By Jack KatzanekCorrespondent

When seen from the outside, the Inland Regional Center, based on its accomplishments over al-most a half-century, deserves a special place in Inland Empire residents’ hearts.

But the internal workings of the San Bernardino-based non-profit, which assists families with members struggling with devel-opmental disabilities, is also strong on the inside as well. The IRC has been named the Inland News Group’s Top Workplace for 2018 among the largest employ-ers in the Inland Empire.

Inland Regional Center pro-vides case management and service coordination and sup-port to 37,000 people across all of San Bernardino and Riverside counties who suffer from intellec-tual difficulties, autism, cerebral palsy and epilepsy, setting them up with services at various agen-cies. It employs 760 people, with 100 of them in a satellite office in Riverside.

The center, which drew head-lines after a mass shooting at the facility in late 2015, has taken the top honor for two years in a row, a testament to its employees’ re-silience. The Top Workplace pro-gram recognizes employers who set an example by treating em-ployees with great respect and empowering workers to reach high levels of achievement.

Lavinia Johnson is the execu-tive director of IRC, and Kevin Urtz is the associate execu-tive director. Johnson has been there for 30 years, and Urtz for 28 years, both starting as case managers. They spoke with us about their work and that of their colleagues.

Q What makes this organiza-tion something people stay

at for a long time?

A Johnson: I just like work-ing with people with de-

velopmental disabilities. I love what I do, and people have so many needs. It’s just great to be able to help them. It’s just a great place to work. Basically, they’re social workers, and so-cial workers tend to be very so-ciable people. And they net-work internally. That’s how they figure out ways to do things. There’s a great camaraderie.

Urtz: We give people an opportu-nity to be challenged, and it makes people enjoy working here. We don’t want to micromanage people. We want them to be creative and innovative. We want to help them do things, not do things for them.

Q What are the rewards for working at your organiza-

tion? Are the levels of compensa-tion considered competitive?

AJohnson: It is competitive, es-pecially for the Inland Em-

pire. But there is an intrinsic re-ward for helping people in the

area. We hire a lot of college stu-dents who graduate from area schools. There’s no shortage of people to hire. There may be a shortage of money, but there’s a lot of people who want to do this sort of work.

Urtz: Because there are so many services, it can be diffi-cult for a family member to find what’s out there. And, in our building, we all care that we can find those services. If they exist we try to find it, and our staff is all in this together. Everyone has a piece; it’s not an either-or thing.

Great camaraderie fuels the ‘social’ workers of Inland Regional Center

By Jack KatzanekCorrespondent

When Pardee Homes first began turn-ing dirt to build homes as a family-owned company in 1921, most of what is now Southern California’s urban sprawl was just that — dirt.

But almost a century later, Pardee Homes not only builds homes but fi-nances, designs and develops full-on communities, including houses, parks, shopping centers and schools. It oper-ates across Southern California and in Las Vegas and now is part of a TRI Pointe Group, a publicly-traded company. But for their workers, Pardee still maintains its original, family-type atmosphere.

Pardee expanded to the Inland Empire about 20 years ago and has its regional headquarters in Corona. They have been chosen as the winner among mid-sized employers in the Inland News Group’s an-nual Top Workplace competition.

The company has designed and built communities in Lake Elsinore, Murrieta, Menifee, Winchester and Beaumont. Recently it premiered a new 55-and-over housing complex in Beaumont.

Pardee Homes builds communities, relationships within the workplace

By Jack KatzanekCorrespondent

The 150 workers at Brookside Health-care Center labor to provide comprehen-sive yet compassionate therapy and other recuperative services for its patients. One of the rehabilitation center’s strategies is to provide the same kind of empathy to-ward its employees.

Located on a tree-shaded street on Redlands’ Terracina Boulevard, Brook-side Healthcare is a rehabilitation facil-ity providing services that include phys-ical, occupational and speech therapy, in an atmosphere that radiates comfort, teamwork and trust.

That kind of staff commitment has earned the facility the Inland News Group’s Top Workplace Award for smaller companies and organizations.

The Top Workplace award recognizes employers whose personnel policies and practices set them apart among the nu-

merous workplaces in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. This is the first time Brookside Healthcare has been rec-ognized.

