A $100,000 check presented to United Way of Lowndes County by PACCAR last week underlined a culture of giving the company has fostered since it opened its Columbus facility more than five years ago.
“We try to instill a family attitude here at the facility,” said plant manager Lance Walters last week. “It’s kind of a PACCAR thing, and part of the family is being connected to the community.”
Walters stressed that it’s not just about giving money. From the corporate level down, PACCAR encourages employees to get involved in their communities by finding ways to help out.
Over this past holiday season, the company’s 500-plus local employees “adopted” 10 families by buying needed Christmas gifts such as bedding, toys, books and kitchen supplies.
PACCAR employees pledge to give a certain amount of each paycheck to United Way. Employees also hold events to raise money, like ugly sweater contests and Halloween competition costumes, said area Human Resources manager Ashley Lewter, who is credited with spearheading many of the campaigns. They held a coat drive and a food drive during Christmas of 2014. They’ve had a chili cook off, a basketball shoot off, blue jean Fridays and more.
PACCAR employees who are EMTs helped after natural disasters like the tornado in Louisville, Walters said. Many employees sit on boards in organizations like the Boy Scouts. Lewter attends job fairs and gives presentations at MSU, while company engineers judge robotics competitions, Lewter said. Educational groups from EMCC and MSU tour the facilities, Walters said.
Corporate giving
At the corporate level, PACCAR finds ways to give back, specifically by supporting education, according to the company’s website. Since it was founded, PACCAR has made $160 million in grants all over the world, the majority of those grants for education, the website said.
When PACCAR started in Columbus, PACCAR Foundation donated to Mississippi State University, and some of the money that goes back into the community annually comes from the foundation as well, said Walters.
This holiday season’s giving campaign was capped off by a $100,000 check from the PACCAR Foundation to United Way. United Way of Lowndes County Executive Director Patricia Brock says that money will go directly toward funding other local non-profit organizations through United Way’s allocation process.
Building a culture begins with hiring
Community involvement is something PACCAR specifically looks for in employees. Community responsibility is one of PACCAR’s core values, and promoting that starts on the employees’ first day, Lewter said. Employees sometimes make suggestions about which organizations to promote or what activities to get involved in. In fact, when the company holds events and charities for organizations other than United Way, it’s often because PACCAR employees suggested it.
Prior to working for PACCAR, several employees benefited from organizations like United Way and Helping Hands.
“The fact that we have some employees that have benefited, they were able to give testimonials to other employees which gave them some incentive to also participate in some things,” Walters said.
“But all of this is purely voluntary,” he added. “We’ve got a great work force here. We think we got that way because when we hired, we tried to take into consideration values and not just the next number on the list hiring process. And so when you get people here, they all kind of think the same, are on the same page, so when something comes up, they’re more likely to tend to rally around and participate … It really starts with the initial hiring.”
Community involvement also benefits the employees, Walters said, which in turn benefits the company. When employees are involved with each other and with the community, it creates a more positive atmosphere in which to work.
“We don’t want people to just come here and just put in eight hours and go home,” Walters said. “If somebody is enjoying their work and they have pride in what they do, they’re going to build a better quality product and because their morale is higher, they’re going to be safer, they’re going to be more efficient, and there’s going to be more teamwork involved.”
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