This year's winners include a contractor who hired an employee a few months after the contractor took in the employee's family following a destructive flood, a contractor who began his entrepreneurial career as a 14-year-old window washer, and a contractor who sponsors a once-a-month breakfast cookout for employees. Workers at one winning company built a wall with bricks bearing the name of each employee to honor the owners.
The regional winners in the 2004 "Best Contractor To Work For" contest are: Atmostemp LLC Service Experts, East Berlin, N.J.; Calvert-Jones Co. Inc., Alexandria, Va.; Morris-Jenkins Co., Charlotte, N.C.; Pat's Heating & Air Conditioning Inc., Oconomowoc, Wis.; Comfort Tech Service Now!, Del Rio, Texas; MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions, Seattle; Gallagher's Heating & Air Conditioning Inc., Los Molinos, Calif.; and Bradley Mechanical Services, Mississauga, Ontario.