
Top Workplaces honoree RCI puts the world - and its employees
Some of the company's most unique employee perks include generous travel benefits, including free resort vacations, and discounts on car rentals, resorts, hotels, activities, airfare and more.
'The travel benefits here are great. and there is so much to offer when it comes to travelling how you want to,' Cruz added. 'The health benefits and financial well-being benefits are great as well.'
Aside from traditional medical benefits, other benefits include paid time off for volunteering and a company charity match program. The company also offers domestic partner benefits, an employee stock purchase plan, and annual wellness benefits.
RCI promotes a vibrant workplace culture through unique and creative events that celebrate its employees. The company also sponsors and volunteers at several annual Christel House Academy events including festivals and back to school preparations.
'The company keeps the workplace exciting with daily, quarterly, and monthly contests offering gift cards, incentives, and other prizes,' said Carolyn Mitchell, a travel guide. 'Employees are treated with perks such as amusement park tickets, excursions and fun parties. RCI sponsors a yearly contest, and I have been honored to be among the winners. The company salutes the winners with a week of recognition with the 'top brass' in attendance. I appreciated the investment and acknowledgement.'
Cruz and Arianna Barham, a business interruption specialist, have held multiple positions and cite the company's efforts to promote from within.
'During my time at RCI, I've worked in four different departments, gaining valuable knowledge with each transition,' Barham said. 'I feel truly valued at RCI because my boss listens when I bring up concerns or solutions, and takes action. I'm recognized for going the extra mile, whether it's handling a tough case or stepping in without being asked. My leadership team shows appreciation in many ways, from kind words and gift cards to cheerful GIFs that always brighten my day.'
The company also supports flexible work arrangements, employees note, allowing them to swap shifts and select from a range of scheduling options.
'RCI offers varied scheduling opportunities, so whether you are a night owl or early bird, you have options tailored to your lifestyle,' Mitchell said. 'RCI provides flexibility, generous benefits, great perks, and a supportive management team.'
Bottom Line
Founded: 1974
Headquarters: Carmel
Company profile: Vacation/Travel exchange platform
Locations: 1
Number of employees: 620

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The Reseda-West Van Nuys community falls near the middle of the city's 34 community planning areas and will need 13,885 new housing units to meet its target. At one extreme, 14,000 single-family homes would meet the need. At the other it would take 1,400 100-unit buildings. The first is unfeasible — there isn't that much land — and the other, a new high-rise canyon, would be unpalatable. The Pacific Urbanism staff imagined a hybrid model that, they believe, would allow Reseda to achieve its goal with the least amount of community angst. The plan looks a lot like a return to the building patterns of the 1970s but with a few significant differences. Like then, more than half of the new units would be provided in large and medium-size apartment buildings. But in place of single-family home construction that was already dwindling, almost a quarter of the new units would come from new housing types that did not exist then — accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and the conversion of existing commercial space into housing. Above all, the pace of development would have to increase precipitously to reach the state's 2029 goal. The reimagined Reseda includes 37 buildings of 100 or more units, 73 medium-size buildings of 25 to 99 units and 484 duplex and small apartment buildings of up to 24 units. There would be 1,854 ADUs, including more than 1,000 that have already been built or permitted since 2020 and more than a thousand units in commercial conversions. A similar result could be achieved with a different mix of housing types. But Dario Rodman Alvarez, Pacific Urbanism president, says that his organization's hybrid scenario, based on building trends across the city, is the most feasible, if those trends persist. Some progress has been made. Since 2019, city law has given single-family homeowners a right to build second units on their property. A raft of recent state laws provides incentives to builders and homeowners such as increased density for affordable housing and up to four units on single-family lots. And Mayor Karen Bass' Executive Order 1 streamlined the approval of affordable projects. Those changes have helped, but don't 'get us anywhere close to what's needed to meet the target, much less in an equitable way where all communities contribute a fair share,' Alvarez said. According to his calculations, the current rate of construction in Reseda would have to increase 16-fold to meet the target by 2029. Pacific Urbanism proposes upgrading the zoning from medium- to high-density near the intersection of Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way and creating medium-density zones to replace much of what is now single-family residences and small businesses. A review of the Reseda-West Van Nuys community plan, including the zoning, is underway and is in the consulting phase. It's expected to be complete in a year or two. Considering the fight that single-family communities generally put up to preserve the character of what has come to represent the 'American Dream' — and the single family home and yard —there's no guarantee those changes will be made. The state housing mandate requires the city only to create a pathway to the housing targets by adjusting zoning that is currently too restrictive. If you've spent time in the San Fernando Valley, it would be easy to view the overhead electrical transmission lines that stretch for more than 20 miles simply as essential wallpaper of modern living. The lines help ensure that 1.6 million households and businesses across the city can turn on the lights through a mostly uninterrupted band of 100- to 200-foot tall towers on a 150-foot wide strip of land. But what if that land, which travels through the heart of Northridge, Granada Hills, Mission Hills, Arleta and North Hollywood, could continue to power Los Angeles while also meeting the housing needs of tens of thousands of people? The idea is almost too simple: Put the transmission lines underground and homes on top. We wish such an innovative concept was ours. But it comes from Jingyi 'Jessy' Qiu, a Boston-based landscape designer who conceived of the idea while studying at the Harvard Graduate School of Design a few years ago. In Qiu's vision, the project reclaims dead space in the middle of bustling neighborhoods for the public good. Qiu calls the right of way beneath the power lines 'a land of opportunity to solve the housing problem in L.A.' The project ticks many of the boxes for what large, sustainable development in Los Angeles can be. It's climate-friendly. As the region becomes hotter and drier, taking down overhead power lines lowers the risk of sparking wildfires. And by building in established communities, new residents will be able to reduce their commutes for work and shopping, while existing residents will have new offices and stores nearby. There's a way to pay for it. At one point, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which owns the lines and the land underneath, told us it would cost roughly $100 million to put the lines underground. More recently, the public utility said it couldn't provide a price tag, and that, although possible, undergrounding transmission lines is rare, complex and expensive. An optimist would respond that revenue from the new development could cover much of, if not all, the cost, especially since the land itself would be free. It's a lot of housing. By Qiu's calculations, 23,000 homes could be built along the 20 miles. Qiu modeled the project through designing superblocks that could be repeated end to end throughout each community. Neighborhoods and topography along the route differ and so does the planned development. In North Hollywood, a denser mix of small apartments, mixed-use complexes and single-family homes with casitas fills the flatlands. In Granada Hills, lower densities fit in the highlands. In Northridge, student housing is prioritized near the state university. Today, people who live near the power lines complain of dust, litter and loitering, and worry about wires falling in high winds and storms. It's not that the right of way under the power lines now is unkempt. Many nursery businesses fill the land underneath. Landscaping is maintained. It's just that, as one neighbor put it, barren land attracts negative activity. Of all things, the right of way is dark at night. Besides housing, the development opens up space to the broader community. There's room for continued nursery operations while adding parks, courtyards and shared gardens. Qiu even proposes repurposing some existing transmission towers, especially in the hills, into platforms for bird-watching. One fear, of course, is adding this many new homes to an existing area could cause congestion. But the 20-mile stretch of homes ensures that traffic would be spread out. Superblocks could tie into the current road network and add parking while also providing long and unified bike and pedestrian infrastructure — not to mention the centralized open and community space — to neighborhoods lacking it now. A future Los Angeles that takes its housing and climate challenges seriously will have to look for opportunities to make better use of space. Fitting 23,000 new homes into the Valley by redeveloping a land now used for a relic hits that mark.