas City pays 100 percent of the cost for comprehensive health insurance, including vision and dental, and you’ll have to look hard to find any business, big or small, offering SKC’s 6 percent company match on the 401(k) program. Every Friday is office-lunch day, and with a staff that size, it’s a snap to coordinate joint attendance at sporting events or to plan birthday celebrations and festivities to mark the arrival of a new family member. That camaraderie feeds into the collaborative setting, where teamwork is vital.

Taking risks is part of the culture at Redemption Plus, a Lenexa importer of toys, novelties and incentive merchandise. Taking risks with employees is not: The company declares that its success is rooted in its ability to retain the best employees, and its benefits are structured to do just that.

A big piece of that is making sure they’re healthy. Even though it has just 74 employees overall (about two-thirds of them full-time), there’s a wellness coordinator who offers toning classes, chair massages, meditation exercises, and in addition to a Healthy Lunch Group, there are wellness challenges, 5-minute exercise breaks every day, and there’s an on-site exercise facility.

Those add to traditional benefits like health insurance coverage, a 401(k) plan, disability insurance (short and long term), flexible spending and dependent care plans, paid vacation and overachievement bonuses for those meeting key metrics. It’s also a family-friendly place, whether your dependents have two legs or four: visits from kids and dogs alike are encouraged.