WARWICK – When Lathrop Insurance Inc. put out a survey about what it’s like to work at the company, it wasn’t thinking beyond just gauging employee sentiment. The firm didn’t imagine being listed on Providence Business News’ 2026 Best Places to Work Award program, let alone being awarded first place in the Small Business category.
“This was the first year we were eligible,” said James Kane, Lathrop’s executive vice president, holding the award in disbelief. “We had no idea. We just wanted to see how our employees were feeling.”
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Lathrop was among 68 honorees at the annual program on Thursday, which honors companies and organizations as being among the area’s best of the best to work at in a loud and festive atmosphere at the Crowne Plaza Providence-Warwick. This year’s event was sold out with 675 attendees.
Honorees were judged based on progressive human resources policies and information on employee satisfaction from surveys compiled by Best Companies Group. Each company and organization were announced by rank in four categories based on employee count – Small, Midsize, Large and Enterprise.
The No. 1 companies in each of the four categories are:
- Enterprise Companies (500 or more employees) – Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island
- Large Companies (150-499 employees) – Beacon Mutual Insurance Co.
- Midsize Companies (50-149 employees) – New England Construction Inc.
- Small Companies (15-49 employees) – Lathrop Insurance
Beacon Mutual has won the Large category four-straight years. Edward D. Jones & Co. LP, Embrace Home Loans Inc. and Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP have been recognized in all 21 years that the Best Places to Work program has been held. New England Construction won first place in the Midsize category for the second consecutive year.
Stability and consistency were recurring themes among what made a company desirable place to work. “You work hard but feel appreciated,” Robin Giguere of Beacon Mutual said. Giguere and many of her colleagues attending the event had all worked at the company for over 30 years.
“As a family business, we embrace the idea of a family,” said Stephanie Blomberg of New England Construction. “We’re most proud of our longevity and building long lasting careers for employees so they can support their own families.” She added that the longest tenured employee at New England Construction has been there for 34 years, almost the entirety of the company’s 40-year existence.
Beacon Mutual, Coastal1 Credit Union, Embrace Home Loans, Findley Dermatology, JPS Construction and Design Inc., KLR, KPMG LLP and South County Smiles were all awarded for their spirit shown at the event and received gifts from Rhode Island FC.
Each honoree will also be featured in a special section appearing in PBN’s June 19-26 print and digital editions.
KPMG LLP is the presenting sponsor for PBN’s 2026 Best Places to Work program. AAA Northeast, The Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. and Chisholm, Chisholm & Kilpatrick LLP are the partner sponsors.
(Veer Mudambi is the special project editor of the Providence Business News. He can be reached at mudambi@pbn.com.)
