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A large employer in Tyler received accolades for being one of the top companies for a person to work for in Texas.

Gov. Rick Perry honored the winners of the 2008 Best Companies to Work for in Texas competition on Jan. 25. The program, in its third year, recognizes companies rated by their employees as the best companies to work for in the state.

Brookshire Grocery Co. placed No. 23 of the 30 companies on the Best Large Companies to Work For in Texas list. The list categories covered small, medium and large companies, and BGC was the only East Texas company to place on any of the lists.

The awards were announced at an Austin luncheon hosted by the Texas Association of Business, publishers of Texas Monthly magazine and the Society for Human Resource Management - Texas State Council. More than 600 members of the business community attended the event to honor competition winners.

"The feedback for this program from businesses of all sizes across the state gets stronger each year, because companies are becoming more motivated to be recognized as one of the best," TAB President Bill Hammond said. "In the years ahead, this program will be a tool for employers to pinpoint the ways they can improve every aspect of their business, from employee relations to customer service."

Managed by Best Companies Group, the program is a multi-year initiative to motivate companies in the state to focus, measure, and move their workplace environments toward excellence.

Selection was based on an assessment of the company's employee policies and procedures and the results of an internal employee survey. The assessment findings report that all participating companies receive enables them to develop plans and implement steps necessary to create a great workplace and continue to improve the performance of their business.

Winners are featured in the February edition of Texas Monthly and can also be viewed on the magazine's Web site, http://www.texasmonthly.com/promotions/bestcompanies/.

Texas placed first in an annual polling by Chief Executive magazine on the best and worst states in which to do business.

Nevada placed second. It was the second consecutive year these two states placed in that order. The bottom-ranking states were California and New York.

A Tyler executive, Charles Hannabarger, president and CEO of PSI Associates, was quoted in the article on his thoughts of the Texas business climate.

"Texas has a strong economy with a diversified economic base," Hannabarger said. "The cost of living is low and the quality of life is very good. The attitude and capabilities of the workforce are outstanding!"

Texas scored strong in each of the three categories, receiving an "A-minus" in the Taxation & Regulation category and a "B-plus" in two other categories.

Neither Texas nor Nevada has a state income tax.

Chief Executive's fourth annual "Best & Worst States" survey was conducted just after the new year began, and it asked 605 top executives to evaluate their states on issues including proximity to resources, regulation, tax policies, education, quality of living and infrastructure.

"Overall, the message CEOs are sending is that over-taxed and over-regulated states are not conducive to the health of their businesses," said Ed Kopko, CEO and publisher, Chief Executive Group. "This is the message they've been communicating since our poll started in 2005. However, in states like California and New York, where we are increasingly facing a shrinking population, the message seems to have fallen on deaf ears, as CEOs continue to be extremely frustrated with the business-unfriendly practices in these states."

The Better Business Bureau of Central East Texas welcomed its 2008 executive committee and board of directors at its annual meeting Jan. 24.

BBB members vote on executive committee members and directors prior to the annual directors meeting, and the board votes on the results. Officers ascend positions each year to chairmanship.

Board members serve a three-year term, and each year voter members choose new board members for approximately one-third of the seats.

The 2008 Executive Committee consists of: Randy Childress, chairman; Jim Lozier, vice chairman; Dean Cagle, vice chairman; Kay Robinson, president; Felicity Reedy, treasurer; Wade Emerson, secretary; Jon K. Alexander, legal counsel; and Mike Northcut, past chairman.