Employees in the annual survey com-mended the company for lifting their

Brookside Healthcare Center: Where ‘Us’ is the keyword at work

LARGE EMPLOYERS1: Inland Regional Center2: Panda Restaurant Group3: Chaffey Joint Union High School District4: Springs Charter School5: City of Fontana6: Loma Linda University7: Loma Linda University Health — Medical Center8: Loma Linda University Health —

Children’s Hospital9: Loma Linda University Health — University Health Care10: Corona-Norco Unified School District11: Loma Linda University Shared Services12: Temecula Valley Hospital

MIDSIZE EMPLOYERS

1: Pardee Homes

2: Rancho Pacific Electric3: Sandals Church4: Boudreau Pipeline Corp.5: Paramount Residential Mort-gage Group6: Albert A. Webb Associates7: Stronghold Engineering8: City of Yucaipa9: Aldi10: Loma Linda University Health — Behavioral Medicine Center

11: Mountain West Financial, Inc.

SMALL EMPLOYERS1: Brookside Healthcare Center2: Hospice Of The Valleys3: Peabody Engineering4: La Rocque Better Roofs Inc.5: East Valley Water District6: Western Water Works7: Perera Construction8: Hamel Contracting Inc.

9: Babcock Laboratories Inc10: Partners In Leadership LLC11: Inland Empire United Way12: Accent Computer Solutions Inc.13: Raincross Hospitality Corp.14: Brenner-Fiedler15: City of Menifee16: Soren McAdam LLP17: Sunrise Recovery Ranch

INLAND NEWS GROUP’S SURVEY WINNERS

INLAND REGIONAL CENTERFounded 1972Industry: Healthcare nonprofitLocal employees: 767Website: inlandrc.orgQuote: “There is an intrinsic reward for helping people in the area. There’s no shortage of people to hire. There may be a shortage of money, but there’s a lot of people who want to do this sort of work.”— Lavinia Johnson, executive director of IRC

RANK: 1 LARGE

Associate Executive Director Kevin Urtz, left, and Executive Director Lavinia Johnson visit the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on Nov. 20.

JENNIFER CAPPUCCIO MAHER STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Mike Taylor, president of

the Pardee Homes Inland

Division, is shown at the design center

located in its Corona

headquarters on Tuesday.

CINDY YAMANAKA STAFF

PHOTOGRAPHER

PARDEE HOMESFounded: 1921Industry: new home constructionU.S. base: CoronaLocal employees: 134Website: pardeehomes.comQuote: “Over the years, we’ve had 20 or 25 people who’ve left, then come back and been rehired. They say, ‘Man, you can’t believe how much I’ve missed this place.’ Sometimes, you just don’t know what you’ve missed.”— Mike Taylor, president of Pardee Home’s Inland Division

RANK: 1 MIDSIZEBROOKSIDE HEALTHCARE CENTERFounded: 2003Industry: Skilled nursingHeadquarters: RedlandsLocal employees: 73Quote: “If we can provide an environment where employees can move forward, and where employees want to come to work, and if we can be like a family that helps each other succeed, then we can do our jobs.”— Tim Mason, Brookside Healthcare’s interim director

RANK: 1 SMALL

Andrea Gonzalez, a physical therapist assistant, works with a resident at Brookside Healthcare in Redlands on Monday.

STAN LIM STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

INLAND » PAGE 2

PARDEE » PAGE 2 BROOKSIDE » PAGE 3

2018

Presenting Sponsor Gold Sponsors

NameBadge Sponsor Print Sponsor

Silver Sponsors

Community Partners

Thank You to our 2018 Top Workplaces Sponsors

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018 | TOP WORKPLACES | 1 P

Mike Taylor, president of the Inland Division, has run that office since it was established about 20 years ago.

The Corona office has about 150 employees, with numerous contractors added when construction happens. Taylor said he looks around the office and sees many peo-ple who have worked there more than 10 years.

Q What is the compa-ny’s internal culture

like?

A TRI Pointe’s and Pardee’s culture is

complimentary. I like to say this is the best of big and small. Homebuild-ing is a local business, and consumers buy into their local communities. so we try to make this a good place to work. Peo-ple spend more time here

than at home, so we try to make this place be like an extended family.

Q Are there good op-portunities for ad-

vancement?

A One of my biggest mantras is to have peo-

ple cross-trained well in dif-ferent disciplines. You have a lot more value if we ex-pose you to all sides of the business. And when you do that, you add bench strength to the opera-tion. So, we ask our people, “What do you want to do?”

Q How do you navigate California’s compli-

cated system of employ-ment compliance?

