2008 Choice Employers, 101-300 Employees, No. 1: Cody's Convenience Stores

In the last six years, Cody's Convenience Stores has gone from a single location in Rogersville to 38 locations in southwest Missouri, most of them in the Springfield area, as well as stores in Hollister, Waynesville and nine locations in the Joplin area.

With 289 employees - 240 of them full-time - Cody's is one of Springfield's larger small businesses, and it takes its commitment to its employees seriously.

"People throw the term 'human resources' around, but they are a big resource to us and we want to make sure we retain the best people we can," says Cody's Chief Financial Officer Joe Watkins.

"We don't take it lightly," he adds. "We're not only responsible to the employees, but these employees have families that they're responsible for, and we want to make sure that we're fair with them."

To that end, Cody's Convenience Stores not only pays more than 50 percent of its employees' health insurance premiums - both for full-time and part-time staff - but it also pays more than 50 percent of staff dependents' premiums.

Yearly salary increases average 7 percent to 9 percent, and the company also offers a 401(k) plan with no waiting period and an automatic company contribution of up to 9 percent of employees' salaries.

New hires begin earning vacation time from the first day on the job, and full-time staff members can get two weeks off a year. Employees can take paid time off after three months of employment.

After five years with the company, Watkins said, employees get three weeks off. And paid time off is not limited to full-time staff; part-timers can access vacation benefits as well.

"Our philosophy, basically, is that it doesn't matter how much we spend on a store or how much we spend on equipment; it's all about the employees," says Tom Cook, Cody's vice president of operations. When it comes to employee benefits, employees definitely have a say.

"As we get ready to renegotiate (benefits), we talk to the managers, we talk to the employees about what kind of benefits they are looking for," Cook says. "It's their benefits; we want to make the right decision by them. They're the ones who are going to use it."

Meanwhile, with the support of its employees, Cody's seeks to raise the convenience store business to new heights. Clean restrooms and friendly staff are expected.

The company differentiates itself in its approach to retail offerings and service.

"We try to offer a variety of different types of food items," Cook says. "We're almost like a restaurant with gas pumps to a certain extent."

Various locations offer such amenities as automated teller machines, 24-hour service, DVD rentals, a car wash, a deli and, in a few cases, live bait for avid fishermen.

In the next 12 to 18 months, Cook says, Cody's will continue to strengthen the core locations it has established, bringing them to their full potential. And Cody's staff will play an invaluable role in reaching that potential.

"We try to take care of our employees, because they'll take care of us," Cook says.