2012 Best Places To Work

NOTE: This is our 2012 Best Places to Work feature. Our 2013 Best Places to Work list is here.

Winners
this year impressed us with everything from generous vacation time to
fat tuition-reimbursement checks and even free parking downtown. These
companies offer plenty of fun and unexpected perks, too, as well as
career-development potential, and, in many cases, intellectually
rewarding work. From spying to anti-spam programming, there are some
very cool jobs to be done in and around Baltimore.

AOL Advertising/Advertising.com

Baltimore

Employees:
5,768 (188 in Baltimore) What they do: Online advertising and brand
development. Why we like them: Even though this Baltimore biz was
consumed by AOL, it still keeps its quirky start-up style and creative
spirit. Best benefits: 401k with match; stock options based on
performance; employees eligible for annual bonuses; 100-percent tuition
reimbursement; six to eight weeks of paid maternity leave, free parking
downtown with special spaces for hybrids and bikes.

Tom
O’Hara, 35, was drawn to what was once known as advertising.com by its
innovative ideas and the charisma of the company’s founding leaders.
He’s now an account director. In the 12 years he’s worked there, the
company was bought by online’s Goliath, AOL.

“AOL has taken every
opportunity to ensure that the start-up feel of our Baltimore office has
remained intact,” he says. “We’ve always been a very successful part of
AOL and the leadership recognizes that has a lot to do with the people
who are here and the environment we maintain.”

That environment
includes a very fun office with flat-screen TVs (the company threw a tea
party and fancy-hat contest during the rebroadcast of the royal wedding
last spring), a pool table, a Ping-Pong table, and a conference room
where you can drive golf balls. Sometimes the roving beer cart arrives
in time for happy hour.

“People are jealous of our relaxed work
environment,” says Katie Dukes, 28, a business analyst. “We’re
constantly uploading office photos to Facebook and our friends will post
how envious they are.” Her favorite event is the summer grill-off when
staff contestants get an allowance to buy food for a cookout on the
waterfront promenade, with their colleagues as the judges.

“I also
love our location on the waterfront and that there’s lots of free
parking,” says Dukes. There’s easy access to day care in Tide Point,
there’s a gym, and the location is commutable by water taxi.

AOL
Advertising is progressive in its benefits. O’Hara was the first staffer
to receive health benefits for his partner Mike. About two years ago,
when the couple adopted a child, the company provided adoption
assistance and paternity leave.

BTS

Baltimore and Columbia, as well as divisions in northern Virginia and Texas

Employees:
85 What they do: Advanced mobile telecommunications technology for the
government and private sector, particularly the Department of Defense.
Why we like them: They’re big promoters of Baltimore and put their money
where their mouth is by opening BTS Software Solutions (a subsidiary
business) in Locust Point. Best benefits: 401k with 100 percent company
match up to 4 percent; fully paid health-care premiums for employees and
dependents plus a $1,000 contribution to FSA cards; employees are
eligible for bonuses; six weeks paid maternity leave (two weeks
paternity).

BTS made this list last year because it wowed
with its amazing benefits, like fully paid health care, paid maternity
leave, and a generous retirement plan. The young company was also
growing by leaps and bounds, which continues today: The number of
employees has doubled in the past year and, at press time, BTS was
looking for at least 25 new faces and has opened a new office on Fort
Avenue.

But what we wanted to know was whether BTS, which was only
founded in 2008, could sustain this megawatt lifestyle. To that, CEO
Sean Lane says, “Yes.”

At just 31 years old, Lane’s optimism could
be chalked up to youthful gusto, but the company has a diversified
portfolio of contracts and products that don’t hinge solely on the
conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan that appear to be winding down.

Because
BTS isn’t growing at a typical rate, nothing else is typical, either.
“We don’t play games with compensation,” Lane says. “It’s very cut and
dry: We pay for your health care, your tuition, and we vest on day one,”
he says. “We expect high-level performance and we give people
responsibility to, if they want, move vertically in our company easily.”

An
outspoken proponent of turning Charm City into the Silicon Valley of
the East, Lane opened his newest business, BTS Software Solutions, in
Locust Point (BTS Network Solutions and BTS Integration Solutions are in
Columbia). “We have a larger mission to build a greater tech community
in Baltimore,” he says.

Calvert School

Baltimore

Employees:
112 What they do: Private, coed education for grades pre-K through
eight. Why we like them: They understand that education isn’t just for
students, but for faculty, staff, and their families, too. Best
benefits: Calvert pays 100 percent of heath and dental for employees (90
percent for dependents); access to Kiddie Calvert on-site day care;
tuition reimbursement up to 50 percent; free gym and inexpensive fitness
classes; 403b with match; generous vacation time in addition to the
school’s holidays.

Baltimore has lots of first-rate private
schools where faculty and staff get to work with involved parents and
motivated kids. What sets Calvert School apart from the pack is the fact
that it cares about the education of its faculty and staff, too, not
just the paying student body. Most notably, the school not only helps
offset tuition costs for the children of staff, but also offers tuition
remission for area independent high schools when the Calvert program
ends at eighth grade.

Second-grade teacher Patrick “Shep”
Shepherd, 49, pictured, has used this benefit to the fullest. He has
children at Calvert, Garrison Forest School, and Boys’ Latin (a fourth
is in college).

“I’ve always felt that not only am I providing a
great education for the students I work with, but my family is being
cared for, as well,” he says.

It’s a perk that extends to tuition
assistance for grown-ups, too. In addition to footing the bill for
continuing-education seminars and the like, Calvert helped pay for
Shepherd’s master’s in early education at Loyola University of Maryland.

There’s
also an emergency fund that staff can tap—no questions asked—for
unexpected expenses, and the amount is paid back without interest
through wage-garnishing.