A Certainly, we treat all of our employees with

respect. We want everyone to be 100 percent respect-ful. We treat everyone with kindness and empathy. And if someone has a complaint, we want to hear it.

And, we focus on peo-

ple. We want to make sure our employees have the best tools, resources and training.

Q What do you look for when interviewing a

potential new hire?

A We look for culture contributors. We re-

ally want people who fit our culture. We hire spe-cifically for attitude and work ethic. Specific skills can be learned as you go. We want people who want to come here and be part of a team. We’re not a bunch of individuals.

Q What do you do to re-tain your workers?

A We try to bring them into the culture, and

we make onboarding a really big deal. We give away a lot of what we call P-Swag, and we try to in-tegrate, to spend time with senior people. We feel it’s not all about the work. And, over the years we’ve gotten a lot of new

employees based on refer-rals from old ones.

Q How do you keep mo-rale high?

A We definitely try to have fun here. In fact,

we have a fun and well-ness committee that han-dles that. We like to throw parties. Sometimes we shut the office down and we all go bowling, or to an An-gels game, or to Knott’s Berry Farm. And we cele-brate work anniversaries. We just had an employee who marked 30 years here, and we celebrate individ-uals who have gone above and beyond the norm. I feel that’s important.

It’s amazing when you’re in a competitive industry like this. Over the years, we’ve had 20 or 25 peo-ple who’ve left, then come back and been rehired. They say, “Man, you can’t believe how much I’ve missed this place.” Some-times, you just don’t know what you’ve missed.

PardeeFROM PAGE 1

Q Do you offer what is considered good ben-

efits?

A Johnson: We try to make sure the ben-

efits package is a de-cent one. We have what is called the “980 work week,” which means a 7:30-5:30 schedule that gives workers every other Friday off. It’s good for people who have families.

Q How do you navigate California’s network

of laws that regulate em-ployment?

A Johnson: We have a good human re-

sources department, and the director is also an at-torney. So we manage to stay on top of things.

Urtz: These days, in an agency this large, you need informed advice.

Q Your employee turn-over rate is very low.

Does empowering the staff to come up with ideas play a part in that?

A Urtz: We try to walk around and talk to our

people — and listen. I think people like to talk. We also have what we call joint in-put meetings, where peo-ple put their thoughts into writing. I think it helps them to be heard.

Johnson: We’ve been here so long, and I think we know what we need. And, we bond like family.

Few people will think of the Inland Regional Center and not remember the horrific events of three years ago when a mass shooting left 14 people dead. But it did toughen the workforce bonds.

“As bad as it was, it did help pull us together as an agency,” Urtz said. He and Johnson assumed their cur-rent positions about six months before the tragedy. “A lot of trivial issues fell by the wayside after that happened.”

InlandFROM PAGE 1

THANK YOUTO ALL OUR EMPLOYEES

FOR MAKINGLAND REGIONAL CENTERA TOP WORKPLACE

THANK YT

N

THANKTHANK Y

IN

1365 S. Waterman Ave. San Bernardino, CA 92408

(909) 890-3000 | www.inlandrc.org

Inland Regional Center (IRC) is one of 21Regional Centers in California and is mandatedthrough the Lanterman Act to coordinate theservices for individuals with intellectual and

developmental disabilities. This private,non-profit corporation contracts with the

Department of Developmental Services to serveboth San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.

Independence Inclusion Empowerment

Sunrise Recovery Ranch would like to thankour employees for making us one of the

TopWorkplaces in the Inland Empire!

Your hard work, passion, and dedicationcreates an unparalleled place of healing forour patients, as well as a supportive and

family atmosphere to work in. Yourcommitment and integrity are what allows

us to rise above the rest as an ethicalprovider in the addiction profession

Thank you, Sunrise!Sunrise Recovery Ranch has been providingresidential treatment for those sufferingfrom substance abuse and co-occurringdisorders for almost 20 years. Utilizingevidence-based treatment modalities,

operating with ethical business practices,honoring our payer contracts, developinggood neighbor policies, and promotingleadership from within the company arewhat makes Sunrise Recovery Ranch a

premier treatment provider and employer.

| TOP WORKPLACES | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 20182 P

www.SpringsCharterSchools.org

Parent Support: (951) 252-8888Servingstudents in Imperial,Orange, LosAngeles, Riverside, SanBernardino, andSanDiegocounties.

