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Immediate Release

Finalists for Department of Defense's Top Employer Award Named

30 Top Employers Recognized Among 2,960 Nominations

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense office, announced today the selection of 30 finalists for the 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the highest honor the department gives to employers for support of National Guard and reserve employees.

A board comprised of senior department and other officials as well as representatives from prior recipient organizations will select the Freedom Award recipients, which be honored at the 20th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award ceremony at the Pentagon later this summer.

“Among thousands of employers across this great nation, these 30 employers have gone far above and beyond what is required to provide exemplary support to our military men and women as well as their families,” said Acting Director, Family and Employer Programs and Policy, M. Alex Baird. “We are proud to formally recognize these outstanding employers as finalists for the prestigious 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.”

The 2015 Freedom Award finalists include:

FINALIST NAME CITY STATE
Arlington Police Department Arlington TX
Central Mortgage Company Little Rock AR
BioTek Instruments Inc. Winooski VT
Black Hills Corporation Rapid City SD
Boise Fire Department Boise ID
BP America, Inc. Houston TX
Cardinal Health Dublin OH
Christ's Church of the Valley Peoria AZ
Cigna Bloomfield CT
City of Glendale Glendale AZ
City of Shawnee Shawnee KS
College of the Ozarks Point Lookout MO
Columbus County Sheriff's Office Whiteville NC
Cranston Public Schools Cranston RI
CVS Health Woonsocket RI
Devon Energy Oklahoma City OK
Dr. Joe A. Jackson, MD, PLLC Biloxi MS
GlaxoSmithKline Research Triangle Park NC
Grandview Police Department Grandview MO
Hope Valley Industries North Kingstown RI
Kennebec County Sheriff's Office Augusta ME
Lexmark International Lexington KY
Neil, Dymott, Frank, McFall & Trexler APCL San Diego CA
None Such Farm, Inc. Buckingham PA
Seattle Fire Department Seattle WA
Snell & Wilmer, LLP Phoenix AZ
State of Wisconsin Madison WI
T-Mobile USA Bellevue WA
Town of Hingham Hingham MA
Walt Disney Co Burbank CA

The 2015 finalists were selected from 2,960 nominations received from guardsmen and reservists for going far beyond what the federal law requires to support their military employees.

The Freedom Award was instituted in 1996 under the auspices of ESGR to recognize exceptional support from the employer community. For more information about the Freedom Award, visit www.FreedomAward.mil.