Louisiana Office Ranks as #1 "Best Place to Work"
It’s the fourth time Booz Allen’s Metairie location has made the prestigious CityBusiness list.
The New Orleans CityBusiness newspaper has ranked Booz Allen Hamilton’s Metairie office first in the large company category on its list of 50 Best Places in Work in 2009.
The event, now in its seventh year, honors the city’s top employers, including 35 large and 15 small companies; this is the fourth time that the firm has been recognized. A special publication profiling all honorees appeared in the newspaper’s December 14 issue.
The honorees were recognized at a luncheon on December 11 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel. Senior associate Ed Ferrell, associates Leslie Doody, Bruce France, Adrian Thibodeaux, and Kimberly Pritchard, and senior consultant Herbert Brychta attended, and France, Doody, Ferrell, and Thibodeaux accepted the award on behalf of the firm.
The recognition is also an acknowledgement of the resilience of the Metairie team, says senior vice president Lee Falkenstrom. “Four years ago, Katrina made landfall in New Orleans and devastated the city,” he says. “The days following the levee breaks were focused on locating each member of our Metairie team; luckily, all were safe. But six months later, the city still lay in ruins. The staff persevered through the worst of times by working together to rebuild the business and give back to the community. I have profound respect for the New Orleans team and remain committed to their success. Their spirit of service and commitment to the firm’s values are demonstrated through their actions each and every day.”
“Our office continues to be a best place to work because of our people,” Ferrell says. “Each person brings something special to the table—education, experience, lifestyle, and more—while we share the same goal of excellent client service. The firm’s educational benefits, professional growth opportunities, and collaborative culture enable our staff to achieve that goal. I have been with the firm almost nine years and can’t imagine working anywhere else.”
Approximately 40 individuals in Metairie support Booz Allen teams in Louisiana and Mississippi, whose projects include supply chain and logistics, defense, core services, global security, and IT services for clients in the military and government. The Metairie office also recently won a key initiative to support a Marine Corps client, which will serve as a cornerstone in rebuilding Booz Allen’s New Orleans/Gulf Coast business and strengthen the firm’s presence in the regional market.
“Since Katrina, we’ve faced many challenges,” Ferrell says. “Over the past year, however, we are seeing the federal government making more of an investment in the region and Booz Allen leadership becoming more engaged in the local business. With the continued involvement of firm leadership and a strong core group of dedicated employees, the Booz Allen New Orleans office is poised for continued growth and prosperity.”
CityBusiness and the New Orleans chapter of the Human Resource Management Association selected “Best Place” honorees, based on a questionnaire of benefits offered including salary, health care, paid time off, employee programs, and an online survey of employees. CityBusiness is a leading business newspaper in metro New Orleans with a readership of about 26,000.
story posted January 14, 2010
