Ingredients for a Best Place to Work: Charles River Apparel (asi/44620) is a third-generation family business. Walter Lipsett started the company in 1983, and his son Barry built it into an industry staple. Grandson Jason Lipsett, who joined in 2013 and worked his way up through every corner of the business, was promoted to president and CEO last year, the same age his father was when he first took the helm. “It’s my family’s business, but that’s not why I value being here,” Jason Lipsett says. “I’m very passionate about developing a culture that can support growth – and support the growth of our employees.”

Charles River Apparel (asi/44620) employees participate in a cleanup of the Charles River for Earth Day.

The common thread of success from all three generations, Jason Lipsett says, is forging relationships. His grandfather passed it to his father; his father passed it to him. It means knowing your partners, customers and employees well enough to solve problems together rather than around each other. What Jason Lipsett is adding to that legacy is a newer playbook: monthly company-wide town halls to keep everyone up-to-date and a brand partnership with the New England Patriots. “We have a really strong reputation,” he says. “We’re putting a modern twist on things, with very focused, intentional reasoning behind it.”

Top Benefits & Perks: The company is doubling down on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a core differentiator, with its first CSR annual report. For employees, that sense of purpose – being part of a business that is ever-evolving after 40-plus years – is increasingly part of the draw. The flat, communicative culture Lipsett is building, where everyone from sales reps on the road to the leadership team is looped in on where the company is headed and why, reflects his belief that transparency is the key to communication.

Parting Tip: Lipsett says the most important principle hasn’t changed over the decades: relationships. “It was a big focus of my dad and my grandfather,” he says. At Charles River Apparel, that means deeply understanding partners, customers and employees and using those relationships to solve problems collaboratively and strengthen the business over time.

If Charles River Apparel Were a Movie, It Would Be Moneyball. It’s a success story, Lipsett says, that “takes a new approach,” rather than following the “traditional model of how decisions are being made.”