Top Workplaces 2026: At Aquascape, waterfalls, athletic facilities and puzzles are part of the fun culture

A waterfall in the office isn’t what most people expect to see at work. For Miriam Blancas, it’s one of her favorite parts of working at Aquascape, Inc., in St. Charles.

“The entire day, all you hear is the waterfalls. Something about that is so calming because you don’t feel like you’re working in an enclosed office space,” Blancas said.

Aquascape designs and builds equipment and other products used in outdoor landscape ponds. It also has a retail shop, which showcases its products and designs, including waterfalls. Aquascape appears on the Chicago Tribune’s list of Top Workplaces for the first time this year, ranking 70th among small employers, as measured by the consultancy Energage in Exton, Pennsylvania.

Because Blancas coordinates the certification and training of landscape contractors who want to build ponds using Aquascape products, she works with every department in the company.

Blancas recalled how welcoming everyone was on her first day at Aquascape. Three years later, that feeling hasn’t changed. “Everyone’s willing to listen and talk and welcome you into their space, make you really feel like you’re not even in a business, but more like, I don’t know how to describe it, with friends among friends.”

Blancas isn’t the only employee who described Aquascape as a place that sounds less like work and more like … something else.

“The people here make it worth coming to work every day,” said Marketing Director Matt Robbie. “Most of us come to work and enjoy ourselves, and it’s very supportive. You can walk down the hall, and if you’re having a bad day, people try to encourage you and lift you up and check in on you.”

Robbie described the friendly camaraderie among employees. “You walk by people’s desks and say hi and start up a conversation, and three other people join in.”

The niche of pond construction

Aquascape operates globally, in a highly focused industry. “I get to work in a niche industry for a bootstrap entrepreneurial company that has an impact across multiple countries,” Robbie said. “The marketing that we do in my role is very unique.”

James Crowley, Aquascape Product Manager, also finds appeal in this atypical market. “I wouldn’t do product management for any product. I wouldn’t want to be a product manager for windows or furniture, but I do like what we do as a company.”

Yet, it’s not the specialty that makes Aquascape a great place to work.

Crowley sees Aquascape’s work environment as a reflection of founder and CEO Greg Wittstock’s personality. “He is very passionate. There is no difference between business and personal. He cares about each and every one of his employees on a personal level. I don’t think I could find anything like that at any other company.”

President Colleen Heitzler, who has been with Aquascape since 2001, has seen the company survive recessions and downturns. “We’ve had the valleys and the mountaintops, and we’ve done that all together. It just knits us together.”

The calculus that builds this environment isn’t happenstance. Heitzler emphasized the big role that open communication plays at Aquascape, from weekly leadership huddles and one-on-one meetings to quarterly executive team meetings “where we just all come together and share what’s working, share what’s not working, where do we want to go?”

Something is working.

“Those that sweat together stick together.”

The founder of Aquascape has a mantra based on his experience with team sports: “Those that sweat together stick together.”

Heitzler said the company embodies that mantra. Employees are referred to as “teammates,” and on-site employee facilities are a huge hit.

“We have a gym, a basketball court, volleyball court, soccer field, hot tub, cold plunge,” said Vice President of Human Resources Jennifer Peck. Employees can use the facilities during the week or on weekends. “When [the owner] designed this building, he wanted a place where employees could have work and have fun as well,” Peck said.

Aquascape also organizes companywide events like annual kayaking trips on the Fox River, on-site volleyball and basketball tournaments during the Olympics, and more.

The idea of sweating with co-workers initially sounded awkward to Crowley. “Then I do it, and I’m like, this is the most fun I’ve had at work in my entire life. It’s not just about the work, but it’s about having fun with the people you’re with.”

Blancas described another benefit of the gyms and gardens. “If you feel like you’re having a bad day and you just can’t seem to concentrate, go and work out for a bit or enjoy the gardens. You can step away from your desk for like fifteen, twenty minutes and regroup, reassess and come back.”

For those who don’t like to sweat, Aquascape offers alternative group activities, like puzzles in the lunchroom and group volunteer days for local nonprofits.

Beyond fun and games

The culture at Aquascape is driven by the leadership team.

“The leadership team promotes the culture that [the owner] wants to have here as a company where it’s fun, it’s inviting, it’s community, it’s supportive,” Robbie said.

Being supportive means allowing for mistakes. “This is important to me and all of the executives on our team,” Heitzler said. “Mistakes are something that always, always, always happen. Mistakes are not the problem. Not learning from them is. So we try to create an environment that lets people make mistakes and learn.”

Both Robbie and Blancas also see diversity playing an important part in strengthening the Aquascape community.

For Robbie, the diversity helps give Aquascape “that family feel.” Blancas says that different cultures at Aquascape are “respectfully represented, and when you’re in an environment that does that, it just really makes you feel welcomed, appreciated, and heard.”

Peck emphasized Aquascape’s priority for work-life balance. “We really respect that employees have families at home, and we allow them to take that time off to help with their families. We allow flexibility so that they can drop their child off or pick them up at school.”

Surveys are used for research and improvement, whether for data on pay equity or seeking feedback from employees, Peck said.

This isn’t just talk, according to Blancas, who shared that Aquascape will seek input even on things like music in the building. “It’s so refreshing to have someone request your feedback, and then either try to implement it or actually implement it.”

“You truly love your job when you work here,” Blancas said.

John W. Bateman is a freelance writer.