Charm City Cakes

Baltimore

Employees:
15 What they do: Bakery specializing in outrageously designed cakes,
such as a replica iPhone and to-scale Yoda. Why we like them: They’re a
haven for artistic types but have the business savvy to stay in
business, and grow, to boot. Best benefits: 401k with employer match;
profit-sharing; eight (yes, eight) weeks paid vacation, including fully
paid staff retreat to a sunny locale each February.

The plug
may be pulled on the filming of Ace of Cakes, the reality show that put
Duff Goldman’s eccentric bakery on the global map, but the bakery
continues to grow. Specifically, a location in Los Angeles opened last
summer. It was this aggressive trajectory that wooed Mark Muller away
from law school in 2008 and into the world of fondant.

“We’re
extremely fortunate because we’re structured as a small business with
the platform of a large business,” says Muller, the bakery’s studio
manager, via cell phone from the new L.A. shop. “We work around the
world now.”

Even as it grows, Charm City Cakes retains the funky,
MICA-esque vibe that made it appealing to The Food Network. The
Baltimore location has a rooftop deck and a basement lounge with sofas, a
television, and a place for band practice. It supports numerous
charities, though the most characteristic is its sponsorship of Charm
City Roller Girls.

Goldman’s commitment to employees can be seen
in things like the paid staff vacation each year and the fact that he
gives a percentage of the profits from his licensing and merchandising
to employees annually.

CyberPoint

Baltimore

Employees:
89 What they do: Delivers cyber-security products and services to a
wide range of customers. Why we like them: The benefits are simply off
the charts. The company even hired a security guard to look after
employee cars and provide escorts after some vehicles were vandalized.
Best benefits: Generous 401k contributions and profit-sharing; six weeks
paid time off (to start); $500 annual Professional Development
Allowance; free parking downtown; there are mothering rooms for new moms
and children are welcome in the workplace.

We like happy
endings as much as the next magazine, which is why we like Joe Di
Mattina. He read about CyberPoint in Baltimore’s “Best Places to Work”
list last year and darned if they didn’t hire him.

Di Mattina, a
30-year-old software engineer, was sick of commuting. “I wanted to live a
more urban lifestyle,” he explains. Now he rides his bike to work, and
he loves that he works in a place where everyone knows his name and ties
are verboten.

Employees at CyberPoint need to want to be in
Baltimore City, too. “The owner has made it very clear that he will keep
the company headquarters in Baltimore, and he wants to give back to
Baltimore,” Di Mattina says. CyberPoint currently runs a mentoring
program with a local city school, for example, and adopted a giraffe at
the Maryland Zoo.

DAP Products Inc.

Baltimore

Employees:
450 in Baltimore; 850 nationally What they do: Manufactures and markets
caulk, sealants, adhesives, and patch-repair products for DIYers and
pros. Why we like them: They’ve taken Baltimore’s manufacturing spirit
and modernized it for today’s workforce. Best benefits: 401k with
several matching options; stock-purchasing plan; free parking;
80-percent tuition reimbursement; closes early on Fridays during the
summer; potential for 100-percent paid maternity leave based on length
of service.

Laura Arvizu came to Baltimore from Mexico to
help DAP Products build its sales force in her home country. What she
found here was a home away from home.

“I chose this company
because it was international,” says the customer-service representative.
“It’s very diverse and open, and I’ve felt very welcome here.” As the
mother of a 4-year-old, she also appreciates that it’s family-friendly.
“My supervisor is very understanding that having a 4-year-old sometimes
requires things on short notice.”

Employees talk a lot about DAP
as a friendly place with a familial feel. Chris Hill felt that firsthand
when he was hospitalized after a medical emergency last year.

“During
my time, from the executive staff down, they were very supportive with
flowers and cards and baskets,” he says. “And the paychecks continued. I
was out six weeks, so that took a load off my shoulders.”

DLA Piper

Baltimore

Employees:
400 in Baltimore, 8,700 globally What they do: International law firm
with offices in 30 countries. Why we like them: Committed to creating a
culture of diversity and inclusion in its offices. Best benefits:
Profit-sharing; domestic partners eligible for health benefits;
financial incentives to purchase hybrid cars; tuition reimbursement;
discount gym memberships; flexible scheduling as the work allows.

Big
law firms aren’t traditionally considered bastions of diversity, nor
are they thought of as welcoming to individual needs. But DLA Piper is
doing its part to change all that. The firm understands that employees
who are comfortable at work produce better results, whether that means
they feel safe regardless of their ethnicity or sexual identification,
or they are able to work a flexible schedule to balance home needs with
those on the job.

“We define diverse people as all women, racial
and ethnic minorities, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender [LGBT] community,” says Genhi Bailey, national diversity and
inclusion director. “Of course, it’s much broader than that. We also
look at issues related to alternative work arrangements and
multi-generational issues.”

“When I first started out of law
school, there was this idea of ‘face time,’ where you were supposed to
show up before the partners and you shouldn’t leave until after they
were gone,” explains Anthony Ashton, partner and chair of the Baltimore
diversity committee. “I can say, unequivocally, that’s not how people
work here.” Particularly with the Blackberries and laptops issued to
many staffers, work schedules have become more fluid.

“There’s no need to sit in your office, just to make sure people see you,” he cracks.

As
a large, international firm, DLA Piper offers its employees a lot of
benefits, but it maintains a smaller feel in the Baltimore office, which
employs just 380 people. From a benefits perspective, we were a little
taken aback by the fact that this giant of a firm doesn’t have a
matching 401k plan. However, they do have a three-tiered profit-sharing
program with a minimum contribution of 6 percent of compensation. And,
as part of the company’s Global Sustainability Initiative, you can get
$2,000 to help buy a hybrid car.

