Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010

Fortune smiles: SAS is No. 1 place to work

Cary software company SAS, has been a fixture for years on Fortune magazine's annual list of the "100 Best Companies to Work for" - but never No. 1.

Until now.

Fortune's latest ranking puts SAS at the top, citing its benefits, including unlimited sick days, onsite medical care, free fitness center, library and more.

To piggyback on that news, SAS announced that it generated $2.31 billion in revenue in 2009, up 2.2 percent from the year before. That marks the 34th straight year revenue has increased, despite the recession and increasing competition.

SAS executives warned in October that the streak might not last but then saw a late-year surge in sales as banks, retailers and other customers worldwide bought more of its analytics software.

To celebrate, SAS workers and bosses, including co-founder and CEO Jim Goodnight - who is also the state's richest person - gathered Thursday afternoon in Cary for a champagne and spark ling cider toast.

Goodnight drank champagne.

The revenue increase in a down year was notable. But Fortune also noted that SAS, which employs about 11,000 people worldwide and 4,200 in Cary, kept and added benefits when many other companies are cutting jobs, pay and perks.

The private company, which Goodnight helped start while still a professor at N.C. State University, doesn't release financial information besides its annual sales.

The magazine also lauds Goodnight as "the unlikely architect of this rare corporate culture." Fortune gushes about Goodnight's leadership helping foster loyalty, and "shockingly low turnover of 2percent," by avoiding layoffs in a sluggish 2009.

SAS, which last year was No. 20 on the Fortune list, strives to add perquisites every year. Besides bragging rights, getting noticed by Fortune can help companies recruit new talent and providing rich perks can help retain existing employees.

"My chief assets drive out the gate every day," Goodnight told Fortune, using a favorite line he uses to justify the business strategy. "My job is to make sure they come back."

SAS displays past Fortune covers in frames outside one of the many break rooms at its massive Cary campus.

The No. 1 ranking and another glowing profile of the company and Goodnight in a major publication could boost business. The Fortune piece follows recent profiles in The New York Times and Business Week - all read by business bean counters who make decisions on what kind of software they should buy.

SAS sells software that helps corporations and government agencies analyze and mine vast amounts of data to predict customer preferences and other trends.

Fortune compiles its list with the Great Places to Work Institute, which conducted employee surveys of 343companies. Any company that is at least 7 years old and that has more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible. The deadline to apply for next year's list is April 2.