ProQuest Honored with Inaugural Huron Valley Award of Excellence
Ann Arbor-based information technology firm ProQuest has been honored by the United Way of Washtenaw County with the group’s first-ever Huron Valley Award of Excellence. The regional United Way agency launched the award to spotlight companies that go above and beyond in their support. ProQuest was selected as the first recipient in recognition of its employees’ participation and its significant involvement in United Way events, boards and committees
“In the six short years since ProQuest began their partnership with United Way of Washtenaw County, their campaign has more than tripled,” said Sandy Rupp, president of United Way of Washtenaw County. “They have an active campaign committee, are a Cornerstone Sponsor, and are deeply involved in helping this United Way allocate precious campaign dollars to our agency partners.”
ProQuest’s involvement in the United Way extends beyond contribution and includes involvement in events such as Days of Caring and service on both the United Way Board of Directors and its Campaign Committee. Its efforts with the United Way are part of the company’s active volunteer program that encourages employees to get involved in community initiatives. In 2011, the company launched a program that provides every employee with two paid days off each year to perform volunteer work. “Supporting ‘community’ is an important part of ProQuest’s heritage,” said Rod Gauvin, ProQuest senior vice president, publishing and a board member of the Huron Valley United Way. “The United Way Workplace Campaign has been a cornerstone of our giveback efforts and has served to inspire our employees to find many new ways to support the community through volunteer efforts and fundraising.”
ProQuest employees not only contribute and volunteer, but work to inspire others by forming campaign committees, hosting kick-off events and arranging brown bag lunches to raise awareness and encourage participation. The company’s local involvement includes not only the United Way, but also Food Gatherers, the American Red Cross’ annual blood drives and disaster relief efforts, Susan G. Komen, March of Dimes, Ann Arbor SPARK, Big House/Big Heart Run, Washtenaw Workforce Development, Fight for Air Climb and others. The company’s executives serve on boards for Washtenaw Literacy, March of Dimes, Ann Arbor SPARK and Washtenaw Workforce Development.
“ProQuest people are people who care -- and when they see a need they do something to help,” said Mr. Gauvin.
The Huron Valley Award of Excellence will be presented annually to a company that sets a stretch goal, encourages leadership giving, provides opportunities for their employees to learn about United Way, supports volunteerism, commits time and talent to United Way in leadership roles, makes a corporate gift and provides sponsorship dollars to increase United Way’s communication to current donors and outreach to prospective donors. For more information visit www.uwwashtenaw.org.
Participating in United Way is not only the right thing to do for any business; it is the smart thing to do for every business and organization,” said Mr. Gauvin. “We are very pleased and most grateful to be recognized and look forward to working side by side with the United Way to contribute to the betterment of communities for years to come.”
About ProQuest (www.proquest.com)
ProQuest connects people with vetted, reliable information. Key to serious research, the company has forged a 70-year reputation as a gateway to the world’s knowledge – from dissertations to governmental and cultural archives to news, in all its forms. Its role is essential to libraries and other organizations whose missions depend on the delivery of complete, trustworthy information.
ProQuest’s massive information pool is accessible through the all-new ProQuest® platform, which moves beyond navigation to empower researchers to use, create, and share content—accelerating research productivity.
This energetic, fast-growing organization includes the Summon™ web-scale discovery service, the new ProQuest Dialog™ service, and business units ebrary®, Serials Solutions®, RefWorks-COS™, and Bowker®.