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Your NPR News & Triad Arts Station
from Wake Forest University
25 August 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Jay Banks, General Manager
336-758-8859
banksjb@wfu.edu
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NPR® Affiliate 88.5 WFDD Awarded Best Place to Work in the Triad

Winston-Salem, NC—In The Business Journal’s annual contest seeking the Best Places to Work in the Triad, 88.5 WFDD, the NPR® affiliate from Wake Forest University, took First Place in the category of Charitable Non-profits.  The awards ceremony took place at the International Home Furnishings Center in High Point, on Thursday, August 24th.

Winners are selected based on their overall workplace quality as determined by answers given anonymously by each company’s employees through an online survey.  The Business Journal partners with Quantum Market Research to conduct the surveys.

88.5 WFDD garnered a score of 94.33, or a 5.66 on a scale where 6 is the highest, on the workplace quality survey.

Sheila Thrower, account manager, says working at a small nonprofit allows the employees to participate in a close, intense environment that relies on trust and camaraderie.  “Everybody works really hard,” she says.  “We all wear a lot of hats, and people work 24/7.”  At the same time, membership coordinator Greg Keener states that there is a healthy respect for the notion of live-work balance.  He continues to say that station management knows that personal matters may erupt at any time, and encourages employees to take the time they need to deal with them.  “We’re expected to have a life outside of here,” he says.

Employees comment that every day at the station is unpredictable, but that every staff member pitches in to make sure everything runs smoothly. Running a radio station is hectic and chaotic, and duties include everything from dealing with technical difficulties to fielding comments and questions from listeners who range from elated to irate about something they heard on the air.  But Marian Wilson, media and operations coordinator, comments that “we all know that we’re dedicated to the success of the station.  Everyone really cares how well the station does and that is the reason we all work so hard."

88.5 WFDD is licensed to Wake Forest University, and employees included the University’s benefits and company culture as incentives and rewards for working at the station.

Other finalists in the Charitable Non-profits category were Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, Inc., in Thomasville; Crisis Control Ministry, in Winston-Salem; and the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, in Winston-Salem.  WFDD General manager Jay Banks commented that “88.5 WFDD is proud to be included in such distinguished company.”

88.5 WFDD, the NPR® news and Triad Arts station broadcasting from Wake Forest University, is the only public radio station of its kind located in the Piedmont Triad. It broadcasts news, information, and public affairs programming covering the arts, people, and institutions in the area. The state’s charter NPR® member, 88.5 WFDD is the longest continuously broadcasting public radio station in North Carolina. It is a member of the North Carolina Public Radio Association.

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P. O. Box 8850 • Winston-Salem, NC  27109 • 336-758-8850 • www.wfdd.org