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Home / Washington Business - November/December 2005 / Businesses Step Up When Government Fumbles |
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Businesses Step Up When Government Fumbles |
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Written On: November/December 2005 |
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Written By: by Alexis Nepomuceno |
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Shortly after the initial shock of Hurricane Katrina, stories began trickling in about the generous response from the business community. As policymakers enter a new legislative session in 2006, they should consider the greater role job providers undertake in the community.
One-third of the economies of the affected states were wiped out, and hundreds of thousands of people lost jobs. Amid the finger pointing between local, state and federal governments, the private sector served as a calming force where chaos seemed present everywhere else.
AWB President Don Brunell asked members to share what they did to help in the disaster relief efforts. Here are some examples of how AWB members provided assistance:
• BP PLC committed $1 million and said it would match employee contributions to disaster relief.
• Chevron Corp. pledged $5 million to support recovery efforts in communities affected by Hurricane Katrina.
• Comcast Corp. donated $10 million worth of advertising time.
• Kimberly-Clark Corp. donated $600,000 in cash and product support.
• Intel Corp. donated $1 million and matched employee contributions.
• Microsoft Corp. pledged $1 million and sent several technology experts
to help the Red Cross. The company also made available three high-tech buses for use in remote areas.
• Pfizer Inc. committed $2 million in donations, along with medicine, consumer-health products and animal-health products.
• Potlatch Corp. extended a company match, dollar for dollar, for employee contributions, and donated three truckloads of sanitary paper products (bathroom and facial tissue) from its Texas distribution center to Save The Children. This AWB member also sent two emergency relief teams from its Lewiston, Idaho, company fire department.
• Qwest pledged $250,000 in matching funds for employee contributions and donated satellite phones for police and search-and-rescue operations. The company also sent technicians to the area to assist in rebuilding the telecommunications infrastructure.
• Weyerhaeuser, through its foundation, sent $500,000 to the American Red Cross and $100,000 to several community-based, non-profits throughout the disaster-designated counties. The company sent personnel to Gulfport, Miss. to work directly with employees who suffered losses, and established an "Employee-to-Employee" assistance fund to provide impacted employees and retirees financial support.
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. donated more than $24 million and sent truckloads of water, batteries and emergency medical kits to the affected region.
• AWB pledged $20,000 to help its sister organizations in Louisiana and Mississippi.
By late October, more than $1 billion had been donated by businesses to aid in the Katrina relief efforts, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In fact, a total of 245 companies pledged at least $1 million each in cash or in-kind donations.
Additionally, a lot of small businesses contributed $5,000 to $10,000 donations and many provided supplies and manpower to help with the disaster relief. These are extraordinarily generous considering these donations make up a higher proportion of total revenues for the smaller companies.
Certainly, more AWB members than listed here contributed to relief efforts. AWB just wanted to inform Washington Business Magazine readers about the efforts the business community has played and continues to play in helping an entire region get back on its feet. Lawmakers should take heed and consider the greater impacts on society when job providers are forced to shut down or relocate.
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