Company is also a winner on the emerging enterprise: 201–999 employees and skilled laborers lists
NEW ORLEANS — Fast Company today announced its eighth annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list, recognizing businesses that are creating cultures where innovation can thrive at every level. RNGD earned the No. 62 spot on the 2026 list of the 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators and was also named a winner on the Emerging Enterprise: 201–999 Employees and Skilled Laborers lists. The company was recognized for the Renegade Delivery Method (RDM), its operating system for continuously improving how the built world gets made — one that combines culture, process, technology, manufacturing capability, and construction expertise into a single way of thinking and working. RDM challenges assumptions, breaks down silos, and aligns people around one mission: delivering better outcomes for customers through relentless learning, innovation, and execution excellence.
The 2026 Best Workplaces for Innovators list recognizes 100 companies across industries such as entertainment, biotech, consumer packaged goods, marketing, education, and healthcare. To be considered, applicants detailed their investment in innovation, internal programs, and company culture. Fast Company’s editors evaluated each application and conducted extensive research to develop a score for each company. A distinguished panel of judges then reviewed the top-rated companies to determine the final honorees.
“This award is special, because it isn’t about a product or a project – it’s about our people,” said Wes Palmisano, Founder and CEO at RNGD. “We exist to revolutionize how we build, and you don’t do that with a strategy deck. You do it with a team that refuses the industry’s limits. Innovation at RNGD isn’t a department; it’s every renegade’s job. The fact that Fast Company recognized us alongside our skilled craft professionals is the part I’m proudest of, because the best ideas in this company come off the jobsite as often as they come out of a conference room. Renegade thinking, revolutionary results – that’s not a tagline, it’s how we show up. One team, one mission.”
The recognition caps a standout year for RNGD. The firm ranked No. 394 on Engineering News-Record’s 2026 Top 400 General Contractors list, earned a spot on the 2026 Inc. 5000, and grew to more than 500 employees across five states while delivering landmark projects including the Lewter District in Huntsville, Alabama, the BW Cooper redevelopment in New Orleans, and the LA-424 Washington Parish Bridge. That growth has not come at the expense of its people: RNGD was named an Inc. Best Workplace for the second consecutive year, ranked No. 2 among midsize employers on the Times-Picayune | NOLA.com Top Workplaces list, maintains a 94% retention rate, and received a Merit Award for National Health and Safety Excellence from Associated Builders and Contractors.
“The most innovative workplaces don’t simply ask their employees to come up with great ideas; they create the conditions that make great ideas possible,” says Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “This year’s honorees understand that innovation is ultimately a cultural commitment that requires empowering people to think differently, take risks, and turn ideas into actions. We’re proud to recognize the companies and executives who are leading by example.”
The full list of honorees is available at https://www.fastcompany.com/best-workplaces-for-innovators/list.
The Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators issue (Fall 2026) is available online now and will hit newsstands on September 22.
About RNGD
RNGD is a top-tier national leader in construction services and one of the fastest-growing businesses in the Southeast U.S. Since the company’s founding in 2013, RNGD has challenged the status quo and brought an entrepreneurial mindset to the construction industry. Repeatedly honored by Inc. magazine, Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) and Engineering News-Record (ENR), RNGD is reimagining construction for revolutionary results. To learn more, please visit rngd.com.