Railroad Associates Corp., based in Mechanicsburg, has been chosen as one of the 15 Top Small Workplaces in the United States for 2009 by The Wall Street Journal.
The Top Small Workplaces report highlights those small businesses and nonprofits that continue to invest in their people during the economic downturn, and illustrates the practices these businesses use to create successful organizations.
Railroad Associates Corp. was founded in 2000 by Michael and Jack Kennedy, who grew up working for their father's railroad contracting business. The company repairs railways, primarily in the northeast United States.
While the Journal refers to the business as being based in Hershey, Kennedy said Hershey is the company's post office box location. The business is physically located on the Mechanicsburg/Shiremanstown border, Kennedy said.
The Wall Street Journal in an article published today noted the company's efforts to reduce workplace bureaucracy and push decision-making down to front-line employees. The article quoted Michael Kennedy as estimating that these efforts have saved Railroad Associates Corp. $500,000 a year in salaries and other overhead costs.
Railroad Associates Corp. was chosen from among nearly 630 nominations and 330 completed applications that were received by The Wall Street Journal and Winning Workplaces, a nonprofit whose mission is to help small and midsize corporations create better workplaces.
A press release today from Dow Jones & Co., parent company of The Wall Street Journal, said the winning firms were selected by a national panel of management and small business experts who were picked by the Journal and Winning Workplaces. The panel judged the finalists based on specific metrics and qualitative assessments of their success in creating the kind of workplaces that engage employees and deliver successful results.