Dressed in a tie and slacks, University student Trumann Ducker paced the EMU before an interview with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. He said he had done his homework on the company, including researching independent rankings.

Business rankings can help students become familiar with companies, and University students can now better gauge businesses throughout the state. Oregon Business magazine announced its rankings of the top 100 businesses to work for in Oregon on Tuesday. The rankings were divided into two categories: a top 50 list for both small companies and large companies.
Eugene-Springfield companies that made the list included Pacific Benefit Consultants, Pacific Continental Bank, Isler CPA, Oregon Community Credit Union, Century Bank and Staffing Services.
Ducker said he read about Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which plans on opening a call center in downtown Eugene this spring, in a newspaper that BusinessWeek magazine named the company the No. 5 “Best Place to Launch a Career.”
“I kept that in mind,” Ducker said. “I don’t want to be applying for just anywhere.”
Rankings can help students research a company before an interview and help job seekers measure a company’s culture. Oregon Business magazine’s calculations are telling because the magazine’s 15th annual rankings are based on employee feedback.
The magazine conducts an employee survey that counts for five-sixths of the rankings, said Brandon Sawyer, a research editor at the magazine. Employees fill out a survey that measures their satisfaction with the company. The survey, for example, asks about teamwork. A manager fills out another survey about the company that accounts for one-sixth of the rankings.
“The list favors the employee satisfaction survey,” Sawyer said. “That’s the big determinant in whether or not a company will make it onto the list.”
The two businesses that topped their respective categories were Beaverton-based Staff Finders Technical of Oregon for small companies and U.S. Cellular in Medford as the state’s best large company. U.S. Cellular earned the same title in 2007.
Although the current shaky economy has some banks in trouble, such institutions still made the Oregon rankings. Since last year’s rankings, the subprime mortgage industry entered a meltdown, and subprime mortgage lenders have filed for bankruptcy.
“Despite trends within certain industries and economic downturns, oftentimes simply satisfaction and a great workplace can be independent, and in a lot of ways it can allow the company to withstand other pressures,” Sawyer said. “When you have a good team of employees who are content and want to continue to see that workplace stay that way, it’s a fortifying effect.”
Portland’s Rose City Mortgage Specialists won the No. 4 spot in the magazine’s small company category.
For Eugene-area companies, the rankings provide feedback and are used as a communication tool between employees and managers.
“We use that information to try and do things better, address any concerns if there are any and continue to do what we’re doing well,” said Jim Menezes, president of Pacific Benefit Consultants.
Cherie Kistner, a spokeswoman for Oregon Community Credit Union, said the credit union looks at the rankings to make improvements. She added the company will start looking at the surveys soon.
“We’d love to be in the top 10 next year,” she said.
Menezes said he encourages more Eugene companies to apply for next year’s rankings.
“Eugene is a place that values a lot of things – the environment, people and the workplace,” Menezes said.
Job seekers can also look at the rankings for research.
The magazine’s rankings can be used to learn about a company, said Deb Chereck, director of the University Career Center.
“I think this is just one of the many job search tools students can use,” Chereck said.
The Career Center often works with companies on the list, including Oregon Community Credit Union, which was searching for applicants at the Career Fair in the EMU on Wednesday.
For those interested in finding a job, Chereck said she recommends students come to the Career Center to meet with a career counselor.
Students can stop by the Career Center from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. during weekdays, Chereck said. The center is located on the second floor of Hendricks Hall, across from the EMU parking lot.
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