Homeschool:TK-12, with classes availableat regional learning centers

Venture Online:K-12, fully online programwith credentialed teachersupport

Keys College Career Prep:9-12, Independent study withon-site support

Classroom Settings:Chula Vista, Corona, Hemet,Indio, Menifee, Murrieta,Rancho Cucamonga,Riverside, Santa Ana,Temecula, and Vista

CheckoutourTemeculaLocation

| TOP WORKPLACES | PE.COM SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 20186 P

Top WorkplaceTemecula Valley Hospital ishonored to be a Top Workplace!

Physicians are independent practitioners who are not employees or agents of Temecula Valley Hospital. The hospital shall not be liable for actions or treatments provided by physicians.For language assistance, disability accommodations and the non-discrimination notice, visit our website. 184474-6804 11/18

Learn more attemeculavalleyhospital.com31700 Temecula Parkway | Temecula, CA 92592

2018

“A Commitment to Excellenceand Quality Care.”

105 Terracina Blvd Redlands Ca 92373.(909)793-2271

You will feel welcome from the moment you pass through our doors!• Light-filled Dining Room. • Semi Private rooms.• State-of-the-Art Therapy Rooms. • Newly Remodeled.• Lovely Outdoor Spaces.

We take pride in keeping Brookside Healthcare Center sparkling clean and makingsure our guests feel comfortable each and every day.

Welcome to Brookside

It’s time for you to get the care you need, and when you’re in our hands, you can restassured that you’re getting the best there is. We strive every day to be the skilled nursingfacility of choice in our community, so we make sure that each day you spend with us isfilled with the caliber of service that will make your stay comfortable, safe and therapeutic.

You will feel welcome from the moment you pass throm the moment you pass through our doors!om the moment you pass through our doors!ough our doors!

s time for you to get the care you need, and when you’re in our hands, you can rest

MANY STRENGTHS. ONE MISSION.A Seventh-day Adventist Organization

At Loma Linda University Health weare committed to providing innovativehealthcare, excellence in teaching and agreat work environment.

Thank you employees for yourdedication in fulfilling the mission ofour organization.

Our top workplace winners are:

» Loma Linda University» Loma Linda University BehavioralMedicine Center

» Loma Linda UniversityChildren’s Hospital

» Loma Linda University Health Care

» Loma Linda University Medical Center» Loma Linda UniversityShared Services

Congratulations Loma Linda University Healthon Achieving the Top Workplace Award

2012 and 2013 Finalist

Corona-Norco Unified SchoolDistrict thanks our employees fortheir hard work and dedication

AWARD WINNING DISTRICTS ARE CREATED BYAWARD WINNING EMPLOYEES

#CNUSDFutureReady

Corona-Norco Unified School DistrictSUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2018 PE.COM | TOP WORKPLACES | 5 P

For the fifth year, the Inland News Group of ne w spap er s h a s pa r t -nered with Philadelphia-based Energage, an em-ployee research and tech-nology firm, to determine the area’s Top Workplaces based solely on employee survey feedback.

Starting in June, the In-land News Group newspa-pers welcomed anyone to nominate companies as Top Workplaces. In all, 807 employers in the re-gion were invited to take the employee survey. Any employer wa s elig ible, as long as it had at least 35 employees in Riverside and San Bernardino coun-ties. Employers could be public, private, nonprofit, or governmental. There is no cost to enter the Top Workplaces program.

In all, 63 organizations agreed to take the survey. Combined, they employ 30,247 people in the In-land Empire area. Of those

employees who received questionnaires, 18,000 re-sponded, either on paper or online. For 2018, 40 In la nd Empire employ-ers scored well enough to earn recognition on the

Top Workplaces list.To ensure orga ni za-

tions a re play ing fair, Energage r uns statisti-cal tests to look for ques-tionable results. It some-times disqualifies employ-ers based on those tests. W hy aren’t some compa-nies on the list? Perhaps they chose not to partici-pate or did not score high enough based on the sur-vey results.

For the rankings, em-ployers are placed into groups of similar size, be-cause smaller employers tend to score higher than midsize employers, and midsize employers tend to score higher than large employers.

T he Top Workpla ces 2018 list of winners in-cludes 12 large companies, 11 medium-sized compa-nies or organizations and 17 small businesses.

To par ticipate in the 2 01 9 p r o g r a m , g o t o pe.com/nominate.

