Barb Geiger will be in good company Wednesday. But she’ll be working on making a better company.
Geiger is president and owner of Overland Park-based Worldwide Clinical Research. Her company, which she started as a consultancy out of her home in 2000, is among 25 nationwide on Working Mother magazine’s 2008 list of the Best Women-Owned Companies.
Worldwide Clinical, which performs clinical research services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, was cited for such policies as ample paid time off (two days to volunteer, two personal days, two weeks of sick leave and two weeks of vacation), allowing employees to work from home when necessary, giving expectant moms eight week of maternity leave at 60 percent pay, and allowing children in the workplace.
For a small, young company, those are not small things.
Geiger plans to attend a breakfast Wednesday in Atlanta in honor of the award winners, but not because she wants the attention. Faced with a rapidly growing work force, Geiger’s goal is to learn from the other winners and “see what I’m missing and what I can learn from other policies.”
In January 2007, Worldwide Clinical had eight employees; today the company is at 29. Geiger expects to be at 45-plus by the end of this year. Annual revenues were $3.7 million last year, and the company expects to book over $9 million in 2008.
Geiger, who talked with me last week about the importance of offering market-driven salaries and “taking care of people,” knows she has to attract the best employees to continue growing.
That’s even trickier when you consider Worldwide Clinical also has offices in Argentina, Brazil and England.
“Each year we try to add a benefit,” said Geiger, a mother of two who traces her roots to Marion Laboratories. A sabbatical policy is in the works right now, she said. And the company was planning Employee Appreciation Day in lieu of Administrative Professionals Day later this month.
Last week, Geiger was looking forward to speaking to young girls at the seventh annual Women in Technology Symposium at Kansas City Kansas Community College. Her message is one for every woman, not just those drawn to technology careers: “Open your eyes and dreams.”
About the list
Independent, women-owned firms with five to 100 employees were eligible for Working Mother’s “Entrepreneur Mom Award.” Winners were chosen for their flexible schedules, creative family-friendly benefits and dedication to their communities, the magazine said. Winning companies also support the advancement of female employees.
You can read about all the honorees, some of whom are featured in the April 2008 issue, at www.workingmother.com.
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