Inside Business celebrates the Top Workplaces of 2026. Here's how the Top Workplaces are determined. PUBLISHED: August 10, 2026 at 7:47 AM EDT UPDATED: August 10, 2026 at 7:52 AM EDT Top Workplaces don't happen by accident. They are created through a people-first approach to workplace excellence. For the eighth year, employee survey company Energage has partnered with Virginia Media and Inside Business to honor the best places to work in Hampton Roads. The award is verified and earned through an employee survey process. Workplaces where employees offer positive feedback about their experience make the winners list. The survey is strictly confidential, allowing employees to share honest feedback anonymously. Energage, based in suburban Philadelphia, administers the survey and analyzes feedback based on responses to 26 questions. The survey asks employees about such factors as pay and benefits, direction, leadership, meaningfulness, and appreciation. Energage scores companies based on the responses. Energage has established benchmarks based on feedback from about 30 million employees over 20 years. The award cannot be bought; it is earned. There is no cost to employers to survey their employees. If they choose, organizations can purchase the survey data from Energage. There is no obligation for winners to purchase any product or service. For the 2026 winners list, 1,964 organizations were asked to survey their employees, and 77 agreed to do so. Based on the survey feedback, 67 have earned recognition as Top Workplaces in Hampton Roads. "Earning a Top Workplaces award is a celebration of excellence," Energage CEO Eric Rubino said. "It serves as a reminder of the vital role a people-first workplace experience plays in achieving success." To qualify for Top Workplaces recognition, employers must have at least 35 workers in the region. Beginning this year, employers are grouped by the overall size of their organization and the number of employees invited to survey, which might include employees outside of Hampton Roads. Employers are grouped into similar sizes to best compare similar employee experiences. They are ranked within those groups based on the strength of the survey feedback. Survey results are valid only if 35% or more employees respond; employers with fewer than 85 employees have a higher response threshold, requiring responses from at least 30 employees. Why might a particular employer not be on the list? Perhaps it chose not to participate, or perhaps it did and employee feedback scores were not strong enough. Energage also runs tests on survey feedback and in some cases may disqualify an organization if, for example, a high number of employees said they felt pressured to answer positively. To participate in the 2027 Top Workplaces awards, or for more information, go to the nominations page at topworkplaces.com/hamptonroads. Bob Helbig is media partnerships director for Energage, an employee survey company based in suburban Philadelphia. Inside Business and Energage recognized 15 Top Workplaces with special awards based on standout scores on specific employee survey statements. Marine interviewed business leaders in Q&A format or shared their news based on their areas of recognition: Leadership. * Inside Business' Top Workplaces' 2026 leaders share their lessons learned and how to develop skills. Special awards. The Top Workplaces of 2026 are: Large companies * Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group * American Systems * Landmark Hotel Group * TowneBank* * Noblis * Chesbay Distributing * Chartway Credit Union * Marsh McLennan Agency * ADS Inc. * BayPort Credit Union * SMX* * Client Solution Architects (CSA) * NorthStar Anesthesia* * Primis Bank* * Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers * Choice Financial Group * McLean Contracting Company * Atlantic Union Bank * Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay* * Sumitomo Machinery Corporation of America* * LoanCare* * Valkyrie Enterprises * The Sports Facilities Companies* * ChenMed * Cox Enterprises * AvalonBay Communities * Groundworks * Patient First * West Shore Home Midsized companies * Marathon Consulting * Century 21 Nachman Realty * S.L Nusbaum Realty Co. * ShoreBreak Pizza & TapHouse / Hot Tuna * Hope House Foundation * Trolley Hospitality Companies* * PRG Real Estate * Homefix * United Property Associates * TST Roofing and Glazing* * 1st Advantage Federal Credit Union * Kaufman & Canoles PC * WindsorMeade Williamsburg * TST Construction * Wagner Kapoor Institute * 315 Logistics * Volvo Penta North America * The Mariners' Museum * Quality Restorations LLC doing business as Servpro of Chesapeake Small companies * AMC911 Foundation and Crawl Space Repair * 44 Fitness Inc. doing business as Club Pilates * SteelMaster Buildings * KCG Engineering Group Inc. * Buzz Franchise Brands * Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers* * The Up Center * The Planning Council * Yellow Dog Software * Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia * Virginia Foundation Solutions * AVMAC LLC * The Drying Company LLC * Signature Management Corp. * WHLR REIT * Support Services of Virginia Inc. * Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC * The Language Group LLC* * Melone Hatley PC* Note: Asterisks indicate companies that are new to the Top Workplaces list this year. Primis Bank, SMX and TST Roofing and Glazing did not submit profile information for publication. Correspondent Andi Petrini contributed.

