What are
Long Island's
Top Work Places

The Long Island office of insurance giant New York Life has more than 700 career agents.

The Melville-based operation says it has insured 110,000 customers with more than $33 billion worth of insurance plans and has placed over $3 billion in assets under management. With corporate roots that date to 1845, the company has operated its Long Island office for over 40 years.

Although the pandemic meant operating remotely, the business saw increased demand for insurance policies, leading to active employee recruitment, said managing partner John Curry.

Employees said they value the flexibility their jobs offer and the opportunity it gives them to help others while also being compensated fairly. In response to Energage's survey, one employee said, "There's no ceiling to my potential."

Describing the firm’s culture, Brian Miller, market development director for New York Life, said the Long Island office "is very much a family-like environment." The firm, he said, also makes a strong effort to include employees’ family members in many office events, including New York Life's annual black tie gala, summer picnic at the office's managing partner's home, and its holiday office party complete with family photos with Santa.

"We appreciate, respect, challenge, celebrate and console each other," Miller said. "This is put on display every time we send an office-wide email announcement celebrating a team member’s wedding or birth of a child, and when we offer condolences to someone in our office who has lost a loved one."

-Victor Ocasio

With assets topping $6.1 billion, Bridgehampton-based BNB Bank has become one of Long Island’s largest community banks with more than 500 employees and 39 branches serving Long Island and the New York metropolitan area.

As an essential business, the firm adapted to using a mix of remote and in-person staff. It secured $1 billion in funding from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program for approximately 2,500 small businesses on Long Island and in New York City.

Founded 110 years ago, the bank won a special award for having "clued in senior management." One employee commented, "senior leadership is always available to me. If I need to talk to someone through a phone call or email it is always taken."

-Victor Ocasio

Manufacturer Piping Rock Health Products of Bohemia has been making vitamins, essential oils and other wellness products for the consumer health market since its founding in 2011.

The firm is run by vitamin veteran Scott Rudolph, who previously co-founded Nature’s Bounty Co. — formerly NBTY — with his father Arthur Rudolph in 1986. Today, Scott and his son Michael oversee the growing company and its more than 526 local employees.

Employees of the three-generation family business say they feel the company is moving in the right direction and that "it feels good to be part of something successful."

-Victor Ocasio

Founded in 1996, HealthCare Partners provides support services to medical practices and insurance plans.

The Garden City-based business has 225 employees, who focus on ensuring doctors are set up to provide patients with preventive care. HealthCare Partners supports about 8,000 primary care physicians and specialists across Long Island and New York City, who collectively serve 160,000 patients.

“We’re kind of the backstage people,” an HR executive said.

HealthCare Partners formed an employee activities committee in 2017, which helps plan social gatherings and give back to local communities, according to Rohan Shah, an HR generalist.

“We had boating nights, softball, we’ve done paint nights,” Shah said. The activities are “very significant to our culture.”

The company has cultivated a strong sense of camaraderie, according to comments employees submitted.

“Our department’s staff members feel like a family,” one employee wrote. “This is even extended outside of the office. We collect funds and materials to support local and national charities. During the time of COVID, we have — as individuals — delivered necessities to our senior co-workers.”

The human resources department looks at employees “holistically” and imparts this philosophy on managers through a 12-module leadership training program, the HR executive said. “They learn about everything from interviewing skills, overcoming resistance to change, how to conduct a performance review.”

Employee survey responses garnered a special leadership award for president Robert LoNigro, who hosts weekly webinars “to keep us in the loop.”

HealthCare Partners provides medical and dental coverage to employees at no cost, and offers several other benefits, including a 401(k) and tuition reimbursement, the HR executive said.

-Sarina Trangle

Since launching in 2010, EXIT Realty Achieve has attracted 156 employees and found itself among the top closing residential groups in Suffolk County.

The Smithtown-based franchise works with buyers and sellers across Long Island, but is consistently listed among the five teams finalizing the most deals in Suffolk County, according to broker Susan Hamblen.

"Our numbers for transactions, closings are pretty impressive for a young company," said Hamblen, who owns the franchise with Robert and Elta Bergold.

Through the national EXIT organization, the Smithtown franchise rewards agents who recruit colleagues and helps staff build retirement funds.

"It’s truly a company that was designed around the agent," said manager and associate broker Jeff Mistretta.

-Sarina Trangle

Chester, Pennsylvania-based Power Home Remodeling works with manufacturers to design windows, doors, roofing and siding, and install these products on building exteriors in New York and several other states.

Founded in 1992, Power Home Remodeling says it’s the largest full-service, exterior home remodeler in the nation.The company has 2,527 employees nationwide and 213 on Long Island.

Ninety percent of the company’s executives previously held entry-level positions at the firm, so the leadership prioritizes connecting with staff, Power Home Remodeling said. New hires are flown to the company’s headquarters to see each department in action and meet executives.

