OUTCOME OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IS WIN-WIN
11-24-2002

Boston Globe
John Edwards

The importance of active, coordinated community involvement cannot be overstated. It was illustrated on a profound scale in New York City after Sept. 11, when inspired local leaders and determined volunteers galvanized and sustained a community of 8 million. It was also demonstrated at the grass-roots level here in Massachusetts, where in the face of canceled orders and delayed payments the strongest of our small businesses continued to give back to their communities through the volunteer work of their chief executives and their employees.
Through these positive efforts, small-business owners strengthen their own ranks, enhance the quality of life in their communities, and heighten the public's perception of their businesses.
The bottom line: Doing good for others is good for small business.
Fleet has learned much about the community involvement model through the 1,500 small businesses recently nominated for our second annual Fleet Small Business Leadership Awards program. More than 600 companies were nominated for achievements in the community involvement category, more than twice the number of nominations in any of the other four groups.
Here's why:
* By volunteering in the community, small-business owners can apply leadership skills to a broader stage - all the better for prospective customers and employees to observe. These bosses convey their commitment to volunteerism and implicitly give their employees permission to demonstrate leadership.
When coupled with a company policy supporting company-paid volunteer time, this is even more potent.
* CEOs with vision know that relentless pressure hampers creativity and production. By taking time off the job or after hours to volunteer, executives and their employees gain perspective on work/life balance, feel better about their company, and return to the job refreshed, rather like taking a vacation for the mind.
* Serving on community projects gives a busy business owner a rare opportunity to acquire new skills and experience. Jumping into a project to fill a crucial community need gives small-business owners the opportunity to build expertise for themselves and their colleagues in areas normally outside their direct line of work.
* There are few better ways of networking with potential customers, suppliers, or strategic allies than by serving together on a community program. It also bonds employees, who come to appreciate the newfound interests and talents of their co-workers.
* Prospective residents and businesses always want to know: Is this a community with spirit and a sense of pride? By contributing to the community, small businesses help to create an environment where other corporations and their employees will want to settle.
Take Dancing Deer Baking Co., whose all-natural baked goods created in Roxbury enjoy a national reputation for freshness and excellence. Its Sweet Home Project is a joint effort with the One Family Campaign, an initiative of the Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, to end family homelessness. Profits from the sale of Sweet Home's house-shaped cookies go to help homeless families get jobs and move into their own homes.
Today, as in the past, this special mix of leadership and volunteerism provided by small businesses continues to reinforce our quality of life, our resiliency, and our spirit.