All across the state — and nation — businesses are struggling to attract and retain employees. But those companies may be able to learn something from the companies that will be spotlighted here in the days to follow. The 100 Best Places to Live and Work in Arizona earned the most support in voting for the 2022 edition of Ranking Arizona, the state’s biggest business opinion poll.

READ ALSO: Here are the Ranking Arizona Top 10 lists for 2022

“We really do put people first,” says Cathy Graham, executive vice president at Desert Financial Credit Union, one of the Best Places to Work in Arizona. “The employment environment is really tough right now with the Great Resignation. So we try to be really purposeful and clear about the organization: where we’re going, what we’re striving for, what success looks like and then connecting the dots. People want to feel like part of something bigger than just the role that they fill every day.”

Enjoy learning more about the 100 Best Places to Live and Work in Arizona. Today, the spotlight is on Desert Financial Credit Union.

Desert Financial Credit Union

Having been around for nearly 80 years, Desert Financial Credit Union knows that there is more to life than money. Desert Financial’s leadership focuses on what matters most: their members, their team and the communities they serve.

WORKPLACE CULTURE: “One of our strengths is that we’ve been really purposeful about the culture and really clear about our ‘why,” says Cathy Graham, executive vice president at Desert Financial Credit Union, “and the why at Desert Financial is all about sharing success. So we share success with our members, our employees, and the community. We have translated that ‘why’ into meaningful action. When we share success with members, we try to always have great pricing on our products and services, but we also have something called our ‘Giveback Bonus’ for our members. In the last five years, we’ve given back over $50 million to our members. So when we say sharing success, we do it in meaningful ways. For our employees, we have a great suite of benefits. We have more than 70 work perks, but our crown jewel is something that we call InvestED. It’s our continuing education program that we have with ASU. We pay 100% tuition for our employees to go back to school, so they can get their undergraduate degree, their graduate degree, they can take classes, get a certificate, and we pay for it. Right now, we have over 100 employees that are getting their degrees through InvestED. And we’ve already had some graduates, which is fantastic.”

COMMUNITY IMPACT: “We  feel deeply connected to the community. It’s just something that is in our DNA from prior leaders in the organization to current CEO, Jeff Meshey,” says Graham. “When we give back to the community, we want to do it in really meaningful ways. We have scholarships and fundraising, a volunteer program, teacher appreciation events, but we also do something called Random Acts of Kindness. Since 2018, we’ve done more than 25,000 Random Acts of Kindness. That’s about 16 a day, if you do the math. All day, every day. Our employees love it and just feel empowered to do good in the community.”

100 Best Places to Live and Work in Arizona

Here are the 100 Best Places to Live and Work in Arizona for 2022, based on public voting for the 2022 edition of Ranking Arizona, the state’s biggest and most comprehensive business opinion poll. Companies and cities are listed in alphabetical order.

ABI Multifamily

ANDERSON Advertising & Public Relations

Adolfson & Peterson Construction

Aker Ink PR & Marketing

Alliance Residential Company

Arizona Central Credit Union

Arizona Complete Health

Arizona Federal Credit Union

Aurora Behavioral Health System

Avison Young

BMO Harris Bank

Banner Health

Bel-Aire Mechanical

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Arizona Properties

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona

Blue Signal Search

Burch & Cracchiolo

CBRE

CHASSE Building Team

CORE Construction

Cachet Homes

Canyon State Electric

Cawley Architects

City of Chandler

City of Flagstaff

City of Glendale

City of Mesa

City of Peoria

City of Phoenix

City of Scottsdale

City of Tempe

City to City Commercial

Colliers

Corgan

DP Electric

dpa architects

DPR Construction

Delta Dental of Arizona

Desert Financial Credit Union

Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center

Dignity Health in Arizona

Great Impact

Gust Rosenfeld

HDA Architects

Haydon Building Corp

HomeSmart

Homeowners Financial Group

HonorHealth

IMPACT Technology Recruiting

Ideation Design Group

Jennings, Strouss & Salmon

Johansen Interiors

K2 Electric

Keap

Kidder Mathews

Kitchell

LAVIDGE

LGE Design Build

Land Advisors Organization

LaneTerralever

LevRose Commercial Real Estate/TCN Worldwide

Marcus & Millichap

Mark-Taylor Companies

Mark-Taylor Residential

Mayo Clinic

McCarthy Building Companies

Menlo Group Commercial Real Estate

Merestone

National Bank of Arizona

OneAZ Credit Union

P.B. Bell

Pacific Premier Bank

Precision Air & Plumbing

ReThinc Advertising

Republic Bank of Arizona

Rocket Mortgage (formerly Quicken Loans)

Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty

Ryan Companies US

SDB Contracting Services

Speedie & Associates

Sunstate Equipment

TBConsulting

Team Select Home Care

The Brokery

The CORE Institute

Town of Gilbert

Town of Queen Creek

Tri Pointe Homes

TruWest Credit Union

USAA

VIP Mortgage

VIP Mortgage Inc.

ViaWest Group

WaFd Bank Arizona

Wallace, Plese + Dreher

Walton Global

Weitz Company

Western Alliance Bank

Willmeng Construction

Wood, Patel & Associates