The recognition is part of a national program called Best & Brightest Companies to Work For. The competition was founded by Detroit-based business publication Corp!Magazine. It recognizes companies in major markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Nashville, New York and others.
This year 14 Chicago area companies were recognized for innovative human resource practices. In this year’s competition, NOW for the first time was honored as an Elite Winner in the Employee Achievement and Recognition category.
For reference, the greater Chicago metropolitan area has about 9.5 million residents and is the nation’s third largest metro area after New York and Los Angeles. According to the state of Illinois, the area plays host to about 540,000 businesses.
“These companies have shown fortitude during this crisis and have inspired others to make critical decisions for the betterment of their teams,” said Jennifer Kluge, president of the awards subsidiary and publisher of the business magazine. “They focus on the needs of their employees as a primary objective.”
“Each and every member of the NOW team plays a significant role in the company’s success, so we appreciate third party confirmation that our people know we value them,” said NOW CEO Jim Emme. “Everyone in our organization helps us to fulfill our mission of making affordable products that support good health.”
NOW is a family owned private company that was founded in 1968 by Elwood Richard. The company now manufactures more than 1,400 dietary supplements and other products as well as operating a retail health food store chain under the Fruitful Yield brand name.