Hayden Homes honored with awards for company culture
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 months, 3 weeks AGO
Representatives of Hayden Homes and community members break ground at Sand Hill Place in Moses Lake. The company was recently named to two prestigious lists of good companies to work for.
FILE PHOTO
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | September 17, 2025 6:36 PM
REDMOND, Ore. — Hayden Homes, which has built housing developments in Moses Lake and Othello, was honored by Great Place To Work® and Fortune Magazine with two prestigious awards representing its positive culture, employee experience, leadership and community-driven work, according to an announcement from the company.
For its first recognition, Hayden Homes ranked third on the 2025 Fortune Best Workplaces in Construction™ List, according to the announcement. This is Hayden Homes’ second time being named to this list. The Best Workplaces in Construction award is based on an analysis of survey responses from nearly 54,000 employees at Great Place To Work Certified™ companies in the construction industry.
Hayden Homes also ranked 21st on the 2025 Fortune Best Medium Workplaces™ List, which includes all medium-sized workplaces in the nation, not just those in construction. To determine the Best Medium Workplaces list, Great Place To Work analyzed the survey responses of over 228,000 employees from Great Place To Work Certified™ companies with between 100 and 999 U.S. employees, according to the announcement.
Great Place to Work, which is the global authority on workplace culture, chooses its honorees based on the survey data and a company’s ability to offer positive outcomes for employees regardless of job role, race, gender, sexual orientation, work status, or other demographic identifier.
“Small and medium businesses can compete with anyone for talent when they build an irresistible culture,” Michael C. Bush, CEO at Great Place To Work, wrote in the announcement. “These companies make the most of their strategic advantages as smaller organizations, ensuring every employee feels recognized for their contributions and rewarded with their fair share of the benefits of success.”
This year in Hayden Homes’ Great Place to Work survey results, 98% of all team members — and 100% of all women and minority team members — said the company is a great place to work, according to the announcement from Hayden, compared with an average of just 57% of employees who felt the same at other companies in the U.S. That’s a ranking of more than 40% higher than the average U.S. company.
“We are so proud to be ranked among the nation’s top employers in both the construction field and amongst all medium-sized companies,” wrote Patti Murphy, vice president of employee engagement with Hayden Homes. “Our culture is deeply rooted in our Give As You Go™ philosophy, which means we prioritize people, encourage volunteerism, and support our community in ways that make a real difference. This shared purpose transforms our day-to-day work into a mission that we are grateful has such value and meaning to our team members. They are the reason we have achieved these accolades.”
Want more news on homes and real estate? Check out our Homes section in each Friday issue of the Columbia Basin Herald.
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.