DaVita

They call their employees "teammates," their offices "neighborhoods" and their company a "village," and that says a lot about the culture at DaVita. The Tacoma-based provider of kidney dialysis treatments operates on the philosophy that "it takes a village" to save their patients' lives (and with 830 employees in Tacoma and 33,000 nationwide, they have a village-size work force, indeed). "DaVita's core values really set this company apart," one employee says. "We are truly a village made up of people who care about the welfare of our patients and teammates." DaVita does a lot to make its employees' lives easier, from discounted museum memberships to the convenience of home and auto insurance deducted through payroll. And taking into account that the majority of its staff are working parents, the company offers emergency child care and state-of-the-art lactation rooms and equipment. Best of all, the warm fuzzies naturally come with the territory. Says one employee, "It's just great being a part of bringing life to over 100,000 people every day."

Other top finalists*

• City of Puyallup
• City of Tacoma
• Columbia Bank
• Graybar
• Kompan
• MultiCare
• Parsons
• Tacoma Goodwill
• United States Army

*Listed in alphabetical order