VML Wins National Honors as a Top 25 Best Company to Work for in America; SHRM and GPTW Name Top...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- VML, a marketing technology company based in Kansas City, Missouri, announced today that it has been named among the top 25 Best Medium Companies to Work for in America. The list was announced on June 20 before an audience of 12,000 at the Society for Human Resource Management's

Last year, VML made the list of best small companies to work for in America; this year it moved to the medium-sized company list with the addition of more than 100 employees in the past year.

This is the second year of the program, which ranks the top 25 small (between 50 and 250 employees) and top 25 medium (between 250 and 999 employees) companies in America that have used smart people management strategies to develop strong trust between employees and management. The organizations were announced by SHRM and selected and ranked by the Great Place to Work(R) Institute (GPTWI), the same organization that selects the Fortune 100 list. The list is based on the results of a randomly distributed employee opinion survey. Each evaluated company was given a score based on employees' responses to a detailed questionnaire about the organizations' workplace cultures.

"This award goes way beyond employee benefits to recognize the people who have made this place so special," said Matt Anthony, VML CEO. "It speaks directly to the environment of credibility and respect that's been created by hiring only the very best candidates and providing them with a challenging and rewarding work environment. Because our industry is demanding we try to give our employees virtually every perk we can to make coming to work a great experience. That philosophy has not only been good for our employees, it's been great for business, too."

Great Places to Work(R) Institute cofounder, Robert Levering, said: "These companies stand out because their employees find them to be places where they can trust the management, have pride in their work and have fun at work. Other companies have much to learn about how to both be productive and do right by their people."

The winning organizations will appear in the July issue of HR Magazine, the Society's flagship publication, available at www.shrm.org/hrmagazine and also listed on the GPTWI Web site at www.greatplacetowork.com.

About GPTWI

The Great Place to Work(R) Institute is a research and management consultancy headquartered in San Francisco with affiliate offices in 25 other countries throughout the world. The organization produces other "Best Companies to Work for" lists, including Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work for"(C), which recognizes employers with 1,000 or more employees.

About SHRM

SHRM is the world's largest association devoted to human resource management. Representing more than 200,000 individual members, the Society's mission is both to serve human resource management professionals and to advance the profession. Founded in 1948, SHRM currently has more than 500 affiliated chapters and members in more than 100 countries. For more information contact SHRM Media Affairs at 703-535-6012.

About VML

VML, a WPP company based in Kansas City, Missouri, is one of the world's leading marketing technology companies. More than 300 employees work in VML's offices in Kansas City, New York, Jacksonville, Seattle and London. VML has grown steadily since it was founded in 1992, enjoying its most dramatic growth during the past three years when revenues and employee headcount more than doubled.

VML is a problem-solving organization that specializes in digital marketing: the point where marketing and technology intersect. VML's unique credentials include everything from brand development, offline advertising and direct marketing to the most complex web enablement and digital marketing solutions.

VML's client list includes some of the world's most recognizable and powerful brands like AMC Theatres, AC Nielsen, Accenture, Bayer, Bluetooth, Burger King, BP/Castrol, Colgate-Palmolive, Hill's Pet Nutrition, Microsoft, Simon Malls, Sprint, Weight Watchers and Yellow/Roadway Transportation. VML can be found online at www.vml.com.