Strangeloop Networks

Number of employees: 35

Head office: Vancouver
Quote: “We’re working on truly innovative projects that are fun and challenging. We really have a chance to blaze new trails”

• Video: Strangeloop CEO Jonathan Bixby chat with Matt O'Grady at 2009 Best Companies

If my company were a celebrity, it would be: JACKIE CHAN
“Because we kick ass, but have a lot of fun while doing it”

You can’t help but feel like family when you’re burning the midnight oil and the CEO pops by with dinner – then washes the dishes. Strangeloop Networks, once again chosen as B.C.’s best workplace with fewer than 100 employees, is a homey space – for those who choose not to telecommute, that is. The web services company offers free breakfasts, ping-pong in the boardroom (oddly, even more popular than the Nintendo Wii) and weekly socials. Other perks: stock options, a premium-free benefits package and the new Do-Good fund, which employees spend on charitable acts such as sending an underprivileged child to camp. Even off the clock, employees are made to feel valued. For example, CEO Jonathan Bixby personally called to upgrade the Las Vegas hotel room of a staffer running a marathon. Garbage pickup and a moving truck were arranged for a stressed-out worker on moving day. And an employee who anxiously called in with a bad back was sent flowers.