PITTSTON, PA — December 16, 2014 — Job creators, from mom-and-pop shops to larger enterprises, earned praise at the PA Best Places to Work Awards Program for a diverse and vibrant economy they create in Pennsylvania.
Over the past 84 years, Benco Dental has operated as both. Founded in 1930 by Benjamin Cohen, the largest privately-owned dental distribution company in the United States company grew from one single downtown location to today’s national network of more than 65 regional locations, five distribution centers, and two design showrooms.
The family-owned company headquartered in Pittston, Pennsylvania, offers countless employment perks, which help warrant its status as the #15 Best Place to Work in Pennsylvania among large-sized companies (more than 251 U.S. employees).
Associates at Benco receive recognition every five years for their continued dedication to the company. They benefit from a reward system, which allows those with exceptional performance to redeem BluChips® for gift cards from a variety of vendors. The company enables employees to purchase convenience services onsite, such as oil changes for their automobiles, even postage stamps. An emergency fund for hardship is established with donations from company-wide events.
“Superior companies are the foundation to the economic success of our commonwealth and the key to any superior company is a talented workforce,” said Laura H. Williams, President & CEO, Team Pennsylvania Foundation, December 4 during the PA Best Places to Work Awards Program at the Lancaster County Convention Center, where Benco was recognized among more than 1,000 attendees.
“This is our third best showing over the years and 11th time in 12 years that Benco has received such recognition. Benco is one of only a few PA companies who have consistently made the ‘List’,” said George Rable, Vice President Culture & People at Benco Dental.
Benco has its own “List” of incentives which contribute to employee satisfaction: Aprofit-sharing program that increases with each employee idea put into action; annual horseshoe and basketball tournaments and associate appreciation events; onsite access to a fitness center, quarterly massages and wellness programs such as mobile mammograms, cholesterol screenings and self-defense training.
“Thank you to all associates who took the time to complete a Best Places To Work survey. It is this feedback that helps make Benco a great place to work,” said Rable.
He references one portion of the Best Places to Work assessment process, the Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Survey which consists of approximately 78 statements that employees respond to on a five-point agreement scale. The survey also includes two open-ended questions and seven demographic questions. Results are analyzed according to eight Core Focus Areas: Leadership and Planning, Corporate Culture and Communications, Role Satisfaction, Work Environment, Relationship with Supervisor, Training, Development and Resources, Pay and Benefits and Overall Engagement.
The Best Places to Work in PA includes two groups of companies: 72 small/medium-sized firms with 25-250 employees and 28 large-sized companies with 251 employees or more. To view the list in its entirety, visit: https://teampa.com/2014/12/companies-honored-at-best-places-to-work-in-pa-event/
About Benco Dental

Benco Dental, headquartered in Northeastern Pennsylvania, is the largest privately-owned dental distribution company in the United States, offering a full array of supplies, equipment and services to dentists across the nation. Founded in 1930 by Benjamin Cohen, the company has remained family-owned and focused on its unique mission to ‘deliver success, smile after smile.’ Over the past decade, Benco has been the nation’s fastest growing dental distributor, now servicing more than 35,000 dentists and dental laboratories.
Within the past 84 years, the company has grown from a single downtown location to a national network of more than 65 regional locations, five distribution centers, and two design showrooms. Those design showrooms, one at the company’s PA headquarters and one in Southern California, feature North America’s largest selection of dental equipment and technology, as well as a hands-on dental design experience, to assist dentists in the planning and construction of a new office.
In addition to offering the market’s broadest choice of equipment and supplies, Benco features a suite of innovative material management tools like Painless®, its industry-leading on-line inventory management system, and BluChips®, dentistry’s original and most rewarding frequent buyer club. Through alliances with selected Success Partners, Benco also offers practice coaching, continuing education, equipment financing, and wealth management services.
Benco, which has been named one of Pennsylvania’s ‘Best Places to Work’ for 11 of the past 12 years, is proud to boast a highly skilled team of more than 400 professionally trained sales representatives and over 300 factory-trained service technicians.
For more information, visit benco.com or call 1.800.GO.BENCO.
About Best Places to Work in PA
Since 2000, Best Places to Work in PA has been a celebration of jobs and the employers who provide them. It’s a program made possible by a joint public/private effort of Team Pennsylvania Foundation, the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED), the Pennsylvania State Council of SHRM and the Central Penn Business Journal. In order to participate in the program, organizations must be publicly or privately held, either for-profit or not-for-profit. To be eligible, a company must also: have a facility in Pennsylvania; have at least 25 employees in Pennsylvania and be in business a minimum of one year.
For more information, visit www.bestplacestoworkinpa.com
