Steelcase was recognized today as one of the most community-minded companies in the nation as a part of the Civic 50, an initiative of Points of Light that sets the standard for corporate civic engagement and creates a roadmap for companies seeking to best use their time, talent and resources to improve the quality of life in the communities where they do business. The company’s expansive involvement in community programs – including a mix of volunteered time, product/service donations and financial gifts – led to the recognition.

“Even though Steelcase is a global company, we believe it’s important to be a good neighbor in the communities where we have a presence,” said Deb Bailey, director of global corporate relations at Steelcase. “We believe we have an important responsibility to play an active role in these areas by donating time and resources; supporting economic development efforts that create and retain jobs; and financially supporting nonprofit organizations that are focused on issues like public urban education, diversity, the arts and the environment.”

Some of the highlights from Steelcase’s community contributions in the past include:

Start-up funding and continued counsel to West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology, which aims to inspire urban youths to stay in school and graduate through the medium of arts and technology.
The Friends InDeed program, which allows employees to volunteer during the work week for local charities. The company has had groups of as many as 100 employees band together to support organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Last year, Steelcase employees globally volunteered 38,913 hours.
In-kind product donations to cultural institutions in Western Michigan, including the Gerald R. Ford Museum and the Blandford Nature Center.

This year’s Civic 50 applicants were evaluated and accrued points based on several criteria, including the quantity and impact of financial and human resources applied to civic improvement; whether internal and external resources are activated to maximize community impact; how a company’s community engagement activities support its business interests; how broadly community engagement is supported and institutionalized within a company’s policies, systems and incentives; and how a company measures the social and business value of its community engagement programs.

“Since 2012, we have seen a notable shift in the results from the survey in a direction that speaks to the commitment of American companies to connect values of community service and civic engagement to the culture and operating practices of their business,” said Jennifer Lawson, Executive Director of the Corporate Institute at Points of Light.

To learn more about the Civic 50, to see a full list of the winners and to access the full report, The 2016 Civic 50: Turning Good Intentions into Sound Business Practices, which presents the highlights, trends, benchmarking data and best practices from the 2016 Civic 50, please visit www.Civic50.org.