ALBANY, N.Y. - Eric Mower + Associates has been named among the top 10 Best Places to Work in advertising, ad tech and media in Advertising Age's 2014 report, coming in at #9. The list ranks 40 agencies that do an outstanding job of crafting cultures that attract, foster and reward the best minds in the industry. Hundreds of U.S. agencies, big and small, applied and nearly 20,000 people were surveyed as part of the selection process.

Ad Age cited EMA's focus on collaboration and commitment to giving back to their communities, and wrote, "The employees scattered across Eric Mower + Associates' offices know they're on the same team. EMA lists collaboration as one of its three founding principles, and the company practices what it preaches. Everybody, it seems, works together and gives back, both on and off the clock." Read the write-up here: http://bit.ly/1xPvmL3. 

"We work hard to make EMA a great place to work in order to attract and retain top talent," said Michael Slade, partner and director of Human Resources at EMA. "People have careers at EMA, not just jobs. As a result, they build the kind of trust that perpetuates a culture in which creativity and collaboration thrive."

Agencies in the Best Places to Work competition are required to submit a comprehensive application based on compensation, benefits, career development, diversity, work-life balance, and overall corporate culture. Employees at each agency completed a confidential workplace survey on topics such as pay, benefits, relationships with management and coworkers, and career development. Submissions were evaluated by Advertising Age research partner Buck Consultants LLC. Results from both surveys were considered to determine the companies with the best benefits and most engaged employees. 

EMA highlighted a number of areas in its application, including:

- Unique Perks: EMA offers perks that celebrate employees (anniversary luncheons, new employee orientation, EMAgain Club for returning employees); help them do their jobs better (corporate university EMAcademy, flex time); make them feel good (personal recognition, parties, extra time off); reward employees (referral bonus, content creation incentive); keep people healthy (Wellness Committee); feed them well (Bagel Fridays, Muffin Meetings); and help them give back to their communities (Day of Caring, volunteerism). 

- Focus on Creativity: EMA's creative teams seek to create work that builds affection, relevance, and trust for our clients' brands. The agency is committed to cross-office collaboration among creative teams.

- Encourage Collaboration: EMA has one consolidated bottom line on which annual profit-sharing for employees is based. Rewards are thus tied to the agency's collective success, not the success of a particular account, department, office or practice group. 

- Great Workspaces: EMA has some 110,000 sq. ft. across eight offices. The agency makes a huge investment in office spaces (second highest cost behind salaries) to ensure they are conducive to collaboration, productivity, and comfort across departments and staff levels.      

EMA also ranked in the top 10 in Ad Age's 2012 list--the Best Places to Work competition took a hiatus in 2013, returning for 2014. EMA is also recognized as a great place to work by other industry publications including PR News and Bulldog Reporter. 

Advertising Age is recognized as the leading global source of news, analysis and intelligence for the marketing and media community. Advertising Age includes ongoing coverage of strategic topics for marketers from mid to large companies complemented by breaking news and a database of the world's best creative. The 84-year-old publisher produces more than 15 original rankings each year, including the 100 Leading National Advertisers and 100 Leading Media Companies lists, the Digital A-List, and the annual Agency Report.

About Eric Mower + Associates

Eric Mower + Associates is a digitally-integrated independent marketing and public relations agency. With 250 professionals in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, N.Y.; New York City; Cincinnati; Charlotte, N.C.; and Atlanta, EMA delivers strategic insights, digital solutions, smart creative, and award-winning results to clients. Part of two global agency networks--thenetworkone and IPREX--as well as the 4A's, EMA has estimated 2014 capitalized billings approaching $250 million.  www.mower.com