MANKATO — AgStar Financial Services, ACA, has been named one of the Top Workplaces in Minnesota after an employee-based survey project from the Star Tribune. The Star Tribune Top Workplaces special section was published June 19.

Top Workplaces recognizes the most progressive companies in Minnesota based on employee opinions about company leadership, communication, career opportunities, workplace environment, managerial skills, pay and benefits. The analysis included responses from more than 60,500 employees at Minnesota public, private and nonprofit organizations.

“AgStar is proud to be placed on this honorable list,” said John Hemstock, vice president of human resources at AgStar. “Our workplace environment, compensation packages and emphasis on learning and development speak for themselves, but seeing these efforts recognized is a great achievement for this company.”

The list was compiled by the same team that compiles the 20-year-old Star Tribune 100 report of the best-performing public companies in Minnesota. The results of the Star Tribune Top Workplaces are based on survey information collected by WorkplaceDynamics, an independent company specializing in employee engagement and retention. AgStar was recognized as one of the additional Top 40 workplaces.

“The companies in the Star Tribune Top Workplaces deserve high praise for creating the very best work environments in the state of Minnesota. My congratulations to each of these exceptional companies,” said Star Tribune Publisher Michael J. Klingensmith.

To qualify for the Star Tribune Top Workplaces, a company must have more than 50 employees in Minnesota. More than 1,200 companies were invited to participate. Rankings were composite scores calculated purely on the basis of employee responses. The report can be found online at StarTribune.com/topworkplaces2011.