How the Inland survey was conducted

LEADERSHIP PARTNERSHIP STEWARDSHIP

The District strives to enhance and preserve thequality of life for our community through innovative

leadership and world class public service. Thiscommitment is made possible by the extraordinary

effort of the people within the organization.

Thank you, East Valley Water District employees.

CongratulationsEAST VALLEY WATER DISTRICT

preserve the

DISTRICT

enhance and

YWATER DIS

preserve

DISTRIC

The District strives to enhance

ALLE

to enhance

YWA

The

EAST VALLE

The District

EAST VALLE

2018

It is our dedicated and committed publicservants who have made the City of Fontana

a top workplace for 2 years in a row.

THANK YOUEMPLOYEES!

Join our team at www.fontana.org/jobs

Competitive Salaries

Stable Organization

Full Benefits

Real Responsibility

Want to find out what it’s like to workin a Top Workplace for yourself?

Visit careers.aldi.us and search foryour opportunity!

Being named a Top Workplace is a huge honor, but we didn’t do it alone. Every employee in the MorenoValley Division deserves a round of applause, from our stores to our warehouse, from our district

managers to our divisional office. We’re all working hard to make ALDI a leading retailer and employer!

ALDI is an equal opportunity employer.

y oppor y!

We’re stocking our shelves with awards!ALDI named to the Top Workplaces by The Press-Enterprise.

| TOP WORKPLACES | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, 20184 P

spirits on a bad day and caring about the wellbeing of each as-sociate.

Making a difference in a pa-tient’s life also was a gamechanger.

“I truly feel that I am able to change peoples outlook on their situation or how their day is go-ing,” wrote one survey respon-dent. “I leave each night feeling like I was able to make a differ-ence.”

Beyond calling Brookside a home away from home, employ-ees also enjoyed taking charge.

“I have the freedom and re-sponsibility to make a difference in the lives of people who are sick, frail and frightened,” wrote an-other employee.

The facility, an autonomous lo-cal operation, does partner with a similar rehab home in Upland for special needs and projects, and it shares some resources, said Tim Mason, who is serving as Brook-side Healthcare’s interim direc-tor and administrator. Mason has been affiliated with the operation

for almost 10 years.We sat down with Mason to

find out what makes the rehab center such a good place to work.

Q How does Brookside keep its employees top of mind?

A One of our core values is “customer second.” We’re

here to help each other out. We believe that if you have a stron-ger employee culture, it will translate into great patient care.

Q What is behind that em-ployee culture?

A I think it’s creating a loving environment that people

want to be a part of. Once that happens, everyone can celebrate our successes.

Q What makes that environ-ment so good?

A Sometimes it’s hard to de-scribe. But it comes to-

gether when you have a team that is not individually driven, but rather part of a larger ef-fort. “Us” is the key word around here, trying to succeed together.

Q Working with people trying to overcome disabilities can

be daunting. How do you keep your staff from not becoming burned out by these tasks?

A We always provide edu-cation to help our staff

move forward. If we can pro-vide an environment where em-ployees can move forward, and where employees want to come to work, and if we can be like a family that helps each other suc-ceed, then we can do our jobs.

Q What do you look for in a would-be employee?

A Experience is always a good thing. But if you’re looking

for great people to work here, then chances are the great peo-ple are going to find us. You do that, and usually, they turn out to be successful at whatever you hire them for.

Q Do you listen to their ideas?

A That’s part of the cul-ture. We provide re-

sources and tools, and we don’t hinder what they need to do a job.

Q And do they enjoy it?

A For the most part, yes. Obviously some days

are tougher than others, but generally, we have a great team. Many of them have been here a long time, and they want to be a part of Brookside’s success.

Q What is the strategy for em-ployee retention?

A Generally, we don’t have a strategy. We look for good

people to hire, but we don’t stand in their way if they want to look for new opportunities. But mostly, we recognize great employees, and we realize that should be part of any employee evaluation and part of any mea-sure. Employee retention is not a matter of numbers or figures. It’s much more of a people as-sessment.

BrooksideFROM PAGE 1

STAN LIM — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Tina Kilgore, a restorative nurse aid, talks with a resident in the halls of Brookside Healthcare in Redlands on Monday.

To learn more about how to be part of

the Panda family, visit us at www.pandacareers.com

Panda Express is honored tobe recognized as one of the

Top Workplacesin Inland Empire

For Making a DifferenceThank You

www.HospiceoftheValleys.org • 951-200-7800

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