For the second consecutive year, Hope College has been named one of the "101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For" in West Michigan.

The competition is a program of the Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) and the National Association for Business Resources (NABR). Hope and the region's other 2007 winners will be recognized during an awards luncheon at The Pinnacle Center in Hudsonville on Thursday, May 3.

Businesses are evaluated in nine categories: communication, community initiatives, compensation and benefits, diversity and multiculturalism, employee education and development, employee engagement and commitment, recognition and retention, recruitment and selection, and work-life balance. Considerations within each category include a unique thought process with top support from senior management and policy makers; the quality of programs, services and solutions for employees; and adaptation to new factors in the marketplace.

The West Michigan honorees have been selected from nominations in a region running from Traverse City in the north, to Kalamazoo in the east and New Buffalo in the south. Separate competitions are also held for companies based in Chicago, Ill., and metropolitan Detroit.