Becoming a Morning Call Top Workplace is no small task. And placing on the annual list five times or more is a feat only a few Lehigh Valley businesses have managed.<\/p>\n
Uline, Barry Isett & Associates and Amada Senior Care have each appeared on the list at least five times in the award\u2019s 14-year-history. All finished in first place among their representative categories this year, representing large, mid-sized and small employers. So, how do they do it time and time again?<\/p>\n
Claiming a spot on the annual list takes more than just good employee retention and work-life balance. It\u2019s about the small deeds rather than the big projects, according to representatives of the winners interviewed by The Morning Call.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything that we do is about the people,\u201d said Andrew Lawler, president and chief operating officer of Isett, the lone company to appear on The Morning Call\u2019s Top Workplaces list all 14 years.<\/p>\n
Just over 40 employers have been recognized on the list at least four times, according to Morning Call data compiled from 2013-25.<\/p>\n
Lawler said local companies may hold themselves back from becoming a top workplace because they are \u201cprobably focused on some other bigger thing, and maybe it\u2019s profit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cProfit is a byproduct of doing the little things right each and every day,\u201d he said of Isett, a family-owned engineering and consulting firm that has served the Lehigh Valley since 1977.<\/p>\n
Uline \u2014 a distributor of shipping, packaging and industrial supplies \u2014 does the little things for employees on their first day, such as establishing a buddy system, according to Senior Distribution Manager Ed Morris.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you start here at Uline, the saying is, \u2018This should be your last first day,\u2019 \u201d Morris said. \u201cWe really don\u2019t want you to leave here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morris said that amid 3 million square feet of company warehouse space, there are fitness centers and outdoor walking spaces, aimed at inspiring the 1,000 Lehigh Valley employees to stay healthy \u2014 and to participate in a 5K race that the company\u2019s team has won for several years in a row.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the largest team comes with a little bit of motivation,\u201d he said, calling Uline an \u201cindustrial athlete\u201d that aims to provide quick customer service. Uline has operated in the Lehigh Valley since 2004, and first appeared on the Morning Call Top Workplaces list in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have what we say [is] a \u2018secret sauce,\u2019 to why Uline is successful,\u201d said Loredana Nagy, human resources manager of Uline, describing a tight-knit company culture that makes long-term decisions easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn an environment where maybe things are not that stable in many places, we don\u2019t have to worry about that because we stick to what we know works,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
At Isett, employees are encouraged to take paid time off to volunteer in the Lehigh Valley, allowing them to \u201cgive their time to a cause that\u2019s meaningful to them for whatever reason,\u201d Lawler said.<\/p>\n
And the company responded\u00a0when Isett employees \u2014 with job experience ranging from entry-level to managerial roles \u2014 encouraged the company to invest in health care benefits in feedback surveys last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a self-funded program, but the company itself has taken on a lot for the premium cost, especially as it relates to family health care plans,\u201d Lawler said. He said the company worked to make it more financially achievable to participate in health care benefit programs.<\/p>\n
Amada Senior Care operates throughout the Lehigh Valley and beyond, with caregivers assisting seniors in their homes. The company was first named a Top Workplace in 2019, less than two years after owner and CEO Ed Duborg co-founded the Lehigh Valley branch.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can create a nightmare job for yourself if you start a business and you have tons of people to care for, and you\u2019re not equipped with really good people,\u201d said Duborg, who oversees a staff of 100. Amada caregivers provide more than 10,000 hours of care a month, according to Duborg.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo the right thing for people, and good things will happen,\u201d Duborg said.<\/p>\n
Christina Reyes, recruiting and retention manager at Amada, recalled her hectic first day there: a summer day in 2024 when her car broke down. She said Duborg and other managers quickly showed understanding, an experience that shaped how she views her job. Reyes wants employees to be open and communicate when personal circumstances affect their work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had many caregivers in the past that may have wanted a set schedule, but something happens in their personal life, and they\u2019re afraid to let us know that their availability has changed,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cWe want them to not worry about any fear and communicate with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Amada caregivers, who range in age, the job is not easy. There is not a ton of downtime in a role where seniors may need care at odd hours of the night, Duborg said. Yet, he said the company has plenty of paid-time-off offerings for employees, a 401K match and flexible scheduling.<\/p>\n
Just as importantly, Amada prioritizes mental health care for clients, and frequently hosts social events.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re proactive at Amada versus maybe some businesses are more reactive,\u201d said Becky Moore, Amada\u2019s nurse case manager. \u201cI think we take the time to get to know our caregivers and to treat them as if we would want to be treated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Representatives from Amada, Isett and Uline all expressed that they don\u2019t want their company to be seen as \u201ctoo corporate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimberli Kyra, human resources manager of Isett, emphasized that the most important part of Isett\u2019s office culture is teaching \u201call the technical information, but what\u2019s really critical is keeping our culture, having that right fit \u2014 character and employee interests and what their values are.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the 2026 winners, there are social events on the fun days, and open-door conversations on the rough days. But the company winners believe success comes from serving both clients and employees with care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really take a holistic view when we visit a customer,\u201d said Morris, who oversees a customer service team trained to take calls faster than a 911 call center, and a sales team trained to support the businesses that buy Uline products.<\/p>\n
For Amada, on top of uplifting employees during a challenging time, the staff makes arrangements for seniors when they either need to move into a full-time care home, or receive help when alone, Reyes said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if we unfortunately can\u2019t help you at the time,\u201d she said, \u201cEd and the rest of the team will always take the time out to see, \u2018Well, where else can we help you?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Andreas Pelekis is a freelance writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Becoming a Morning Call Top Workplace is no small task. And placing on the annual list five times…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,60,58385],"class_list":["post-124536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-business","tag-top-workplaces"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}