GANTECH Inc.

Columbia

Employees:
95 What they do: Full-service IT consulting, primarily with state and
local agencies. Why we like them: Their use of virtual desktop
technology makes for an extremely flexible work environment. Best
benefits: Employees pay just $10/month for all benefits (including
dependents); 401k with 4-percent match; referral and year-end bonuses;
tuition reimbursement; monthly free lunch; flexible work schedule.

Gantech
may have been founded by Thomas Laskowski, but Mia Millette, vice
president of strategic operations and a software developer by trade,
still thinks of the company as her baby. “I was employee number 20 when I
came in 2006, and I had a hand in creating the employee culture,” she
explains. “I made sure we created an environment that was how I wanted
the company to treat me.”

Millette has five children, so
flexibility to work from home was key. “In this day and age, flexibility
is paramount,” she notes. Gantech is a progressive IT firm that uses
virtualization technology so employees can work from anywhere. It’s a
benefit that also attracted Christa Stolarik, an account executive and
mother of three, who left a software company because she was traveling
too much. Not only was she able to cut her traveling at Gantech, the
company even created a mothering room for her when she had her third
child.

Millette describes it as a “work-hard, live-well” corporate
culture that’s passionate about technology and driven to help the
company meet its potential. (Gantech is routinely on national lists for
its fast growth.)

IMRE

Sparks

Employees:
79 in Sparks, 88 total. What they do: Marketing and PR agency targeted
to health care, home and building, financial services, and sports. Why
we like them: They understand that agency work can be a grind but reward
hard work with fun perks. Best benefits: Two weeks paid sabbatical
leave plus $1,000 bonus for full-timers achieving three, eight, and 12
years tenure; performance bonuses; half-day Fridays in the summer;
tuition reimbursement up to $2,000/year.

IMRE claims to be
hiring up to 20 people in the new year, which is great news for creative
types who’ve been particularly beat up by the recession. Yet agency
work, when you can get it, can be a stressful with occasional bouts of
long, thankless hours.

IMRE keeps folks happy with all the fun and
games a creative environment should have, like a Wii, a corral of Razor
scooters, a kitchen loaded with Starbucks, a fountain soda machine, and
the occasional “flash party.” In addition to discounted gym
memberships, employees also get a $200 quarterly mind-body bonus to use
for “anything that fosters relaxation, creativity, or self-awareness.”

There
are serious benies, too: The company pays for life insurance and
generously contributes to health insurance. As an added bonus, IMRE
drops $1,200 into everyone’s health savings account to help pay for
co-pays and other costs.

For people who like a fast-paced, creative environment where no day is the same, IMRE is a good fit.

“I
work with lots of really great, energetic, enthusiastic people,” says
Katy Funk, 28, a senior account executive. “And the CEO and president
are always there checking in. Having the CEO or president thank you when
you’re stressed and working hard means a lot.”

Intelligent Solutions for Information Systems, LLC (ISIS)

Columbia

Employees:
50 What they do: Provides engineering services, primarily to the
Department of Defense. Why we like them: Although most employees are
contractors on client sites, ISIS doesn’t treat its people like just
another number in the faceless contractor world. Best benefits: Company
pays 10 percent of your salary into your 401k without the employee
contributing a dime; 20 starting days of paid time off; 100 percent
fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and
dependents.

Jim Moser, 50, has worked in the aerospace
industry for 30 years. A veteran of big companies, he says it’s common
for workers to be reduced to just a number and that, “as a contractor,
you can be out of sight, out of mind.” He knew that from his previous
employer and wanted to work for a smaller, more family-friendly place.
He found it at ISIS.

Moser has a daughter with a rare birth defect
that requires special medical attention, so he scrutinized the ISIS
health benefits rigorously. Those benefits have covered everything from
supplies to nursing assistance so she can go to school, “and after the
basic deductibles, none of it comes out of my pocket,” he states.
“Because of Philip Green [ISIS founder], we’re not in the poorhouse.”

Employees
speak of Green, a retired U.S. Army signals analyst, with reverence.
Like Green, many employees are former military (74 percent are
veterans), including Mary Wells, 52, a program manager and retired Army.
“A lot of people retired from the military have strong team loyalty,
dedication to duty, and cohesiveness, because it’s bred into you in the
military,” says Wells. “You can see those attributes in the people Phil
hires. They have loyalty to Phil and to the company.” Which explains the
employee retention rate of 95 percent.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)

Laurel

Employees:
5,000 What they do: Nonprofit center for engineering, research, and
development focused on national security. Why we like them: They support
the best and brightest in their endeavor to solve critical challenges
for places like the Department of Defense, NSA, and NASA. Best benefits:
Employer match to retirement is 2:1 up to 4 percent; employer makes 2.5
percent of salary contribution to retirement; some cash awards for
performance; children of staff eligible for college scholarships; three
weeks paid vacation and seven sick days; tuition reimbursement.

Like
some of its industry peers on this list, APL is a place where extremely
smart and talented people are set free to do important, innovative
work. APL is located on a sprawling, 399-acre campus that might make you
think of a college, especially when you see the recreation area with
its tennis, basketball, and volleyball courts, the cafeterias, or the
scenic duck pond. Like a preeminent college, APL draws talented
scientists and engineers with its top-notch laboratories and
opportunities to do very cool work.

“The intellectual capital here
is phenomenal,” explains Jay Turner, 60, a program manager who joined
APL when he retired from the Department of Defense. “But the employees
are down-to-earth and practical. You need to be a team player to tackle a
really hard problem set. If you’re not driven to solve the impossible,
this might not be the place for you.”

