Integrity is doing the right thing, even if no one is watching.”

Unknown

Beyond the Expected

Founding Partners

Finalists and Recipients

Congratulations to the 2007 Recipients!

Business Category:
Bike Gallery

The Bike Gallery’s collaboration with local advocacy groups, including the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, has helped Portland become the #1 City for Bicycling in North America. The Bike Gallery’s mission of “connecting Portlanders with bicycles for healthier hearts, minds and communities” is a simple goal that has contributed profoundly to the livability and image of our community. Through exceptional customer service and extensive community activity, the Bike Gallery has helped make Portland a mecca for bicyclists, contributing immeasurably to Oregon’s environment and lifestyle.

The Bike Gallery promotes bicycle use in Portland in many ways, all the while benefiting the community. It was an organizing force behind the Community Cycling Center, which provides bicycles and bike education to hundreds of underprivileged children. Its owner is a founding board member of Cycle Oregon, which conducts an annual bike tour of rural Oregon and devotes the entry fees to community and economic development throughout the state. Among the many causes the Bike Gallery supports are the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s LiveStrong Challenge, the American Diabetes Association’s Summit to Surf ride and the American Lung Association’s Reach the Beach ride.

Although a small company, the Bike Gallery offers generous benefits to its employees, including a 401(k) plan and a form of profit sharing in which employees receive a percentage of sales revenue at each store once the store’s revenue target has been met.

Putting people on bikes reduces pollutants. But the Bike Gallery goes beyond promoting bicycle use: it has an extensive recycling program accepting various items from customers like tires, inner tubes, batteries from bike lights, besides the recycling of cardboard, paper, and plastic used in its day-to-day operations. The company recently opened a new store in a 90-year-old building, reusing as much material as possible and using environmentally friendly paints and other supplies.

If Portland and bicycling often seem synonymous, the Bike Gallery is a cycling force behind it.

Business Category:
David Evans and Associates

The core purpose of engineering firm David Evans and Associates, Inc. (DEA) is “to improve the quality of life while demonstrating stewardship of the built and natural environments.” By all accounts the firm fulfills this purpose admirably, as it has grown from two people at its founding in 1976 to more than 1,000 people today. Both employees and customers attest that it is more than just a motto; as one employee says, the most impressive thing about DEA is that “it actually does what it says.”

DEA leads the engineering and design industry in health care coverage and offers employee incentives for wellness initiatives. Its DEA University provides significant employee training “for the purpose of realizing each person’s potential.” DEA has been named one of the best large firms to work for in Oregon and one of the best engineering firms to work for in the United States for several years running.

DEA has loyal customers because it treats them fairly and honestly and focuses on building long-term relationships instead of short-term profits.

DEA gives as much as 10 percent of pre-tax profits to a variety of community organizations and learning institutions, including Mercy Corps, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Portland State University and Oregon State University. DEA encourages volunteerism, and its local employees work with students and teachers in Portland public schools. The company newsletter publishes an annual “Giving Issue” in which the firm recognizes employees for their community efforts. DEA contributed over $140,000 worth of labor and design work for the “Fort-to-Sea Trail” that was part of the Lewis & Clark bicentennial.

To ensure sound environmental practices DEA has established a Corporate Director of Sustainability and has a sustainability manager in every branch office. It uses hybrid vehicles and leads the industry in surveying technology, both on land and on water. .

Company founder Dave Evans tells employees that although the cost of doing the right thing may be dear in money and labor, the cost of not doing the right thing is far more dear, for it is paid in honor and in integrity. Honor and integrity is the currency David Evans and Associates, Inc. has always preserved.

Business Category:
S.D. Deacon

If you’re searching for a construction company and come across dogs roaming the halls, you haven’t stumbled down the wrong alleyway: you’ve arrived at S.D. Deacon Corp., the family-friendly general contractor that honors both its employees and their four-legged friends. Besides allowing employees to bring their pets to the office, S.D. Deacon offers them generous benefits, opportunities for growth, and a mission statement that admonishes them to “express kindness.” S.D. Deacon invites even two-legged family members to office events and offers a $100 cubicle bonus to employees for decorating their personal space.

Clients have remarked that S.D. Deacon displays a level of honesty they don’t often experience in this highly competitive industry. The company is known to avoid bid shopping, in which general contractors inform sub-contractors at the last minute of the low bid to encourage an even lower bid. Instead, S.D. Deacon practices openness and honesty with its sub-contractors as well as its customers.