Based on employee surveys, the firm won a special award for having supportive managers who listen and provide constructive feedback.

-Sarina Trangle

National Business Capital & Services, ranked the No. 1 small company on Long Island, mingles technology and empathy as it works to fuel clients and employees toward their goals.

Since its founding 13 years ago, the Bohemia company has secured more than $1 billion in financing for small businesses. The company also provides human resources, payroll and credit card processing services.

Internally, the company has a four-person "culture team" that marks holidays and birthdays and organizes company mixers each quarter.

Gifts go out to clients and employees to celebrate or provide a lift.

The company says it uses technology to "foster human intelligence over artificial intelligence."

In an instance of harnessing technology for team-building, chief executive Joseph Camberato, a company founder, produced a virtual cooking event where employees created a chicken dish in tandem with a professional chef.

At the beginning of each month, National Business Capital holds a "motivational huddle" to discuss the previous month’s accomplishments, recognize individual achievements and outline goals to be met.

The approach is paying dividends as a company that began in a spare bedroom during an economic downturn has grown and made the Top Workplaces list for the second consecutive year.

The company, with almost 90 employees when it was shut down during the pandemic, has regrouped with 30 workers and plans to bring back the others in stages.

One employee cited a culture that offers "the freedom to be myself" and "work with the best group of individuals in the industry." That freedom even extends to sometimes tolerating failure "as long as we learned a lesson." The firm won a special award for fostering an atmosphere where "new ideas are encouraged."

And even in uncertain times, the company encourages a positive attitude with the motto: "Don’t take the ‘fun’ out of ‘funding!’"

-Ken Schachter

Network Solutions and Technology debuts this year on the small company list at No. 2.

The East Northport provider of IT consulting services calls its 60 employees "family" and "the lifeline of our business." The company said it strives to "ensure that each one of them has a voice" within the organization. Based on employee surveys, NST won a special award for operating "by strong values."

Workers say they appreciate the latitude the company provides as they tackle assignments.

One employee commented: "I love being handed something that I have never worked on before and being allowed to work through it and resolve issues. Very satisfying."

Another said: "I get to touch a wide array of tech and continuously learn. I am trusted to make my own decisions."

-Ken Schachter

Since 1988, Total Technology Solutions has been providing IT support, cybersecurity and managed services to Long Island customers.

The Melville-based newcomer to the Top Workplaces list earned a special leadership award based on employee comments about the dedication and empathy shown by Vincent Tedesco, Total Technology’s president and chief executive.

The 50-person company’s services have taken on even greater gravity since the COVID-19 outbreak began.

"As an IT company that operates 24/7 it is imperative that we continue to support local government … as well as our other clients consisting of law firms, accounting firms and many more," one employee said.

-Ken Schachter

Who determines Top Workplaces? The best judges: the employees who work there.

For the third year, Newsday has partnered with Philadelphia-based Energage to rank the Top Workplaces on Long Island. The process is based on a scientific survey of employees who rate their workplace culture. It also gives company insights about what makes them unique.

"In times of great change, it is more important than ever to maintain a connection among employees," said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. "When you give your employees a voice, you come together to navigate challenges and shape your path forward based on real-time insights into what works best for your organization."

The process began in February, when Newsday began news coverage and promotions welcoming people to nominate companies as Top Workplaces. Energage also reached out to companies on Long Island. Throughout the process, 1,637 employers in the region were invited to have their employees take the survey. Any organization was eligible to participate, provided it had at least 50 employees in the region. Employers could be public, private, nonprofit, or governmental. There is no cost to enter the Top Workplaces program.

Combined, the companies surveyed in 2020 employed 19,225 people on Long Island. Of those employees who received questionnaires, 11,242 responded, either on paper or online. For this year’s winners list, 66 employers earned recognition as Top Workplaces and were ranked based on their employee survey feedback.

The employee engagement survey of 24 questions gathers responses regarding issues relating to workplace culture:

• Alignment – where the company is headed, its values, cooperation, effective meetings

• Coaching – managers care about concerns, are helpful, encourage employee development

• Connection – employees feel appreciated, work is meaningful, working at full potential, clued in to each other

• Engagement – productivity, retention, recruiting

• Leadership – confidence in company leaders

• Performance – execution, open-mindedness, innovation, clued-in leadership

• The Basics – pay, benefits, flexibility, training, expectations

Employers that score high enough are recognized as Top Workplaces. Employers are categorized by size, and they are ranked within those size groups, to accurately compare results. Energage also determines special award winners based on standout scores on specific survey topics.

Did you look over the list and wonder why a particular company was not on it? It might be because it chose not to participate, or because it did not score well enough in the survey process. Energage occasionally disqualifies employers based on questionable results detected through statistical tests it runs to ensure organizations are accurately administering the survey.