APL-ers love that challenge.
It’s what attracted Shaylyn Joy, 25. “The work here is really
cutting-edge,” she says. “It’s different here, because we’re not
profit-driven, we’re doing work that is meant to help the country, often
soldiers.”

Key Tech

Baltimore

Employees:
25 What they do: Developers of high-tech products with a focus on
medical, industrial, and consumer devices. Why we like them: A creative,
casual office environment that fosters innovative product development.
Best benefits: Great office in former vaudeville theater;
employee-partner track with equity opportunity; 100-percent paid health
and dental insurance and monthly contributions to HSA; free parking in
Federal Hill; cash bonuses for engineers annually up to 15 percent of
salary.

It would be easy to miss Key Tech’s office, which is
slipped into an alley near Federal Hill’s Cross Street Market. The
office is a converted vaudeville theater with a soaring ceiling and a
stage that now houses a pool table. Dogs are welcome, the rooftop deck
is always open, and the attire is come-as-you-are.

Most
noteworthy, there are virtually no doors, not even on the executive
offices. “The partners and executives are right here with us on the shop
floor,” says engineer Josh Mull. “I’ve been very happy with my
relationship with our founding partners and their interest in teaching
us what they know and working side by side with us.”

Each quarter,
there’s a major office outing such as a crab feast, sailing excursion,
or white-water rafting trip, events often open to partners and children.
As befits a technology company, schedules are very flexible and
telework is a viable option. The company was founded in 1998 and has
grown (with no layoffs). Key Tech is the place for engineers ready to
break free of corporate cubicle land.

Mercy Medical Center

Baltimore

Employees:
3,836 What they do: A hospital affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy.
Why we like them: Does community mentoring to encourage young people
into health-care careers and helps those on staff with professional
development to grow their careers. Best benefits: Continuing education
related to licensing or certification is 100-percent paid; pre-tax,
subsidized parking (with security); up to 50 percent reimbursement for
adoption; home-buying help for moderate-income employees.

There’s
a lot to love about Mercy: a brand new building, organic produce from
One Straw Farm on the menu in the cafeteria, and a 401k with employer
match, for example. But to really understand what makes Mercy special,
you need to talk to Millicent Powell-Jones. She started as a
patient-services representative 15 years ago and has worked her way up
to administrative assistant for the OR. She’s so enamored of Mercy’s
approach to patient care, she’s now at CCBC (with tuition assistance
from Mercy) preparing for nursing school.

“My husband works here,
I’ve been a patient here, this has been our world,” says Powell-Jones.
Mercy helped Powell-Jones buy her first home and gave her time off to
settle in her first foster child.

Encouragment for personal and
professional development extends across all staff levels: There are
classes in basic reading and writing for housekeeping staff to improve
their baseline professional skills, for example. The hospital fosters
young talent with two programs: a six-week, paid summer internship for
Baltimore high-school seniors and a partnership with six city high
schools aimed at getting kids into the field of nursing.

Staff at
Mercy has fun, too, with frequent potlucks, baby showers, wedding
showers, holiday parties, community outreach events, and Easter egg
hunts. It’s family oriented and small enough that people know each
other.

“Everyone here knows my name,” says Powell-Jones. “Even the CEO says hello to me, by name, when he sees me.”

Millennial Media

Baltimore

Employees:
210 What they do: Leader in mobile advertising and data. Why we like
them: A non-traditional company upping the bar for the mobile
advertising industry. Best benefits: Stock options; year-end bonus
program; 100-percent paid maternity leave plus $500 bonus for the
birth/adoption of a child.

Millennial Media lives up to its
name, hiring plenty of young go-getters who want to make a splash in the
still-burgeoning mobile-advertising industry. As such, there are lots
of employees starting families. Astoundingly, Millennial Media provides
fully paid maternity leave and even throws in some cash and a baby gift
to support new families.

Dani Cushion, 34, had just joined the
company when she got pregnant with her second daughter. And no one gave
her any flak for taking leave.

“We have a lot of young folks here and young families and there’s a lot of respect and support for family here,” she says.

Millennial
Media, located in the open, pleasant work spaces of the Can Company in
Canton, is ranked as one of the 75 fastest-growing private companies in
the country and gained market share in mobile display ads in 2011, along
with Google, largely at Apple Inc.’s expense, according to an analysis
by consultant IDC. In January, the company filed paperwork for an IPO.

Cushion
was so infected by the contagious enthusiasm of the place, she
jettisoned a great job with Sirius XM in Washington, D.C., to be a part
of the mobile movement.

“I saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity here,” she explains. “Mobile advertising is still taking
off, so this is that unique place in time when you can be on the cusp of
something great.”

Moodlerooms

Baltimore

Employees:
90 What they do: Provides education software to help clients globally
teach and learn online. Why we like them: They’re a software company
passionate about the future of education. Best benefits: Stock options;
free parking in Federal Hill near the stadiums; two to four weeks
vacation, plus five sick days; casual working environment; health-club
reimbursement.

Moodle what? That was our reaction, too. We
didn’t know much about this little gem of a tech company, but we learned
quickly. Which is what Moodlerooms is all about: education. Moodle is
an abbreviation for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning
Environment, a free, open-source e-learning software platform. As more
schools look to affordably build their online presence, Moodlerooms is
there to help them maximize their use of free software with paid-for,
custom solutions.

The company is fresh out of its incubation in
the Emerging Technology Center and still has that new company smell. The
office showcases standard start-up décor reminiscent of a college dorm
room and some of the major benefits are still evolving. The 401k with up
to 1 percent match, for example, is a bit paltry, but what we like is
the growth potential here. CEO Lou Pugliese was a founder of the
now-ubiquitous online education company Blackboard, and Moodlerooms
managed to score venture-capital funding during the recession. The
company has grown 300 percent in less than two years.

