Forbes: 4 SWMO companies among top US employers

Four companies with southwest Missouri headquarters ranked on Forbes' annual lists of the top U.S. employers.

Bass Pro Shops, Jack Henry & Associates Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), BKD LLP and Pyramid Foods made it on the lists of the best large and midsize employers. For the reports, Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey 50,000 Americans working for companies with at least 1,000 employees on their willingness to recommend their employers and to nominate organizations other than their own.

On the large employers list covering businesses with more than 5,000 U.S. employees, Springfield-based Bass Pro ranked No. 9 and Monett-based Jack Henry was slotted at No. 134. The outdoor retailer has 40,000 employees, and financial software firm Jack Henry has 6,500, according to the report.

“We are honored to receive this recognition as we strive to take care of our outfitters as well as they take care of our customers,” Bass Pro founder Johnny Morris said in a news release.

The top large employer is the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Others in the Top 10 include No. 4 Costco Wholesale Corp (Nasdaq: COST) and No. 8 PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL).

On the midsize employers list of businesses with 1,000 to 5,000 employees, Springfield-based BKD placed No. 185 and Rogersville-based Pyramid Foods ranked No. 426. The certified public accounting firm has 2,650 employees, with the operator of Price Cutter and other grocery stores at 1,000, according to the report.

No. 1 in the midsize category is San Jose, California-based information technology firm Fair Isaac Corp., with others including No. 4 Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. (NYSE: BBW), No. 13 Grubhub Inc. (NYSE: GRUB) and No. 19 ESPN.