RACINE - This time, Fortune has placed two local Johnson family companies among the 50 best places in the country to work.

SC Johnson, the Racine-based consumer products manufacturer, has been a perennial member on that list and made it again this time at No. 27. The list was released Tuesday.

"I cannot think of a more accurate reflection of a company's values than how it treats the people who work there," said SC Johnson Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Fisk Johnson stated in a news release. "Supporting the well-being of the work force and building a culture where people can thrive is not just the right thing to do, it's the foundation for innovation and results.

SCJ employs 3,420 people, about 2,600 of them locally.

Making the Fortune list for the first time was Johnson Financial Group, the $5 billion parent company of Johnson Bank and Johnson Insurance. Johnson Financial is ranked No. 37 on Fortune's 11th annual list.

The company has close to 750 employees in Southeastern Wisconsin and 1,260 in total.

"It is a tremendous honor to be named to this prestigious list the very first time we were nominated," stated Richard Hansen, president and chief executive officer of Johnson Financial Group.

"To be identified nationally, when I think about the huge base of employers in America, to be even found and identified is a bit of a task," he said. "We firmly believe being a workplace of choice for our associates translates into our being the financial institution of choice for our clients.

Milwaukee-based Robert W. Baird also made the list at No. 39.

The full list and related stories will appear in the Feb. 4 issue of Fortune, available on newsstands Monday and at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune today.

To pick the "100 Best Companies to Work for", Fortune works with Robert Levering and Milton Moskowitz of the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America.

Of some 1,500 firms contacted, 406 companies participated in this year's survey. Nearly 100,000 employees at those companies responded to a 57-question survey created by the institute, a global research and consulting firm.

Two-thirds of a company's score is based on results of the survey, which is sent to a minimum of 400 randomly selected employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about the management's credibility, job satisfaction and camaraderie.

The other one-third of the scoring is based on the company's responses to the institute's culture audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communications, training, recognition programs and diversity efforts.

After evaluations are completed, if news about a company comes to light that may significantly damage employees' faith in management, that company may be excluded from the list.

Any company that is at least seven years old with more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible. The deadline for applying for next year's list is March 31, 2008. For an online nomination form, go to http://www.greatplacetowork.com.