Six area companies are the recipients of the first-ever Best Places to Work Competition: Athens-Limestone County, an annual honor that competitively evaluates workplaces based on employee satisfaction surveys.

Organized locally by the Athens-Limestone County Chamber of Commerce, Best Places to Work selects its local winners through a data-driven process that begins with open nominations.

From there, “eligible companies are asked to complete a specified number of surveys — which employees are encouraged, but not required to do — to be eligible for the competition,” according to the Chamber, noting that employees are invited to offer input on a number of quality-of-life topics including “workplace culture, employee engagement, competitive compensation/benefit analysis,” and more.

From a diverse pool of applicants in the competition’s inaugural year, six companies came out on top “for their commitment to creating excellent company cultures, caring for employees, and maintaining a standard of excellence,” the Chamber said in a statement.

This year’s Best Places to Work winners include: 

• Athens-Limestone Hospital
• Bryant Bank
• First National Bank
• Mauldin & Jenkins Accounting and Financial Services
• McCurry Van & Car Rental
• Pepsi Cola — Decatur

“The Best Places to Work winners in Athens-Limestone County are shining examples of what it means to invest in people,” said Chamber president and CEO Pammie Jimmar in announcing this year’s honorees.  “Their commitment to creating positive, engaging, and forward-thinking workplaces strengthens not only their teams but our entire community. We are proud to celebrate these businesses that are setting the standard for excellence in Athens-Limestone County.”

The Chamber will host an awards luncheon in June to formally celebrate this year’s Best Places to Work winners.