Four Northwest Arkansas Firms win Family Friendly Employer Awards

DaySpring Cards of Siloam Springs, a manufacturer of inspirational greeting cards, took the gold for medium employers at the first Arkansas Governor’s Family Friendly Employer Awards in Little Rock.

The event, which honored employers for establishing and providing resources that support employees in balancing the needs of both work and family, were handed out at a breakfast ceremony March 19 at The Peabody Little Rock.

“When [our employees] come to work at DaySpring, they bring their finances with them, their health, their family relationships, their communication skills, their ability to manage things outside of work as well as all of the issues that relate to work,” said Bill Couey, the firm’s vice president of human resources. “Instead of shying away from that, we embrace the whole person. We try to create family-friendly programs that really meet the needs of people on a number of fronts.”

Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Springdale, the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and Tripp’s Total Travel Management in Fort Smith also placed for their work environments.

Baptist Health, the state’s largest not-for-profit health care organization, was the overall winner.

Speakers at the event included Gov. Mike Huckabee, who handed out the awards; Entergy Arkansas CEO Hugh McDonald, who spoke on early childhood education; and Earl Maxwell, a partner at Maxwell Locke & Ritter of Austin, Texas, who talked about how he implemented family-friendly policies in his small accounting firm.