-Bob Helbig, Energage

Eight months into a national health crisis that has changed how business is done, workplaces across Long Island have found ways to navigate the challenges of the pandemic and adapt their businesses, from redefining the workplace altogether to finding new ways to keep morale high.

Surviving the worst of COVID has required that firms bring their best ideas to the table and evolve alongside a situation no one could have predicted. Despite the challenge, many business owners on Energage’s 2020 list of Long Island’s Top Workplaces found ways to make the best of a life-changing crisis.

The businesses that have made it through these unprecedented times are those "who actually sit down and think strategically rather than just reacting to whatever is coming in their directions," said Steve Davies, president of Huntington management consulting firm Edge Initiatives.

"You’ve got to look at your customers, you’ve got to look at the trends in the marketplace, you’ve got to try and forecast wherever you’re going to be," said Davies, who also runs the Nassau chapter of the Alternative Board, an organization that groups owners of small- to mid-size businesses to act as unofficial advisers for each other.

Effective communication, engagement and employee morale have all become increasingly important for Long Island employers, Davies said.

"After people figured out how to get their workforce to go digital, the next challenge was the communication issues," he said. "How do you communicate and how do you preserve a culture that relied on people seeing each other every day."

On-site company goes fully remote

For many top workplaces, one of the biggest obstacles has been redefining the idea of a workplace altogether.

Employees at HealthCare Partners, MSO in Garden City began working remotely in March, a major departure from what had traditionally been an in-person office culture, said Dr. Robert LoNigro, president of the firm.

"We viewed ourselves as an on-site company," LoNigro said. "And overnight we forced ourselves to become a remote company with not a lot of clarity with how it was going to work, but with the expectation that everyone was in it together and that we were going to do the best we could to make it work."

Now, operating fully remote, employee engagement looks different for the company. Previously, HealthCare Partners would host a variety of in-person employee appreciation activities, such as bowling, softball and painting nights.

LoNigro said since joining the company three years ago the firm has aimed "to give employees the opportunity to engage not only with themselves but with leadership."

And while in-person gatherings are no longer the norm, the company has found ways through interactive online lunch sessions and frequent communication to keep morale high.

Still, the new world of working has had its challenges, especially when it comes to taking "the pulse of the company in real time," LoNigro said.

"Because I don’t have the ability to walk around to see people on the front lines … it’s hard to get a sense how people are doing," he said.

Staying on top of communications

Some businesses had no choice but to have employees come to work.

For Stasi Brothers Asphalt & Masonry, the onset of COVID meant putting measures in place to keep employees of the essential business safe amid a time of many unknowns.

"We were trying to collectively figure out what was going to happen and how we were going to proceed," said Sal Karim, senior manager of the nearly 60-year-old business.

While the family-run firm made many adjustments to keep workers safe in the field, communication came easier, an aspect of their business that won them high marks in Energage’s employee survey.

"We’re not like an office-based business where everyone is big on emails," Karim said. In many instances a few text messages from senior leadership to small teams ensured all workers were in the loop.

"The leaders of each team relayed the messages," he said. "Everybody talks anyway."

Working ‘very hard on engagement’

Keeping employees engaged during the pandemic was a top priority for National Consumer Panel in Syosset, a market research company, which went remote earlier this year.

Jane Slater, director of human resources, said the firm has been focused on employee engagement for years, even starting an engagement committee about 10 years ago.

"We work very hard on engagement," Slater said. "It’s not rocket science. Don’t treat people the way you want to be treated, treat them the way they want to be treated."

One major goal for the company when switching to a remote workforce, she said, was ensuring that employees felt connected to the organization, even when face-to-face interactions were no longer on the table.

"You can bring in a brass band and bagels every day, but if people don’t like what they do and don’t feel connected to an organization, that’s where the disengagement comes in."

Ruff day at the “home” office?

Never, Suzy Silverstein might say. Silverstein, a project manager at VHB Engineering, set up her workspace on her pool deck in the company of her favorite four-legged colleagues, Bubbles, a dachshund, and Blanket, a two-year-old Juliana mini pig, who also goes by Blanky, Blankarooni or Blankisaurus.

Those not fortunate enough to work poolside created variations of their “home office” space, some making do with makeshift desks and chairs, others claiming their “corner office” in quiet, kid-free, no-traffic zones in their den, kitchen, bedroom, basement, or other spaces.

A Huntington Station woman, Pattie Dougherty, of H2M Architects + Engineers, designed her own mobile space — in the back of her SUV.

Now, can you take breaks when working from home? One employee found a quick minute to stretch her legs, while others sought company with their kids, sometimes giving crying babies a lift.