Fairmount Partners advises Energage on its acquisition of Engagedly. July 14, 2026 Acquisition brings Top Workplaces research and insights together with an AI-powered platform to deliver a modern blueprint for building organizations where people and performance thrive. Energage, the HR technology company behind the Top Workplaces employer recognition program, today announced its acquisition of Engagedly, an advanced AI-powered talent management platform. The move marks a major milestone in Energage's evolution toward a platform that connects employee engagement, talent management, and employer brand into a single, integrated experience. Energage brings 20 years of workplace culture research, informed by more than 30 million employee surveys across 80,000 organizations, and the proven insights behind Top Workplaces. Engagedly adds an AI-powered talent management platform with built-in employee rewards and recognition, along with tools to support frontline and deskless workers. Together, they deliver a modern blueprint for building organizations where people and performance thrive. "For more than two decades, we've helped organizations understand what makes great workplaces possible," said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. "This acquisition accelerates our vision of turning those insights into action - bringing workplace experience and talent management together in one intelligent platform so leaders can build stronger cultures, achieve better business outcomes, and position themselves as Top Workplaces." The Engagedly platform will enable Energage to bring new capabilities to market more quickly while advancing a comprehensive platform rooted in the proven best practices of Top Workplaces organizations. "AI-enabled talent management reaches its full potential when it's grounded in proven expertise," said Srikant Chellappa, Engagedly Co-Founder and CEO. "The unified platform will transform decades of workplace insights from high-performing organizations into AI-powered guidance, helping leaders take faster, more confident action and create meaningful impact across their entire workforce." The combined organization will continue investing in solutions that empower companies to better understand employee engagement, strengthen employee performance and growth, and elevate their employer brand in an increasingly competitive talent landscape. Energage's move toward a unified platform is backed by NewSpring Growth, NewSpring's dedicated growth equity strategy investing in fast-growing, industry-transforming technology companies. NewSpring Growth has partnered with Energage to support the company's continued growth and expansion into new capabilities. Fairmount Partners served as financial advisor to Energage in connection with the transaction. Troutman Pepper served as US legal counsel to Energage, with DSK Legal as India legal counsel. Fairmount Partners and Troutman Pepper previously represented Energage in its acquisition of TalentQuest. The transaction was supported by financing provided by The Innovation Banking Group at Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC. Drake Star acted as Engagedly's exclusive financial advisor in the transaction. About Energage Making the world a better place to work together.(TM) Energage is an HR technology and research company that helps organizations build workplaces where people and performance thrive. Grounded in more than 20 years of workplace culture research and the voices of more than 30 million employees across 80,000 organizations, Energage has uncovered what the best employers do differently. It brings together people science, employee voice, and Top Workplaces best practices into a proven blueprint that helps leaders measure, shape, and showcase the workplace experience - making culture a credible driver of enterprise value. Learn more at www.energage.com. About Engagedly Engagedly is an AI talent management and employee engagement platform that helps organizations build highly engaged, high-performance organizations with connected performance, learning, recognition, and employee development solutions designed for today's workforce, including frontline and deskless employees. About Fairmount Partners Fairmount Partners is an independent investment banking firm focused on supporting middle-market companies to complete mergers and acquisitions, raise funds for growth, acquisitions and liquidity, and design and improve their corporate development strategies. Fairmount's clients include successful entrepreneurs, private equity-sponsored enterprises, and global public companies. Since 2003, Fairmount has completed more than 325 transactions representing over $18 billion in aggregate value across 25 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. For additional information, please visit www.fairmountpartners.com.

Energage, the HR technology company behind the Top Workplaces employer recognition program, has merged with Engagedly, an AI-powered talent management platform. The deal aims to create an integrated platform connecting employee engagement, talent management, and employer brand. Energage brings 20 years of workplace culture research based on over 30 million employee surveys across 80,000 organisations. Engagedly adds AI-powered talent management tools, including employee rewards and recognition systems designed for frontline and deskless workers. The combined platform will transform Top Workplaces insights into AI-powered guidance for leaders. NewSpring Growth backed the transaction, with financing provided by The Innovation Banking Group at Western Alliance Bank. Both companies will continue operating under their respective CEOs, Eric Rubino and Srikant Chellappa.