Van Meter Inc. Named a 2019 Top Iowa Workplace

  • December 12, 2019
  • News

top workplace in iowa

Electrical Distributor honored for eighth consecutive year.

NEWS RELEASE - CEDAR RAPIDS, IA — Van Meter Inc. announced today it has been selected as one of Iowa’s 2019 Top 135 Workplaces. Top Workplaces are determined based solely on employee feedback. Van Meter Inc. ranked 13th among Iowa’s top mid-size companies. This is the eighth consecutive year on the Top Workplaces list for Van Meter.

The employee feedback survey is conducted by Energage, a leading research firm on organizational health and employee engagement. Energage conducts regional Top Workplaces programs with major publishing partners across the United States. In Iowa, Energage partners with The Des Moines Register.

What makes Van Meter a winning workplace? According to Van Meter President and CEO, Lura McBride, it’s the people. "When you hire the right people and create a culture where they can be their best and understand how they make a difference, everything else takes care of itself,” states McBride. “Delivering an engaging employee-owner experience is the best way to ensure we deliver an exceptional customer experience.”

“Delivering an engaging employee-owner experience is the best way to ensure we deliver an exceptional customer experience.”

In 2019, 97 percent of Van Meter’s employee-owners participated in the company’s engagement survey via Energage. Over the past eight years, the company has seen engagement scores well above the national average of 31 percent – consistently averaging 75 percent or better. “We strive to build our very best teams—people who are all in, all the time,” explains McBride. “Our success hinges on having every employee-owner focused on creating lasting value for the people we serve – our customers, our suppliers, our community partners and one another.”

top workplace in iowa

According to McBride, Van Meter focuses on the total wellbeing of its people. This encompasses traditional things like heath, wellness and safety, but also includes financial stability, personal growth and development, flexible programs to allow for better integration of work and home life, and very progressive parental leave and time-off programs.

Van Meter is a 100 percent employee-owned company founded in 1928. “Owning your future is a powerful thing,” concludes McBride. “Engaged employees are passionate about their work and their mindset positively impacts our company value. This has proven itself again and again at Van Meter; the strength of our engagement score over the time mirrors that of our stock value. Valuing employee-owners increases the value of our company.”

The Des Moines Register published the complete list of 2019 Top Workplaces in a special section on Sunday, Sept. 15.

News Release (PDF)