CLEARWATER, Fla., April 11, 2026 — For a company rooted in the belief that people are the foundation of every great business, external recognition only confirms what the team at FrankCrum already lives every day. This week, the Clearwater-based professional employer organization announced it has earned the USA TODAY Top Workplaces 2026 designation — its second national honor from USA TODAY and its 16th recognition from the Tampa Bay Times regional list. Together, these back-to-back milestones establish FrankCrum as one of the most consistently celebrated employers in the Tampa Bay area and a benchmark for employee-centered culture across the broader Florida business community.
The recognition arrives at a time of significant growth for the FrankCrum enterprise. With a 40-year track record serving thousands of businesses across the country, the company is deepening its on-the-ground presence in high-growth markets including Texas, Arizona, California, and Georgia, while simultaneously modernizing its enterprise-wide systems and launching new product offerings. For a company expanding at this pace, maintaining cultural cohesion across every team and location is not just a priority — it is the competitive advantage.
What Is the USA TODAY Top Workplaces Award — and Why Does It Matter?
The USA TODAY Top Workplaces program is a nationally recognized employer recognition initiative that evaluates organizations exclusively on the basis of direct employee feedback. Unlike awards determined by revenue, market share, or executive nominations, the Top Workplaces designation is earned through a confidential, third-party survey administered by Energage — one of the leading workplace culture research firms in the United States.
The survey methodology measures 25 key drivers of employee engagement, covering areas such as leadership effectiveness, alignment with company mission, opportunities for professional development, manager support, and workplace connection. Only companies that achieve statistically significant results based on actual employee responses qualify for inclusion. This makes the award a credible, data-driven signal of genuine organizational health — not a marketing exercise.
For Tampa Bay employers, small businesses, and HR professionals tracking best-in-class workplace standards, FrankCrum’s repeat placement on this list carries considerable weight.
FrankCrum’s Survey Results: The Numbers Behind the Recognition
The data from the Energage survey tells a compelling story. Across the full FrankCrum enterprise — which includes FrankCrum PEO, FrankCrum Staffing, Frank Winston Crum Insurance, and FrankCrum Insurance Agency — 80% of employees reported a favorable overall workplace experience, and a remarkable 90% said they would recommend FrankCrum as a place to work. The company also outperformed industry benchmarks on 21 of 25 survey statements, with the strongest results concentrated in company values alignment, supportive management practices, and employee development opportunities.
These metrics are not incidental. They reflect a sustained, deliberate investment in the employee experience — one that predates the current era of talent competition and continues to adapt as the company scales.
“The strength of any organization comes down to its people,” said Frank W. Crum, Jr., Founder and CEO of FrankCrum. “If you take care of your employees and build the right kind of culture, everything else tends to follow, from how you serve your clients to how you grow as a company. That’s something we’ve believed from the beginning, and it still guides how we operate today.”
How Does FrankCrum Maintain Its Culture During Rapid Expansion?
This is one of the defining questions facing any fast-growing employer — and it is precisely where FrankCrum’s approach stands apart. As the enterprise pushes into new geographic markets and invests in systems modernization, leadership has been intentional about using employee feedback as a structural compass rather than a periodic check-in.
“What makes this recognition so valuable is that it directly reflects what our employees actually think,” said David Peasall, Senior Vice President of Human Resources at FrankCrum. “The Top Workplaces survey gives us a consistent measure of our workplace experience, and we take that feedback seriously — using it to make real improvements. Over time, that consistency allows us to see what’s working, track our improvement, and just as importantly, it gives our employees the ability to see it too.”
This feedback loop — where survey data directly informs operational and cultural decisions — is increasingly recognized as a best practice in human capital management. For a PEO that advises thousands of client companies on HR strategy, payroll, and benefits administration, the credibility of practicing what it preaches is both a point of professional pride and a business differentiator.