Sitting in
his office with a life-sized cut-out of the Dos Equis man behind his
desk, Pugliese says he never wants to lose an employee to a competitor,
so he rewards employees with perks like flextime, telework, a casual
environment (it’s not uncommon for a football to be tossed in the office
during work hours or an employee to pad around in slippers), and lots
of social stress-relievers like Friday afternoon happy hours.

This
is a work-hard-play-hard place where employees feel like stakeholders
in the company. If you have an idea or complaint, staffers can use a
standard, confidential e-mail form to send feedback to the executive
team. If you want to move up, opportunities abound. “Every manager
meeting here starts with questions like, ‘What else do you want to do
here and how can I help you get there?’” says Matt Montemurno, an inside
sales associate. “I’ve worked at three other companies and that’s never
happened before.”

Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital

Baltimore

Employees:
509 What they do: A comprehensive, sub-acute-care facility serving
children with special medical and rehabilitative needs. Why we like
them: The mission is to care for children, many on medical assistance.
Best benefits: 403b retirement plan with employer contribution; cash
balance pension plan; tuition assistance up to $3,000 per year; free flu
shots.

Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital is a small,
nonprofit children’s hospital located off a quiet, verdant street in one
of the city’s nicest neighborhoods. From this enclave, the hospital
provides rehabilitation and medical care for patients from neonatal to
young adult. Many children are from financially disadvantaged families.
This is a home away from home for patients. In addition to getting well,
children learn to eat, dress themselves, or use a wheelchair. Depending
on their length of stay, they can even go to school here.

“People
work here because they believe in the cause,” explains Dr. Richard
Katz, medical director, pictured below. “In an acute-care hospital,
children come and go quickly. Here, staff get to know them and their
families.”

“I like that this is a small hospital so you aren’t
running all over the place,” says Diana Silk, a nurse, “and I like that
here, we work as a team and support each other.”

Absolutely
everyone is invested in the well-being of these tiny patients. Darryl
Kane is a security guard who started part-time and understands the
mission. “I’m really a kid who never grew up,” he says. “I like seeing
how they treat kids. I can see how they come in and it’s rewarding to
see how they leave. They come in and aren’t even moving and then they
walk out of here.”

For a small, nonprofit hospital, Mt. Washington
Pediatric offers very good benefits. Some of that is thanks to its
unique co-ownership by University of Maryland and The John Hopkins
Hospital. For employees, that means access to affordable health
insurance and access to things like education.

“We have enormous
competition for staff, so we have to be competitive with our salaries
and benefits,” says president and CEO Sheldon Stein, acknowledging the
crowded marketplace for health-care workers in Baltimore. “We provide an
atmosphere for people to work where they can really make a difference
in the life of a child and a family.”

The hospital will work with
your schedule if you have kids of your own, and they’ve got attractive
vacation and sick-leave policies. But if you ask anyone here why they
love their job, they’ll sound like Fran German, a respiratory therapist:
“It’s the fulfillment of knowing you’ve done something to better the
life of a child, to help them reach their fullest potential.”

M&T Bank

Statewide

Employees:
15,694 (2,203 Maryland) What they do: Top 20 national bank. Why we like
them: As they grow, they’re keeping a supportive structure for
employees and doing community service in their hometowns. Best benefits:
Employer matches 100 percent of the first 3 percent of employee
contribution to 401k and 50 percent on the next 3 percent (after one
year of employment); two stock options plans.

Most folks
think “football” when they think M&T. While bank employees do get
the occasional discount to Ravens-themed events, the teamwork here is
focused on employees.

“If I think about the number of management
structures I’ve worked under, M&T is the best place for me to not
only to work, but to have a partner in my career,” says Joe Durham, head
of business banking in Maryland. Durham, an employee for 16 years,
points by example to his participation in the bank’s Senior Leadership
Development program, a one-year, executive-leadership course taught by
professors from the University of Michigan. He’s now mentoring others in
the bank on what he learned.

Detra Mackey, a manager at the
bank’s Seton Hill branch in Baltimore, completed the management
development program in 2009. She was matched with a mentor to learn
about different opportunities within the bank. “The company is very big
on allowing you to pursue whatever you want to do,” she says.

M&T seems to understand that for it to succeed, its community must succeed, too.

“We
support employees getting involved in service,” says Durham. “If you’re
passionate about something in the community, the bank is always there
to support you with flexible work hours so you can volunteer, or support
you financially with charitable contributions.”

For those
interested in a career in banking, M&T can claim stability many
banks can’t in this volatile economic climate: At press time, the
company had posted its 141st consecutive profitable quarter.

National Financial Legacy Group

Hunt Valley

Employees:
45 What they do: Financial and estate planning. Why we like them:
They’re a growing company that is maintaining a family feel. Best
benefits: Office closes early every Friday (3:30 p.m.); periodic
bonuses; phenomenal 401k plan.

National Financial Legacy
Group may be just 45 employees now, but president Peter Lovley hopes to
add 15 to 20 new people in the coming year. Lovley says he’s looking to
hire self-starters who recognize a good opportunity when they see one,
but adds, “We’re not here to see how much money we can make. I find the
more you share, the better off you are.”

“The number-one thing
about working at NFLG is that they expect you to have a life outside of
work,” says Jennifer Lee, 28, a contracting and licensing specialist.
For example, when Lee’s boyfriend deployed to Afghanistan with his Air
Force unit last fall, the company was extremely supportive and she took
off several days in preparation for his departure.

To emphasize a
family feel, there are monthly, office-wide potluck lunches, and, in the
summer, employees grill on the deck overlooking the office’s leafy
location in Hunt Valley. As a Penn Mutual agency, employees also get
access to a generous 401k plan: The company will match 100 percent of
the first 3 percent in pre-tax contributions by the employee, and 50
percent of the next 3 percent.