S.D. Deacon has made significant contributions to the community. It offered free labor and materials to construct a new building for Northwest Medical Teams and to remodel the Bradley-Angle House women’s shelter. Nor is this merely after-hours work. Northwest Medical Teams was made to feel just like a paying customer, and said that S.D. Deacon “always had our best interest at heart.”

The company has reached out to several minority organizations and employs large numbers of minorities and older workers. It has also established the Deacon Charitable Foundation, which gives four percent of pre-tax earnings to charities selected by both management and staff.

S.D. Deacon promotes LEED-certified buildings and is currently restoring its own building to achieve Silver Level LEED certification. The company actively recycles in the office and on-site and strives to offer “zero waste” services.

Multiple surveys have found that S.D. Deacon is one of the best places to work in Oregon. No matter how many legs you have.

Not-for-Profit Category:
Mercy Corps

From Somalia to Honduras, from Bosnia to New Orleans, wherever you find conflict or disaster chances are you will find an Oregon organization providing comfort, aid, and opportunity. Since 1979 Mercy Corps has provided over $1 billion in assistance in 94 countries, alleviating suffering and helping build more secure, productive, and just communities. In the face of hurricanes, famine, or civil strife, Mercy Corps helps communities not simply to survive but to thrive, fulfilling its belief that human imagination and energy can solve any problem.

Although Mercy Corps provides emergency relief to those afflicted by conflict or disaster, the essence of its mission is to help people help themselves, to help build the institutions and skills that will sustain communities long after Mercy Corps leaves. When sheep herders in Mongolia were faced with diminishing wool harvests, Mercy Corps taught them modern animal husbandry practices that increased the quantity of wool while reducing the effect on the environment. In Bosnia, Mercy Corps founded a financial services institution called Partner, which make loans to entrepreneurs, providing a source of funding for small and medium-sized businesses. Partner is now fully independent of Mercy Corps, getting more and more of its lending capital from commercial banks.

Over the last five years more than 90 percent of Mercy Corps’ resources have been devoted to programs. Its regular mailings to contributors describe the use it makes of its resources and explain openly when administrative costs threaten its extraordinary efficiency. Mercy Corps is equally open with its employees, who are encouraged to air all concerns and who may reach the executive leadership through the Integrity Hotline, a secure link to headquarters.

Mercy Corps has made environmental stewardship a part of its mission. It is constructing a new “green” global headquarters building here in Portland and conducting an environmental impact statement of its effect on the environment around the world. Mercy Corps took some of the best green practices in the Northwest and exported them to hurricane-battered New Orleans, where they have initiated a project to deconstruct rather than demolish older buildings so it can recycle and reuse the building materials.

As Mercy Corps promotes initiatives in the economy, education, the environment, and more, out of disaster and conflict emerge community and hope.

Individual Category:
Harvey Platt

When asked the principle he lives by, Harvey Platt, Chairman and CEO of Platt Electric Supply, says simply, “Do the right thing.” Those who know Harvey know how well these few simple words describe him. His company reflects Harvey’s personal beliefs: Employees of Platt Electric are judged on six core competencies, the first of which is “personal integrity.”

Harvey’s entire career has been dedicated to the principle that people come first. Platt University, the Platt Electric training center, is dedicated to the personal growth and career enhancement of Platt’s employees. Harvey promotes open and honest communication at Platt, and posts his contact information so that employees with concerns can call him directly. He and his cousin Jay (President) periodically give motivational books to those who deal with Platt Electric during a year; a recent selection was “It’s Not Easy Being Green.”

Harvey has dedicated himself tirelessly to the community. When he discovered that a small theater company had financial problems, Platt Electric Supply became title sponsor. But more importantly, Harvey joined the board, offering his expertise so that the company could learn to support itself. When he learned that an employee had a child with cystic fibrosis, he began a twenty-year relationship with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, for which he has helped raise over $4,000,000. Among many other organizations, Harvey supports the Beaverton Arts Foundation and the Beaverton Police & Firefighters. And when he learned that an officer’s police dog in Utah had been shot in the line of duty, he obtained another dog and flew it to Utah to present it to the officer himself.

Platt Electric is a leader in sustainability. It has a robust recycling program and stocks a substantial inventory of energy-efficient items.

For Harvey Platt, doing the right thing is more than a slogan. It’s a way of life.

