Employees Say Core3 is a Cool Place in Tough Times

Few companies are immune to today's economic conditions.  Few question that we are in one of the most difficult economic times of our county's history.  Many would say that now is not the time to invest in a business.  While many businesses struggle to keep market share, retain employees, and grow, there are some who set themselves apart from the rest.  Some are in Southeast Michigan and Crain's has selected a few of them as 35 of the region's coolest places to work.  We are honored that Core3 has made that list.

Sixteen of the thirty companies that make up the Dow Jones were companies that were started during recessions or depressions.  Some of those companies include Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, Alcoa, IBM, McDonald's, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson.  Other great companies include Whole Foods, J. Crew, Costco, or Odwalla (all launched during recessions).  Those that set themselves apart and can either thrive or survive during these tough times.  We believe there is some commonality within both these companies listed here and the companies selected by Crain's.  It's CULTURE.

At Core3 we believe culture grows companies. Our culture is our employees.  At Core3 we feel honored that our employees have nominated us for this award and we feel blessed to have so many talented individuals here committed to helping us achieve our goals.  For those companies who have worked with us, they know we have a passion for people.  Right now we are at a critical point, not only in the history of this country, but also at a critical point in our company's history.  Now, more than ever, we need people who will help us grow in directions that allow us to achieve new heights.  At Core3 we believe in partnerships.  To us that means partnering with our employees to make a great place for them to come to work.  In the same sense it means creating great partnerships with our customers.  Also selected in Crain's top 35 is MiPro Consulting whom we've had the pleasure of working with for the past 5 years.

We're lucky to have the employees we have today and without them we wouldn't have the customers we have today.  Here are some of the small ways we've been able to invest in our employees and pay them back this year for all their hard work.  These are all new benefits in 2009.

• Group Health Care Plan
• Life Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• 401k & Roth Retirement Plans
• Employee Development & Leadership Training
• Performance Management Tools
• Employee Home Computer Purchase Plan
• Employee Recognition ("Idea of the Month" & "Blog of the Month")
• Xbox360 in the break-room
• Floating Holiday
• Stocked K-Cup Keurig Gourmet Coffee

We didn't set a goal this year to be a cool place to work, nor did we set out to win any awards.  In all honesty we wish times were better and we wouldn't be accepting a "tough times" award.  I appreciate the blog from Jeff Ventura at MiPro.  He writes, "if you can't acknowledge where you are, it's hard to ascertain where you're going."  At Core3 we acknowledge times are tough and it may not get better soon.  But we will push foward. We continue to challenge ourselves each and every day to embrace these times, engage our employees and embody our values.  We will ask ourselves what can we do personally, TODAY, to take our people and our company to new levels.

Thank you Crain's Detroit and our employees!  It is an honor to be selected for this award, but please checkout the other 34 compaies selected at CrainsDetroit.com, they are a lot cooler than us and we can learn a lot from them.

Posted November 11, 2009 | Read all posts by Curtis Hays