National Security Agency (NSA)

Fort Meade

Employees:
17,000-plus in Baltimore What they do: Listening in on the bad guys and
keeping the bad guys from listening in on us. Why we like them: They’ve
streamlined their hiring program to make it easier for people to get
over the federal government’s hiring hurdles. Best benefits: Thrift
Savings Plan (the Fed’s 401k) with match; some performance-based
bonuses; targeted programs for wounded warriors and people with
disabilities; top-notch, in-house training through National Cryptologic
School; alternative work schedule options including telework; endless
on-campus resources including several gyms and a medical center.

There’s
a lot to like about a federal government job, but what’s notable about
NSA is that they’ve bypassed the dreaded USAJobs.gov hiring site.
Acknowledging the need to streamline, potential hires can apply directly
through NSA’s website.

“We’re trying to bust the hiring myth with
conditional job offers and by getting people through the clearance
process in 60 days,” says associate director of HR Kathy Hutson.

“I
went to the NSA home page, saw and applied for a position, and, within
one week of the interview, had a conditional offer,” says Matthew
Cosgrove, an industrial hygienist. NSA is now helping to pay for his
master’s degree in his field.

There’s opportunity at NSA for
mathematicians, linguists, computer scientists, engineers—they’ll hire
1,600 folks in 2012. Of course, working at NSA is obviously a tad
different than the average corporate gig. For one, your life will be an
open book when you go through the hiring process, and chatting about
your day outside the office is forbidden, as are cell phones in the
office. On the upside, you get to contribute to the protection of the
United States, a mission employees at NSA take very seriously.

“One
thing I tell my friends and family is that I’m immensely proud to work
for our nation’s security,” says Jennifer Muller, who works in the
counter-terrorism division.

NSA’s campus is its own city. There
are several large cafeterias with chains like Starbucks and Quiznos;
there’s a dry cleaner, drug store, gift store, massage therapist,
barber, credit union, and Ticketmaster. The medical center sees about
100 patients a day, mostly for minor injuries or travel medication, and
there’s a nursing-mothers program.

There are benefits in a
classified environment, too, Muller adds. “It helps with work-life
balance because you can’t take work home with you!”

Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP

Baltimore

Employees:
62 What they do: 174-year-old general services law firm. Why we like
them: Prioritize work-life balance with a particular emphasis on
developing women leaders and not penalizing them for being mothers. Best
benefits: 401k with a profit-sharing contribution (given regardless of
whether the employee contributes); option for one to three months paid
maternity leave (through short-term disability, which is paid by the
firm), depending on how long an employee has been working; freedom to
work part-time or from home.

When Kimberly Neal, 31,
interviewed with Niles, Barton & Wilmer, she committed what some
might consider career suicide when courting a law firm.

“I asked
very hard questions about family-related things, like the maternity
leave, which is usually a big no-no,” she says. “It’s very interesting
because almost everyone here has children and thinks it’s important to
spend time with family in addition to providing stellar service to your
clients.”

Neal, who is an associate, is expecting her first child.
Through her pregnancy, she’s found that the promise of work-life
balance made during her interviews has been more than lip service.

Attorneys
get some unique perks, too, like the option to choose their computer.
Neal opted to exchange her desktop for a laptop so she could work from
doctors’ offices or from home when necessary. Not only the top dogs get
treated well, though, as evidenced by the low turnover in support staff.

To
foster career growth, the firm pays for all continuing legal education
and for attorneys to join networking groups. The office, located in The
Gallery across the street from Harborplace, was renovated in 2006 and
the firm throws in $50 a month per staffer to help offset parking or
public transportation costs.

Planit

Baltimore

Employees:
40 What they do: Full-service creative agency offering public
relations, advertising, branding, and design. Why we like them: Small
agency working with major clients means lots of room for creative types
to spread their wings. Best benefits: Company-paid short and long-term
disability and life insurance; 401k with 50-percent employer match up to
6 percent; employer pays half the cost of downtown parking or monthly
MTA passes; high-deductible health plan, but employer covers the
deductible.

From its trendy office overlooking Baltimore’s
Inner Harbor, Planit had the perfect view to see its work in action when
the Baltimore Grand Prix whizzed past its front door. The company was
the official PR agency for Marc Bunting’s Team Baltimore Racing. This is
just one of Planit’s many high-profile clients, a list that includes
Under Armour, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Fila,
and Voga Italia wines.

Account executive Heather Hurley, 26,
joined the company out of college and has worked on high-profile clients
for over three years. “The culture here is what attracted me and also
what has kept me here,” she says.

Did we mention that agency work
can be a grind? Yes, we did. Hurley says the omnipresence of the
company’s founders helps keep spirits high. A fridge stocked with energy
drinks, beer, and wine doesn’t hurt, nor does the on-site pool table,
games, and guitars. Hurley describes her co-workers as both “fun” and
“brilliant.”

“Every year we still get raises and bonuses, we still
have Christmas parties and fun happy hours,” says Hurley. “Things like
that keep people’s spirits up.”

Reznick Group

Baltimore and Bethesda.

Employees:
1,200 nationally, 180 in Baltimore. What they do: Accounting, tax, and
business advisory firm. Why we like them: Strong commitment to community
service. Best benefits: Very generous (20-30 days) paid time off, plus
paid holidays; 50-percent employer 401k match to each employee dollar
(up to 5 percent of salary); tuition reimbursement; five days parental
leave for birth, adoption, or foster placement; many flexible work
options.