2007 Finalists

Businesses

Up to three businesses may be selected as recipients in this category

Bike Gallery
Carafe Bistro
Celilo Group Media
Consumer Cellular
David Evans and Associates
General Tool
Jubitz Corporation
REI
S.D. Deacon Corp.
Stoller Group/Express Personnel
Tektronix

Not-for-Profit Organizations

One not-for-profit will be selected as a recipient in this category

DePaul Industries
Mercy Corps
Native American Youth & Family Center
Rinehart Clinic

Individuals

One individual will be selected as a recipient in this category

Brady Adams
Steve Clark
Harvey Platt

2006 Business Recipients

Brooks Resources Corporation

“Gentle to the land”: a phrase not often associated with a real estate development company perfectly describes Brooks Resources. As the Bend corporation plans each new development with an eye toward leaving the landscape better than it was before, this characterization by a Brooks executive rings clear and true. The company’s first major project, Black Butte Ranch, set a new standard for preserving the scenic beauty of an area. While many developers simply level the trees at a site and build houses, Brooks Resources sites every tree by aerial photograph and plans accordingly. Its goal is to work with the land rather than against it. It has extensively investigated native landscaping and created landscapes that conserve water in the arid central Oregon region. Brooks could have profited immensely by building a recent development by the river. Instead, it built further away, earning much less profit but preserving the riverside for the community.

Brooks is committed to the health of the entire Bend community. It was instrumental in the formation of the Bend Foundation, which supports local cultural resources, including Art in Public Places, the High Desert Museum, and the Bend park system. The company donates substantial sums to community organizations and gives employees paid time off to encourage volunteering. The breadth of its support for the community can be stunning. Its reputation is such that when people learn that Brooks is behind a project they lend their support as well.

Brooks’s customers rave about the quality of the company’s construction and the tremendous value they receive for their money. They note that Brooks is always raising the bar, setting such high standards for ethics and environmental integrity that other businesses are forced to improve.

Brooks Resources is known in Bend as being a very different company in all the right ways. Its footprint may be gentle, but the echo resounds.

Gates Home Furnishings

Perhaps nothing exemplifies Gates Home Furnishing’s approach to business better than its “Caught Being Good” program: while some companies monitor their employees’ keystrokes, Gates tallies their good deeds. Any employee caught providing exceptional service receives a commendation and a small gift. The family-owned Grants Pass furniture dealer treats everyone with consideration and respect. Gates shares an astounding 50% of the company’s annual profits with its employees and generously supports employee training. When the company discovered that employees were having to run errands during lunch it hired a personal shopper to help reduce their daily stress.

Suppliers consider Gates a role model for the industry. One supplier noted that Gates turned down a deal whose price made it extremely beneficial to the company but harmful to the vendor. A former competitor thinks so highly of the company that he drives to Grants Pass to buy furniture from Gates rather than from the store he used to own in a nearby community.

Customers receive similar consideration. Giff Gates personally calls any customer that makes a complaint. When a customer’s dog scratched her new sofa, the company repaired the sofa free of charge. When another customer left cigarette burns in her sofa, Gates replaced it. The company was unconcerned with fault: its only concern was customer satisfaction.

Gates Home Furnishings gives generously to the Grants Pass community. Almost every organization that makes a request leaves with a donation. For five years Gates hosted a Monte Carlo night in the store, donating the proceeds to charity, until the event became so successful it was moved to a larger location. Gates donated half the value of the family mobile home (challenging the community to donate the other half) to create Wellness on Wheels, a traveling medical facility that serves the many people in Grants Pass unable to travel to the city center for medical care.

Giff Gates is so respected in Grants Pass that if someone in town has a problem he will often approach Giff for advice. At family-owned Gates Home Furnishings, the real family is the community.

Mentor Graphics

Driving south from Portland on I-5, you are stunned by the vista just a short stretch off the Wilsonville exit. After passing a seemingly endless stream of asphalt and concrete you turn suddenly into a strikingly green patch of wilderness. This is the campus of Mentor Graphics, a technology leader in electronic design automation software, and the home to Ponderosa Pine, osprey, beavers, and cranes. When the company moved its campus here fifteen years ago, it sought to preserve the environment for its original inhabitants, and the campus pond is a popular stopping spot for a variety of migratory birds.

