When we launched The TOP 101 Companies of Atlantic Canada edition of Progress 14 years ago, it was intended to be a product that would benchmark the financial performance of the biggest private employers in the region. Over the years, we have worked with many partners to make that happen.

The exercise evolved to enable us to measure the health of the region’s private sector and provide the focus for a seasonal celebration of profitable business success. In turn, it would show Atlantic Canadians that there are big successful companies owned and operated here in our corner of North America. It took a few years to catch on, but for the past decade it is safe to say that the TOP 101 has provided the gold standard for showcasing business success in the region. And yet, looking strictly at top line revenues as evidence of performance short changes those companies and, indeed, misses the real story behind their success.

We interview dozens of CEOs each year for the many magazines we publish. Increasingly, they are concerned about their organization’s access to high-quality committed employees. An aging population, exacerbated by years of out-migration, have combined to make the recruitment and retention of great people one of the most serious challenges facing business leaders—right across the country.

So we thought we’d start looking more closely at the TOP 101 Companies and dig deeper into such areas as customer orientation, internal practices, innovation, social responsibility, and governance—in essence, bring a balanced score card approach to the exercise.

What we found suggested that the companies that enjoy top line and profit line success are very focused on their own people, their customers, their communities, and the environment. They are successful in not only recruiting but also keeping and training great people. As a result of this research, conducted in partnership with the Sobey School of Business, this year’s TOP 101 includes several new TOP 10 lists. I invite you to turn to page 65 to learn about the best practices of the Ten Most Balanced, Most Innovative, Most Customer Oriented, Most Socially Responsible, and Most Internally Focused companies. Thanks to David Wicks for helping make this happen.

It is telling to me that several of these balanced TOP 101 Companies show up on more than one of the new TOP 10 lists. It is well known that talented young people entering the workforce today are driven by more balanced approaches to career and life, by environmental concerns, by social responsibility, and by opportunities for life-long learning. They look for companies that excel in those areas. What we are also seeing is that customers and investors increasingly want to do business with companies that show they are socially and environmentally oriented.

The TOP 101 is a strong business brand of its own. Being included on the list has always had a positive impact on those progressive organizations. Now and into the future, being a TOP 101 Company means so much more—it is about success at engaging great people, servicing a loyal customer base, being innovative, and being a contributor to the social capital of one’s community, in addition to being profitable and a strong target for investment capital. How can it get any better?