Where are the Best Places to Work in Southwest Florida in 2025?

In general, no two businesses are exactly alike. A law firm may have little in common with a logistics company; a restaurant chain and a retail hardware chain are rarely linked. There are different workspaces and disparate customer bases. But regardless of clientele or commodity, there are 21 businesses in Southwest Florida that all have one thing in common: They’ve each earned the distinction of being one of the Best Places to Work in Southwest Florida.

While companies are most often judged by their bottom line, these businesses are being recognized for going above and beyond for their employees. Though they all take different forms, the difference is made in how each honoree takes care of the people who help their business function.

To earn recognition as one of the Best Places to Work in Southwest Florida, local companies pay a fee to apply to Best Companies Group of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, an independent research firm focused on identifying and recognizing great places to work. BCG then administers a two-part survey — one for employers that details company policies, practices, benefits and demographics, and another for employees that includes an in-depth set of 77 statements they are asked to respond to on a scale of 1 through 5. This survey section also includes two open-ended questions and seven demographic questions.

The data collected is analyzed by BCG to determine the Best Places to Work in Southwest Florida; Gulfshore Business does not participate in the survey or selection process.

Eligibility is open to any publicly or privately held business, government or nonprofit entity with facilities or operations in Southwest Florida and a minimum of 15 full-time or part-time employees working in the region or reporting to a local regional office. Eligible participants must also have been in business for a minimum of one year. To find out more about the process, or to apply for future consideration, please visit BestPlacesToWorkSWFL.com.

The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company (pictured above)

COMPANY HISTORY

Established in 2001, The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company offers wealth management, investment management, estate administration and financial planning to individual investors, multigenerational client families, business owners and nonprofit organizations — it’s now one of the largest private trust companies in Florida. Founder and chair Albert D. Hanser noted that since its inception, the firm has always been committed to doing the right thing.

“Rule No. 1 is the client comes first. Rule No. 2 is don’t forget rule No. 1,” Hanser says. “Our employees are able to freely apply their talents to benefit the client, and have the opportunity to excel. We believe that if you take care of the employees, the employees take exceptional care of the clients.”

To help care for its employees, The Trust Company holds employee outings in each market for team building and networking, as well as periodic corporate-wide retreats to maintain and cultivate the employee culture. It also provides a generous health insurance package and ample vacation days and sick days, and donates $100 to the charity of each employee’s choice on their birthday. And going beyond financial advice and estate planning, the company’s employees have helped their clients secure doctor’s referrals, found safe hotel rooms during approaching hurricanes, sat with them in the hospital, helped when immediate family members weren’t available and even traveled out of state to provide assistance.

The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company has also been voted Best Financial Planner and Best Trust Company in the Island Reporter’s Community Choice Awards, named a Best Place to Work by Tampa Bay Business Journal and given Community Choice Awards by the Tampa Bay Times, Fort Myers News-Press and Naples Daily News.