Portland, ME – August 21, 2009 - The Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) Maine State Council has named the winners of the 2009 "Best Places to Work in Maine" program.

Baker Newman & Noyes, LLC (BNN) CPAs and Business consultants headquartered in Portland, Maine is pleased to announce that the firm was named as one of the 2009 Best Places to Work in Maine. This is the second straight year that BNN has won this award; it follows the firm recently being named a 2009 New Hampshire Business of the Year.

The Best Places to Work in Maine is a statewide survey and awards program designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Maine, benefiting the state's economy, its workforce and businesses. The 2009 Best Places to Work in Maine list is made up of 24 companies in the small/medium-sized list (15-249 employees) and 7 companies in the large-sized list (250+ employees).

To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:

• Have at least 15 employees working in Maine;
• Be a for-profit or not-for-profit business or government entity;
• Be a publicly or privately held business;
• Have a facility in the state of Maine; and
• Must be in business a minimum of 1 year.

Companies from across the state entered the two-part process to determine the Best Places to Work in Maine. The first part consisted of evaluating each nominated company's workplace policies, practices, and demographics. This part of the process was worth approximately 25% of the total evaluation. The second part consisted of an employee survey to measure the employee experience. This part of the process was worth approximately 75% of the total evaluation. The combined scores determined the top companies and the final ranking.

BNN will be recognized and honored at an awards ceremony on October 13th and will be profiled in a special publication by Mainebiz. The final rankings will be announced at the event.