Fifteen South Carolina companies have been named the Best Places to Work in the state.

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce partnered with the Society for Human Resource Management-?South Carolina State Council, SCJobNetwork.com and Setcom Media, publisher of the Charleston Regional Business Journal, to create the inaugural competition naming the best places to work in the state.

The program is a multi-year initiative to encourage South Carolina companies to focus, measure and move their workplace environments toward excellence. Best Companies Group, an independent research company, surveyed the participating businesses. The selection process was based on an assessment of the company’s employee policies and procedures and the results of a 65-question employee survey.

All participating companies will receive an Assessment Findings Report in August, which not only summarizes and sorts employee feedback, but also will include South Carolina benchmarking data for comparison purposes. The report will enable the companies to develop and implement the strategic steps necessary to create a great workplace and continue to improve the performance of their business.

The companies that made the list will find out where they rank at a special recognition event during the annual Society for Human Resource Management-?S.C. State Council conference in October.

The goal of Best Places to Work in South Carolina is to raise the bar among the state’s employers and create excellence and employee satisfaction in the workplace that will attract talented people for years to come.

The winning companies, listed alphabetically, are:

Buist Byars & Taylor, LLC

Buist Moore Smythe McGee PA, Charleston

Carolinas Hospital System, Florence

Colonial Supplemental Insurance, Columbia

Edward Jones

FGP International, Greenville

First Financial Holdings Inc., Charleston

First Reliance Bank, Florence

Life Cycle Engineering, Charleston

Shred First LLC, Spartanburg

South Carolina Bank and Trust Financial Corp.

South Carolina Education Lottery, Columbia

South Carolina State Credit Union, Columbia

The Jackson Companies, Myrtle Beach

Time Warner Cable-South Carolina Division