Perdue Farms won a silver-level Stevie Award for "Most Valuable Employer in the COVID-19 Response" category in the fifth annual Stevie Awards for Great Employers.

The Stevie Awards annually recognize the world’s best employers and the human resources professionals, teams, achievements and HR-related products and suppliers who help to create and drive great places to work. The COVID-19 response categories were created this year to honor companies or individuals that have worked valiantly over the past months to keep employees safe, healthy, employed, paid and informed.

“As a fourth-generation, family-owned company in our 100th year, it’s in our nature to put our people first, and COVID-19 is no exception,” said Perdue Farms CEO Randy Day. Perdue continues to enforce CDC safety measures and communicate with associates, including translating and sharing information in multiple languages, through daily meetings, take-home flyers, and its open-door communication policy, and ensuring an open dialogue with local community leaders by hosting webinars from its facilities.

More than 700 nominations from organizations of all sizes were submitted this year for consideration in a wide range of HR-related categories, and more than 90 professionals worldwide participated in the judging process. The name Stevie is taken from the name Stephen, which is derived from the Greek for "crowned." The awards are managed by Stevie Awards Inc.

In addition to keeping its associates protected, Perdue has delivered more than 1.5 million pounds of protein (six million servings) to food banks, COVID-19 hunger-relief efforts and healthcare workers and first responders. Perdue is the 28th largest U.S. and Canadian food or beverage processor, according to Food Processings annual Top 100 list.