Outside Magazine has released its annual Best Places to Work survey, and a pair of local businesses made the cut.
 
N2 Publishing, based at 5051 New Centre Drive, was slotted at 30 on the Top 100 list, released this week.
 
“In the past year, this North Carolina–based publisher hired a full-time nutritionist and sports therapist and started a wellness program full of fitness challenges,” the magazine stated in describing N2.
 
“‘Function over flash’ is the motto in the bare-bones office — the company says it likes to spend money on things that matter instead of office furniture. This year, the company is donating $2 million to fight human trafficking,” the magazine reported.
 
Wilmington-based Dry Corp made the list for the third time, at No. 45.
 
Dry Corp is headquartered at 349 Military Cutoff Road, and also made the list in 2012 and 2013.
 
Dry Corp makes medical-grade waterproof cast covers, dry cases for cellphones and submersible headphones.
 
“Just under 20 people work in an old warehouse turned office building,” Outside Magazine reported. “The office has a casual atmosphere and a basketball hoop out back. The company hosts a mandatory cookout every Friday with a rotating cooking roster. The company has regular team trivia nights at local bars and the occasional free beer at the office.”

“We pride ourselves on having an open air environment where ideas flow freely, and employees feel comfortable being themselves," Dry Corp's director of marketing Jay Turner said Friday. "We embrace the work hard, play hard lifestyle, and it has translated to great success for our company and our employees.”
 
Only one other company from North Carolina cracked the top 100, and that was SimplyHome of Asheville at 48. The technology company “empowers the aging population and people with disabilities to live independently via in-home sensor-based alert systems.”
 
“More companies are learning that healthier, happier people make for more creative, more productive workers,” the magazine explained in describing the list. “They’re making big adjustments: incorporating nature into the office, offering travel stipends, providing support services like childcare, and, of course, stocking the fridges with beer.”
 
Boulder, Colorado, that took the honor of having the most companies in the top 100, placing 17 on the list.