Mentor Graphics extends similar consideration to the people who depend on it. Its campus houses a Child Development Center that offers preschool and kindergarten classes for employees’ children. Whenever possible the company allows employees to structure their work lives to accommodate their personal concerns, and it makes great efforts to retain employees during slow periods in the cyclical electronics industry. The company’s “customer first” approach has resulted in Mentor Graphics being the only EDA firm to receive the STAR award from the Service and Support Professionals Organization an unprecedented five times.

The Mentor Foundation makes substantial donations to the communities where Mentor does business. The company hosts many activities including the Fourth of July parade for the Child Development Center, annual high school Lego-building tournaments, and other events. Employees visit classrooms, where they make presentations and conduct experiments. Mentor has brought children to its campus to give concerts, making donations to school music programs in return.

Mentor made generous contributions after the recent natural disasters in Pakistan and the gulf coast. It also sponsored programs to deliver supplies to residents and gave special allowances to employees whose families were affected, cutting through red tape to issue checks immediately to those in need.

Back on its campus, meanwhile, Mentor has gathered pine cones to be harvested for the preservation of the Ponderosa Pine. Its products rely on the newest technology, its environmental commitment at times on the oldest. And it is a world leader in both.

2006 Not-for-Profit Recipient

The ReBuilding Center

Armed only with a credit card and a mission, in 1998 a group of volunteers began a waste management center that, in less than ten years, has become the largest non-profit building material reuse program in North America. The ReBuilding Center, a used building material thrift store, was established by Our United Villages to secure a permanent funding source for their community enhancement work and to demonstrate how everyday people can turn a wasteful practice into a public asset with significant social, environmental, and economic benefits to the local community.

The ReBuilding Center accepts donations of reusable building materials, making them available and affordable to people of all income levels. Through the Center's DeConstruction Services, buildings that were destined for the wrecking ball are hand “deconstructed,” salvaging up to 85% of the materials for reuse in other construction projects. ReFind Furniture, another service of The ReBuilding Center, creates quality home furnishings from remnant waste that would otherwise be discarded. In its first year, The ReBuilding Center salvaged an impressive 250 tons of material. It now salvages six tons or more each day for reuse or recycling.

The ReBuilding Center serves the community in many other ways. It inspires and promotes creative re-use. It employees local residents. The Center provides job training and a stepping stone to skilled employment elsewhere. Following Hurricane Rita and in partnership with MercyCorps, the Center sent members to the gulf coast, providing training in deconstruction so that valuable building materials could be recovered instead of bulldozed. Revenue generated by The ReBuilding Center funds its parent organization, Our United Villages, which provides free community development workshops, events, childcare, transportation, and other services that together make for vital neighborhoods.

Our United Villages offers its employees competitive wages and generous benefits, including health care and a retirement plan, rare for a nonprofit. It treats all—employees, donors, and customers—with fairness and dignity. Customers inspired the Center’s bumper sticker, which reads: “I love that place!” A fitting way to capture the spirit of The ReBuilding Center.

2006 Individual Recipient

Dr. Richard Park

Pediatric dentist Dr. Richard Park has devoted his life to helping the most vulnerable. Because children are unable to seek proper care on their own, he will never refuse patients whose parents are unable to pay. Dr. Park treats many disadvantaged children at little or no charge. He also treats many disabled children that other dentists refer to the less-welcoming environment of the hospital, where they are often sedated before treatment. He even gives them priority for early morning appointments so they can avoid the waiting room, where other children can make them uncomfortable.

Dr. Park brings his skills to disadvantaged children around the world. Every year he flies to Kodiak Island, an isolated island off the coast of Alaska, and travels to remote villages where he provides free dental care. He volunteers for several weeks a year in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, where he helped to develop the Outer Island Dental Program to provide dental education and training.

Dr. Park is determined that his good work outlast him. He agreed to participate in Northwest Medical Team’s trip to Cambodia in 2005 only if he could bring a dental student, whose expenses he paid. He plans to repeat this practice annually, providing invaluable experience to prospective dentists while passing on the value of volunteerism. Nearing retirement, Dr. Park agreed to sell his practice only after he found a dedicated dentist who agreed to continue to serve his disabled patients.

Dr. Park is similarly kind to his employees; while one employee, a young woman, was in labor Dr. Park took care of her daughter and, because the family was just starting out, paid all hospital bills that were not covered by insurance. Dr. Park respects the environment, and pioneered the recycling of the amalgam and x-ray foils that are the waste products of dentistry.

With all the recognition Dr. Park has received, his greatest reward is the knowledge that he has helped those who need it most.