Kansas City area companies make Inc.’s Best Workplaces 2021 list

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Five Kansas City area companies are being recognized for creating supportive and engaging work environments during a turbulent year.

A total of 429 companies were named to Inc. magazine’s Best Workplaces list for 2021.

Here are the companies from the Kansas City metro selected:

• Crema, a software company based in Kansas City
• RiseNow, an IT services company based in Leawood
• Seismic Digital, an advertising and marketing company based in Overland Park
• Summit Homes, a construction company based in Lee’s Summit
• Text in Church, a software company based in Parkville

Crema, founded in 2009, focuses on designing, building and launching custom software for other companies. The company touts its professional development opportunities, work from home flexibility and generous paid time off.

According to Inc., RiseNow is a client advocacy supply chain solutions provider. The company says it’s focused on a collaborative and creative culture and hosts weekly continuous improvement sessions.

Seismic Digital is a digital-exclusive agency offering services like brand discovery, search strategy, design and more. The company boasts of its many benefits, including charity days, paternity leave and even “pawternity” leave. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve even had virtual happy hours. Seismic Digital was also recently named one of Inc.’s fastest businesses in the Midwest.

Summit Homes is the biggest homebuilder in the Kansas City area, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. The company had approximately $93.57 million in gross sales in 2019 and have recently expanded to Des Moines, Iowa, and Boise, Idaho. In its Inc. profile, the company promotes its transparent and open culture.

Text in Church is a text and email platform that lets church leaders follow up with first-time guests and engage with their members. The company said the coffee is flowing at its offices. But employees can work from home frequently, and twice a week they dine out at local restaurants. Text in Church also offers a monthly fitness stipend and a monthly home cleaning service.

To be eligible for selection, companies must apply and meet the following qualifications:

• Be an independent businesses based in the United States
• Have at least 10 employees
• Been in business at least two years
• Have a total annual revenue of less than $1 billion

Then nominated companies take part in an employee survey that touches on topics like management effectiveness, perks and employee growth. The survey responses and an audit of the company’s benefits are used to determine the company’s score.