Homebase Top Local Workplace Awards

Every year during National Small Business Week, Homebase celebrates the local businesses that go above and beyond for their teams. The Top Local Workplace Awards recognize small businesses that put in the extra time and effort to make sure their employees feel supported, valued, and proud to come to work.

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What Are the Top Local Workplace Awards?

Now in its third year, the Homebase Top Local Workplace Awards program recognizes outstanding small businesses across the Homebase network for building workplaces where employees feel valued, fulfilled, and proud. These awards don't just go to well-run businesses, they go to businesses whose dedication to their teams makes the whole neighborhood stronger.

This year's honorees were identified through a proprietary scoring system that analyzed more than 1 billion data points across 150,000+ businesses in the Homebase network.

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What Makes a Great Workplace in 2026?

To understand what employees and managers value most, Homebase partnered with Propeller Insights to survey 1,250 small business owners, managers, and hourly employees in April 2026. The findings are published in the 2026 Homebase Local Workplace Pulse.

Three themes rose to the top.

Pride came in as a defining characteristic of small business employment: 86% of hourly workers said they are proud to work for a small business, and most plan to stay in their current role over the next 3–6 months.

Community was identified by 60% of employees as the defining quality of a great workplace. A strong sense of team and belonging matters more than many employers may realize.

Stability rounds out the picture. Competitive pay and scheduling flexibility are the top factors employees consider when choosing where to work, and when deciding whether to stay.

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How Winners Are Selected

Homebase uses a proprietary scoring system to evaluate businesses in its network each year. The 2026 cohort was selected by analyzing more than 1 billion data points across 150,000+ businesses, drawing on real operational data to identify the workplaces where employees are most supported and engaged.

The underlying research, the 2026 Homebase Local Workplace Pulse, was conducted by Propeller Insights in April 2026. The survey included 1,250 respondents across two groups: 605 small business owners and managers, and 645 hourly employees. Respondents were adults (18+) working at or running small businesses across industries including food and beverage, retail, healthcare, construction, education, manufacturing, and hospitality.

Where applicable, findings are compared year-over-year to the 2024 Homebase Small Business Team Fulfillment Index, which surveyed 1,290 active Homebase customers in March 2024.

Note: Year-over-year comparisons in the 2026 Workplace Pulse reference the 2024 Homebase Small Business Team Fulfillment Index (n=1,290, fielded March 2024).

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How Do You Know If You Won?

Top Local Workplace Award Winners will see a pop up in the web and mobile accounts celebrating the ways their business has used Homebase to power their team. All team members will have their own, personalized experience. Winning businesses will also receive a package in the mail that includes a window cling and other items.

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How Can You Share Your Win With the World?

Homebase Mobile App: Click the link to view your award in the app, and be taken to your mobile browser to view your full story. At the end, click Share Your Win and message your team in Homebase, post on social media, or save the images to your device.

Homebase Web Account: View the award by clicking the Top Local Workplace Award icon on the bottom of your navigation bar, scan the QR code on your phone to view the story in your mobile browser. After, share your win with your team and customers on social media!