Here’s the thing about working in accounting: From
January 2 to April 15, you don’t have a life. However, if you must be a
slave to tax season, it helps if your employer offers a few
we-know-this-blows-but-we’re-behind-you perks. Reznick Group does this
in the form of on-site chair massages, ice-cream socials, occasional
candy bags and lunches for all employees, and an end-of-tax-season bash.
At other times of the year, the firm lightens the mood with happy hours
and other events organized by the in-house social committee. But what
really keeps people chugging through the dark days of tax filing is
Reznick’s vacation terms.

“The leave policy here is extremely
generous,” says Anneke Gibson, CPA, a senior associate, who currently
rakes in 25 days of paid time off and a windfall of nine paid holidays.
“The nice thing is that not only is the time allowed, the firm actually
lets you take it.”

But what really caught our eye is the company’s
interest in community service and the employee’s enjoyment of those
programs. “We have a community outreach day once a year, which is
unique,” says Karin Lundquist, 31, an audit manager. “The entire office
closes for the day and we are matched with a nonprofit to do hands-on
work followed by a regroup and cookout with the whole firm.”

SafeNet Inc.

Belcamp

Employees:
1,564 What they do: One of the largest information security companies
in the world. Why we like them: They’re a big company with a
small-company feel. Best benefits: 401k with several matching
contribution levels; quarterly and annual profit sharing; up to $10,000
referral bonus; tuition reimbursement; newly renovated, free gym
on-site; 20-30 paid days off depending on tenure; flexible schedules and
work-from-home options.

SafeNet Inc. is a giant in the
fast-paced, ever-changing world of data protection, so one might not
expect to find a whole lot of hand-holding. Yet when Vickie White, 37,
got pregnant, she found nothing but support. After the birth of her
first child, SafeNet let her ramp up slowly to her full-time schedule.
When she realized that her position, which required lots of travel and
late-night conference calls with international customers, was too
demanding, she worked with a supervisor to find a position more suited
to family life. She now works a 20-hour week.

And she actually
enjoys going to the headquarters located on the scenic Bush River in
Harford County. Employees can work from the patio if they wish or
wherever they’re comfortable, like the cafeteria, where you can also
play a game of air hockey or Ping-Pong.

Tom McNulty also got an
educational helping hand after he joined SafeNet in 2007. “I always
wanted to go back to get my MBA,” says the senior financial analyst. “My
first year here, I enrolled at Loyola. I don’t know how else I could
have done it if they hadn’t helped pay for it.”

As big companies
have seen their bottom lines shrink in recent years, many have cut back
on office parties. Luckily, protection of online data seems an ironclad
need in even an economically queasy economy.

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Baltimore

Employees:
520 What they do: Under contract to NASA to operate the science program
for the Hubble Space Telescope. STScI will be the science operations
center for the new James Webb Space Telescope, too. Why we like them: In
addition to doing fascinating stuff related to space, they’ve pushed
hard to recruit women and under-represented minorities into careers in
science. Best benefits: STScI contributes 10 percent of employee
salaries to retirement plans, regardless of employee participation;
free, covered parking; discounted gym; over $5,000 per year for tuition
reimbursement; extremely flexible scheduling, including up to three days
a week of telework permitted; gourmet cafeteria.

As if
helping NASA uncover distant galaxies wasn’t enough, the former deputy
director is a shuttle astronaut, and employee Adam Riess just won a
Nobel Prize. STScI is a place where it’s cool to be smart.

Staff
at STScI speak of life outside their bucolic enclave (on the Homewood
campus of The Johns Hopkins University, but not affiliated) as “the real
world.” That’s not because they’re in the business of outer space, but
because their benefits are out of this world. New parents Pey-Lian Lim
and Brandon Lawton, pictured, for example, both took generous paid
leaves when their son was born. “We didn’t need to choose between our
finances and being with our baby,” says Lawton.

Other staff echo
the same sentiments. One employee, Lee Peters, a senior generalist in
human resources whose son spent nine weeks in a NICU, was out of the
office for 12-plus weeks without any recrimination. When the nearly
$500,000 bill came in, his out-of-pocket expense was minimal, thanks to
STScI’s stellar benefits. “Most people would have had to sell their
house to pay for that,” he says.

Although STScI does some
extremely serious work, it’s the opposite of stuffy. As one employee
quipped on the eve of the Institute’s epic Halloween Extravaganza, “This
is a place where people dress up in Star Trek costumes that they own.”
Office doors are covered with family photographs and oddball humor. The
dress code is über-casual and emphasizes personal expression.

Employees
at STScI are passionate about what they do and would probably come to
work even if STScI stopped paying them. Of course, as an entity at the
mercy of federal budgets, that is a possibility. “Being a prime
government contractor for NASA puts constraints on what we can do,” says
Peters. “They’re very transparent about what’s happening with the
government contract and very proactive about working with legislators.”

Under Armour Inc.

Baltimore

Employees:
5,000 globally What they do: Develop, market, and distribute the Under
Armour brand of performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. Why we
like them: The millennial generation has been disproportionately beat up
in the recession; UA is a young company helping those young people
build their careers. Best benefits: Company matches 50 percent (up to 6
percent) of employee 401k contribution; 15-percent discount on company
stock; bonuses; tuition reimbursement.

Under Armour Inc. (UA)
brings the power of a linebacker to Baltimore’s corporate scene. The
company is rapidly building a campus empire in Locust Point, complete
with its own community garden, gyms, cafe, and free parking. As is
befitting a large, profitable company, they’re sharing the wealth with
generous reimbursement for tuition, maternity leave, and paid time off,
to name a few benefits. And of course, you never know what super-star
athlete you might bump into in the hall on any given day.

Alexandra
Kennedy, 24, got her start at UA through the company’s summer “Rookie”
program, a three-month, full-time internship that gives young people a
crash course in all things UA. Since its start in 2007, 70 rookies have
gone on to be hired, like Kennedy, who’s worked at UA just under three
years.

