Maine has quite a few businesses that are among the best in the country.

Here are Maine employers ranked among the best in the country by their employees according to Forbes.

• MaineHealth
• L.L. Bean
• University of Maine
• Jackson Laboratory
• Maine State Government

Forbes conducts their annual best places to work survey by asking anonymously, 60,000 employees about their work experience. MaineBiz reported that it's based on a 10-point scale of how likely they’d be to recommend their employer. They also rated working conditions, development opportunities, compensation, and other factors. See the full list here.

MaineHealth

MaineHealth this past year, raised the minimum wage for over 18,000 workers from $14 dollars an hour to $17 dollars an hour. This was to compensate for the hardship of Covid and staff shortages. Portland's MaineHealth was 6th among healthcare businesses in the country and 13th among large employers. They have over 23,000 employees in 9 hospital networks (including Maine Medical in Portland), along with clinics, labs, home health, and a physician practice with 1,700 doctors. This is MaineHealth's first time on Forbes' 'America's Best Large Employers list.

L.L.Bean

L.L.Bean was ranked 35th for midsize companies (1,000 to 5,000 employees). L.L. Bean has made this list before. In fact, back in 2016, they were ranked #1! It is consistently a favorite among employees to work and shop.

University of Maine

UMaine came in at #160. This is their first time making the Forbes list. The University of Maine is the state's premier public research institution with specializations in forestry, marine sciences, climate change, and STEM.

The Jackson Laboratory

JAX came in at #287 and this was a first for the drug and biotech firm based in Bar Harbor in the midsize category. JAX is critical with its mission to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community all to improve human health. They are also the world’s source for more than 7,000 strains of genetically defined mice. And apparently, a great place to work too!

State of Maine

Maine's government has been on the Forbes list before. This year they ranked #435 among large employers (they have just under 22,000 employees). Apparently working FOR Maine is better than working IN Maine. Maine has been in the bottom ten in Forbes' Best States for Business every year since the inaugural 2006 ranking. It ranked last four straight years between 2010 and 2013.

The Forbes list includes large (over 5,000 employees) and mid-size employers (1,000 - 5,000 employees). But what's fascinating is that those businesses make up a small portion of all the businesses in the country. In fact, 99.9% of all businesses in the U.S. have less than 500 employees. Go small business. Truly the backbone of America!