Working from the “home” office sure has its perks. You can go Friday casual or wear a tie. Suit yourself. And when you can finally take that much-delayed staycation to spend time with your two-legged companions (socially distanced, of course) you can even set your email to say: I will be out of the (home) office until next week.

Oh, another perk of working from home: You don’t have to deal with those petty office pet peeves. (But if you’re seriously wondering whether Bubbles and Blanky get along, you may just have to get back to the office.)

To see more employees of Long Island’s Top Workplaces sharing their home-office setups, click here.

— Leema Thomas

The state went on pause but the pandemic kept many employees on their toes, with some going the extra mile, according to the employers who nominated their staff as workplace heroes.

One employee initiated a wellness series for colleagues.

Another not only continued to work in the office despite her compromised immune system as a cancer survivor but she also started a food drive, and then drove around distributing food and supplies to hospital workers and cancer patients, her employer said.

Across companies on Long Island, these workers rose to the occasion and were recognized for their passion and dedication, for their philanthropy and volunteerism, for helping their businesses survive and thrive.

One even used his creative skills to help design a face covering for employees to return to the office.

To see more employees of Long Island’s Top Workplaces who have gone the extra mile, click here.

— Leema Thomas

Call it the pandemic couture.

Although COVID-19 put a brake on many business operations, a number of Long Islanders across various sectors, showed up to work — in their offices or in the field. While business was surely not as usual, these employees stepped up to the (fashion) plate, dressing for style, health and success.

Employees — from doctors, nurses, accountants, architects, engineers, mental health and social service workers, volunteers and even summer interns — kept the business engine running, suited up in various personal protective gear including facial coverings, masks, gloves, N95 respirators and other accessories, mindful of following health-mandated protocols.

Some like Carlos Vargas, landscape architecture team leader at VHB Engineering, worked alone in the field.

Others like Ayodeji Grace Oloke, Alexandria Attivissimo, Taylor Alicanti, Ama Serwah and Christina Metz, all employees at CN Guidance & Counseling Services, worked in the office.

Yet others like Greg Genovese and Alison Longstreet, both employees at New York Life Insurance Co., outfitted in their PPE, delivered meals to the “overnight crew” at a hospital. We “decided we needed to do something to show our appreciation,” Longstreet said.

From H2M Architects + Engineers employees at a job site in protective helmets and masks to fashion forward real estate agent Rudy Rodriguez donning disposable boot covers and carrying hand sanitizers, businesses and employees put safety first.

So, yes, while the pandemic may have crimped many personal styles, Long Islanders looked haute, or cool, as they put their best face forward and performed their jobs.

To see more employees of Long Island’s Top Workplaces who have had to don PPE to do their jobs, click here.

— Leema Thomas

Birthdays, baby showers, office parties.

A thriving workplace is also one that’s convivial.

Chit-chats around the office water-cooler or copy machine sharing morsels of gossip can help build camaraderie and foster career growth.But the pandemic put a kibosh on in-person, face-to-face office bashes and gatherings this year.

Those working remotely perhaps sorely missed their “work spouses” and suffered a bout of anxiety after their sudden separation from their work partners and shared workspaces during the lockdown, and what they missed most about the office ranged from the mundane to the esoteric.

To see more employees of Long Island’s Top Workplaces discuss what they miss about being in the office, click here.

— Leema Thomas

OK, Zoomers! (Now, that’s a compliment!)

For countless remote workers, virtual video conferencing has become the primary link to staying in touch with colleagues and managers.

Chances are if you are a non-millennial, you needed a lesson or two on how to get the lights, camera and audio going. Perhaps seeing a sea of faces on your desktop or laptop monitors made you jittery, and you made a mental note to comb your hair and put on a clean T-shirt the next time. Or, perhaps, you’ve committed a few Zoom faux pas (wait, was that your toddler who walked in front of the camera crying “mommy” as you were about to clinch that deal?) or someone Zoom-bombed your meeting.

Love it or hate it, you have come to live with it and get on with the business.

Employees at Grassi Advisors & Accountants, EXIT Realty Achieve and Aurora Contractors were among businesses that connected with their staff via Zoom meetings.

Grassi employees from the Jericho, Ronkonkoma, White Plains, New York City and New Jersey offices stayed connected through weekly Zoom check-ins. Even the company’s CEO and managing partner, Louis C. Grassi, checked in.

But all work and no play make Jack and Jill quite dull people.

Employees of CN Guidance and Counseling Services gathered on Zoom for a game of scavenger hunt. And National Consumer Panel’s employee engagement committee held several virtual events, from virtual trivia to “Watercooler Chats” and bingo, to “boost morale and keep employees connected.”

Now, if you haven’t zoned out on Zoom sessions at least once, kudos. If you haven’t had your fill yet, “see” you later.

— Leema Thomas