“The culture at Under Armour is amazing,” she says. “You
can feel the excitement and hard work every day and they’re hiring all
the time. I don’t feel there’s a ceiling for me to hit here.”

Sam Hollenbach, 28, adds that, “it’s a young culture here and a lot of responsibility is given to younger people.”

Hollenbach,
a former University of Maryland athlete, never expected his mechanical
engineering skills would fit in at UA, but he now works in a lab with a
15-person “innovation team” doing product research and development. UA
brought together his love of engineering and his passion for sports. “I
have so much freedom to explore new technology here,” he states. “If
UCLA is doing something innovative, I can hop on a plane and check it
out.”

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Case Study: Lawyer
Salary: $75,000
In the legal field, salary depends largely on the type of law practiced, the type of firm, and years of experience. The attorney we interviewed works for a small firm in downtown Baltimore that specializes in civil cases, including contracts and torts. She is in her first year at the firm after completing law school and a one-year clerkship. She acknowledges she could earn more by starting out at a larger firm (the mean salary for attorneys in Maryland is $83,740), but says she values spending time at a small firm. “The hours are better, the environment is less cut-throat, and the type of work you get to do is more exciting,” she says, though she concedes that she will probably look at larger firms—and salaries—in the coming years. 

Case Study: Programmer
Salary: $103,000
Our programmer has worked in his mid-size technology firm for 10 years. He started, with a master’s degree in computer science, at $65,000 and has seen his pay steadily increase with time and good performance. “In this industry, if you’re good at your job, you can usually expect to earn steady increases for inflation, plus a couple points, every year,” he says. At his company these days, people coming in with a bachelor’s degree in software development tend to earn in the $55,000 to $65,000 range, while those with master’s degrees would start at $75,000 to $80,000. The mean annual income for computer programmers in Maryland is $61,770, and our state has the fourth-highest concentration of programmers in the country.

Case Study: CEO
Salary: $200,000, plus 5 percent equity
Compensation packages for chief executives vary wildly from industry to industry and company to company. Apple’s new CEO, Tim Cook, is the highest paid in America, earning $378 million in 2011. Locally, Constellation Energy chief executive Mayo Shattuck tops the list, making $15 million last year, but most CEOs earn more modest incomes—the mean annual income for chief executives in Maryland is $142,720—and tie their fortunes to those of their companies. The CEO we spoke to runs a mid-size mobile technology firm with 20 employees, earns a base salary of $200,000, and has a 5-percent equity stake in the company. “For me, it’s more of an equity play,” says our CEO, who’s served in that capacity for several companies. “When I look at a potential company [to work for], I look at the products and the market, not the salary. I’m after upside.”

Case Study: Hair Stylist
Salary: $80,000 (including tips)
The stylist we interviewed has worked at one of the more high-end salons in town for the past eight years. He claims about $55,000 on his W-2 every year and the rest of his income comes from tips. When he started, he says, he was making about half of his current salary and the key has been building a reputation and clientele. “Getting clients and getting them to return to you is essential for working your way up, in terms of income,” he says. Of course, the type of salon one works at also determines pay. Our stylist has worked at four salons in his career and his pay steadily rose as he worked at more high-end businesses. The mean annual salary for hairdressers in Maryland is $29,200, not including tips.

Case Study: Advertising Executive
Salary: $56,000
Our anonymous account exec has worked at his boutique agency for 10 years. He says the generous vacation policies, the opportunity to earn commission for bringing in new clients (though he has yet to earn any), and especially the many perks make up for the relatively meager salary (the mean income for ad execs in Maryland is $49,670). “We get free tickets to everything we want,” he says, rattling off a series of concerts, sporting events, and performances he’s gained access to as a result of his job. He has rejected offers of slightly more money from larger firms to retain the benefits of working for a boutique. “If I need time off for any reason, it’s no problem,” he says. “That’s worth a lot.”

Case Study: Personal Trainer
Salary: $55,000
“What I make is on the high end,” says our anonymous trainer, who works about 50 hours a week at a large downtown gym, and teaches spinning classes and holds running and triathalon clinics in addition to working with individual clients. “The more large classes you teach, the more specialized things you can do, the more you can earn.” Most people starting in the position make $30,000 to 40,000, she says, and earning additional certifications can help you earn raises. She has a certification in CPR, one from the National Strength Professionals Association, and another as a spinning teacher. “The best thing about this job is being able to help people improve themselves,” she says. “The best reward is watching changes take place in people over time.”

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Methodology

Companies or their employees nominated themselves on our website and then the hard work began: The research to find a couple of dozen great firms out of the hundreds banging on our door.

But the very first question we ask is one that radically thins the ranks of nominees: “Are you hiring substantial numbers of people in the next year?”

Winners needed to be both financially sound now and in the recent past. So we troll the depths of national financial and legal news right up to deadline to look for anything that spells trouble: An SEC investigation, a class-action suit involving employees, a pending acquisition or merger, or recent significant layoffs are all deal-breakers for this list. Companies also need to be held in high regard by their employees. (We interview staffers.) And, of course, they have to cooperate with our research.

While small companies often can’t compete with the generous benefits of larger ones, we wanted to include small and medium-sized firms, too. Though they might not have 100 percent insurance reimbursement or a high 401k match, the smaller firms we chose have some sort of other appeal for their employees, be it dynamic leadership, a fun culture, or an especially meaningful mission, such as curing sick kids, building spaceships, preventing the next 9-11, or creating the next clever Super Bowl ad.

In short, we were looking for workplaces that employees really want to roll out of bed for, ones with a bright future, and with serious rewards, be they financial, in the form of perks, or intellectual gratification.