Perdue Farms has been named a 2016 Corporate Culture Award winner by Baltimore Smart CEO for fostering a “creative collaborative workplace culture that has helped enhance performance and sustain a competitive advantage.”

Perdue Farms was one of 50 companies that received the award earlier this month at the annual Corporate Culture Awards event in Baltimore. All winners are featured in the November/December issue of SmartCEO magazine.

“The 2016 Corporate Culture Award winners have realized that running a company is more than head count and the bottom line. It’s about creating a place where creativity, energy and ideas are cultivated. Through this they are able to not only enhance performance and sustain their companies’ competitive advantages but also enrich the lives of those they employ and inspire them to make a greater impact on the world,” says Jaime Nespor-Zawmon, President of SmartCEO. “We’re honored to celebrate with the leaders of Baltimore’s top company cultures and recognize them for building true performance-driven cultures.”

“As a major employer in Maryland and across the country, we take tremendous pride in our people and our culture. In fact, we have a people-first philosophy that has guided our company culture for nearly a century,” said Chairman Jim Perdue.
“We’re pleased that Smart CEO chose to recognize Perdue for a company culture that our people work so hard to uphold every day.”

A Culture Guided By Company Values
At Perdue, the culture is guided by the company’s values of quality, integrity, teamwork and stewardship, and a commitment to a people-first philosophy. These values require us to act responsibly and with integrity as we pursue our vision “to be the most-trusted name in food and agricultural products.”

Perdue is committed to treating all associates with dignity and respect, and providing a safe, productive and rewarding workplace. Perdue associates have access to all levels of management to resolve a conflict or misunderstanding through the company’s long-standing Open Door Policy.

Perdue’s safety programs create a culture of safety at its operations and position the workplace as among the safest in the manufacturing sector.

Associates have access to onsite Wellness Centers that are staffed by healthcare providers from the community, and provide associates and their dependents convenient access to affordable primary care. The company’s voluntary Health Improvement Program helps associates adopt healthy lifestyles and targets major preventable diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension.

In a survey of more than 16,000 Perdue associates conducted in November 2015, 90 percent of associates were positive about their jobs, and 88 percent were positive about safety and working conditions.

About the Corporate Culture Awards
The Corporate Culture Awards program honors companies that foster a creative, collaborative workplace culture to enhance performance and sustain a competitive advantage. Smart leaders understand that culture is a company’s greatest asset, driving performance and growth. What’s more, a successful culture is actively and intentionally cultivated and developed. Corporate Culture Awards winners have championed for a positive, productive culture in their organization, and have worked with employees to develop successful cultural practices.

About Perdue Farms
We’re a third-generation, family owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers and farmers through trusted choices in products and services.
We focus on continuously improving everything we do, constantly learning, and sharing those insights across different production methods. That innovative approach is driving change throughout the company and onto farms. This continuous advancement is leading us toward our vision of becoming the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.
The PERDUE® brand is the number-one brand of fresh chicken in the U.S., and Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company. As we approach our 100th anniversary in 2020, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey and pork, and in USDA-certified organic chicken. We’ve increased our support for the family farm by creating new markets, including specialty crops. Through agricultural services, we give farmers more options for the acre, including conversion to organic production and products and services that increase the sustainability of conventional agriculture.