How the 2025 PEOPLE? Companies that Care Build Stronger Communities

Ted Kitterman
2025-08-20T08:00:47-04:00
How the 2025 PEOPLE? Companies that Care Build Stronger Communities
Great Place To Work

Caring for your people means investing in the communities where they live.

A thriving community relies on the support of businesses. In return, a healthy community can spur companies to new heights, helping to attract top talent and fuel growth.

“Businesses are vital pillars in the communities where they operate,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work?. “Caring for your people and your community isn’t something you do after you build a successful business; it’s how to make your business successful.”

Companies make the PEOPLE? Companies that Care List by going to extraordinary lengths to respond to the specific needs of their people, often investing heavily in the communities where they live.

No. 1 on this year’s list is The Wonderful Company, an agricultural producer in the Central Valley in California, which meets with local families in one of the poorest regions in the U.S.

In the Lost Hills community, where half of the households have one or more Wonderful employees, company leaders went door-to-door, conducting 40-minute interviews to learn about community issues and where they could help. The company invested nearly $100 million to build a new community center with soccer fields and sports facilities, a full-service community kitchen, and a mile-long walkway for residents to ride bikes, push strollers, or take a lap.

The Wonderful Company also partnered with a nonprofit and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build affordable housing, including 60 multifamily homes and 21 single-family homes, with rents set at affordable rates for agriculture workers.

Advocating for Colleagues

Companies also made this year’s list by helping to unlock the passion and spirit of their workforce, elevating causes that directly affect the lives of employees.

One example: Salesforce, No. 11 on the 2025 list, launched a new “Employee Impact Hub” to empower employees and help scale their volunteering efforts. The hub has opened opportunities for employees like Brooke Eby, a business development manager at Salesforce living with ALS.

Eby and her colleagues created an internal group called ALSforce to help drive awareness and raise funds for ALS-related causes. The group has over 700 members and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The support from her colleagues has been deeply meaningful to Eby. “Work for me has been such an additive part of my life,” she shared in an interview. “The immediate support from everyone in my network and in the Salesforce ecosystem was overwhelming.”

At Power Home Remodeling, No. 43 on the 2025 list, employees have rallied together to raise funds for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to finding cures for childhood cancer. Through payroll contributions and self-driven fundraising efforts, including kickball tournaments, auctions and more, Power employees raised $2.26 million.

In each of the company’s 21 territories, teams partnered with a local Alex’s Hero family, supporting them all year.

“The donations we’ve made to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation have changed the lives of so many, but this organization has also made a huge impact on us. So much so, that ALSF’s mission has become intertwined with our POWER identity,” says Power Home Remodeling co-founder Adam Kaliner.

Investing in development

The most caring companies also invest in services that people need, like education.

At Wegmans Food Markets, No. 4 on the list, education has been a storied priority. The company has awarded $145 million in scholarships to nearly 47,000 employees since 1984. One of the first employees to receive a scholarship in 1984, Mary Beth Stalter, used her education to advance from a job as a cashier to become director of payroll, benefits, and retirement at Wegmans.

“Wegmans was as invested in our success as we were,” Stalter says. “And then when we graduated and had to make those decisions (about our future), winning the scholarship opened my eyes to what Wegmans had to offer, whether in the store or in the office.”

Protecting the environment

Another way companies show care is in protecting the environment where employees and customers live, work and play.

At Dow, No. 33 on this year’s list, its “Business Impact Fund” allows employees to pursue projects focused on water, reducing plastic waste, and fostering economic development. Employees submit proposals, which can also earn funding from external partner organizations. Since 2016, the program has supported 58 projects in 22 countries.

Dow has also set ambitious targets to keep plastic waste out of the environment. By 2030, Dow will transform plastic waste to commercialize 3 million metric tons of circular and renewable solutions annually. It also plans to make 100% of Dow products sold in packaging applications designed for reusability by 2035.

Does your company belong on this list? Start your application here.