The Dallas Business Journal announced their annual “Best Places To Work” and we are excited to announce we are number 61 in the small business category!

SCORE: 92.52

TYPE OF BUSINESS: Manufacturer and distributor of computer storage products

YEAR FOUNDED: 1986

OWNERSHIP: Private

EMPLOYEES: 90

2008 REVENUE: Not disclosed

HR DIRECTOR: William E. Thompson, VP, People and Leadership Development

HEADQUARTERS: 14901 Quorum, Ste. 125, Dallas 75254

PHONE: 972-239-3410

WEB: www.edgetechcorp.com

EXECUTIVE Q&A

Jeff Thompson, President and CEO

POPULAR PERKS: EDGE Cares (a 501c3 trust set up by the company) helps EDGE Team Members in need and supports community efforts, such as The American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, assisting families at Christmas, helping children in the custody of Child Protective Services, etc. EDGE Cares is funded by the voluntary contributions of our Team Members.

EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION: Team Member of the Month and Year, nominated by their peers. We also recently completed a program called Milestone Mania, where Team Members were awarded “Maniac” stickers by their peers for going “above and beyond” in their daily work. For a certain numbers of stickers, Team Members won money or days off with pay.

EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK: Our internal company Web site contains Idea Exchange, a page on which Team Members can anonymously leave comments, thoughts, or better practice suggestions. Team Members can also post business articles on our Industry Readings page. We have a full staff meeting every month where Team Members can voice personal comments, concerns or questions, which are encouraged and addressed.

COMPANY CULTURE: Open, entrepreneurial, innovative, willing to color outside the lines, team oriented.

BOOSTING MORALE: We are a team-based environment, but it goes much further than that—we are a culture of Team Members that care about one another. Our environment is somewhat fraternal in that we work very diligently, we are bonded, and when it’s appropriate, we play.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES: Open forums regardless of the medium. Our monthly all staff meeting has an open Q&A portion that allows any employee to ask any question. Most importantly, our Team Members are well engaged in their annual review process, performing self-assessments and discussing at length their performance with their direct manager, regularly throughout the year.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: EDGE Cares also participates in the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure and The Relay for Life raising funds for Cancer Research. Team Members may request company fundraising support for additional projects as well. These fundraisers frequently involve a company contribution as well. We also have good, competitive fun with holiday dinners, Jeopardy game matches, ping pong championships, Pie-In-The-Face Fundraiser, planned group lunches, and the impromptu pot luck. We have a company picnic or other outing for families, at least biannually.

HIRING AND RETAINING EMPLOYEES: We strive to hire individuals who are accomplished in their chosen professions, and have the desire to grow, contribute, and work well in a team environment. EDGE is a company of innovation and we look to our Team Members to be an integral part of that dynamic process.

RECRUITING STRATEGIES: Word of mouth is a significant means of attracting quality Team Members. We also pay our people to recommend EDGE as a workplace; if their friends come on board, they can make money and we hire quality people. We also use job fairs at local universities and high schools.

WHY YOUR COMPANY RANKS: EDGE provides a comfortable workplace, managers and supervisors who listen, a formal training program called EDGE-U which offers classes both for professional advancement, and knowledge for personal use. We practice Open Book Management. After 120 days, every permanent Team Member is given three hours of financial training and thereafter attends monthly updates on how we’re doing, where financials are shared in detail and questions are answered about the company’s performance and prospects.