A Tampa Bay Success Story With National Implications
Founded more than four decades ago in Clearwater, FrankCrum has grown from a local staffing operation into a multi-company enterprise employing hundreds of internal staff members while managing HR services for thousands of businesses across the country. Its core offerings span professional employer organization (PEO) services, staffing solutions, workers’ compensation insurance, and group health benefits — a comprehensive suite that positions the company as a one-stop HR partner for growing businesses.
The company’s expansion into Texas, Arizona, California, and Georgia reflects broader national demand for outsourced HR and workforce solutions as employers in every sector grapple with talent retention, regulatory complexity, and rising benefits costs. FrankCrum’s ability to scale these services while preserving its employee-first culture — evidenced by 16 consecutive regional Top Workplaces recognitions from the Tampa Bay Times — is a case study that holds lessons for any business navigating growth without sacrificing internal culture.
For the Tampa Bay region, FrankCrum’s national recognition is also a signal about the area’s broader emergence as a headquarters location for purpose-driven, high-growth businesses. Clearwater and the wider Tampa Bay market have attracted increasing attention from companies and capital in recent years, and employer recognition at this level contributes to that narrative in a tangible, data-backed way.
What This Means for Businesses Evaluating HR Partners in Florida
For small and mid-sized businesses across Florida considering a professional employer organization, a vendor’s internal culture is a meaningful — if often overlooked — due-diligence factor. A PEO’s ability to attract, retain, and engage its own employees is a direct proxy for the quality of expertise and consistency of service that client companies will receive. When 90% of a PEO’s workforce recommends it as a great place to work, that organizational health flows outward into every client interaction, benefit plan consultation, and payroll cycle.
FrankCrum’s dual recognition in 2026 — national and regional, two consecutive USA TODAY placements alongside 16 Tampa Bay Times honors — is as close to a validated track record as the employer recognition landscape offers. It reflects not a moment of cultural excellence, but a system that sustains it.
About FrankCrum
FrankCrum is a family of companies headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, dedicated to helping businesses grow and prosper. The enterprise includes FrankCrum (a Professional Employer Organization), FrankCrum Staffing, Frank Winston Crum Insurance, and FrankCrum Insurance Agency. Guided by a philosophy of doing the right thing for the right reasons, FrankCrum has been empowering employers and supporting workers nationwide for over four decades. For more information, visit frankcrum.com.
Media Contacts: Angie Garcia, Senior Vice President of Marketing — 727-799-1229 ext. 2365 | Devon Murray, Content and Digital Marketing Director — 727-799-1229 ext. 1360 | press@frankcrum.com
Further Reading: Tampa Bay & Florida Business Excellence
FrankCrum’s leadership understands that a strong internal culture is the most powerful defense against the talent volatility that continues to challenge Florida employers at every scale. The broader context of Florida’s persistent small-business labor shortage and the NFIB findings on unfilled positions makes clear why data-backed, employee-first policies aren’t a luxury — they’re a strategic necessity for any Florida company competing for qualified workers in a tight market.
As FrankCrum extends its footprint into Texas, Arizona, California, and Georgia, it joins a larger wave of Florida-based enterprises proving the Sunshine State produces more than regional businesses. An examination of why Florida’s business environment is fueling a national expansion surge reveals the tax-friendly, talent-rich conditions that make Clearwater an ideal headquarters for a company with ambitions far beyond its state borders.
Understanding how FrankCrum fits into the region’s competitive employment ecosystem requires a look at the scale of companies competing for the same workforce. A detailed profile of the top employers shaping Central Florida’s job market — from Disney’s 75,000-person workforce to specialized HR and payroll firms — illustrates the dense, competitive landscape in which FrankCrum has not only held its ground but earned recognition as a destination employer.
FrankCrum’s USA TODAY honor is part of a growing tradition of Florida businesses earning national and statewide recognition for operational excellence that goes beyond revenue metrics. The story of how Hubbard Electrical Contracting earned its 2024 Best of Florida Award for service excellence offers a parallel narrative — demonstrating how Florida companies across industries are winning credentialed recognition by prioritizing workforce quality and long-term commitment to their communities.
