Creative Citizenship

Creative Citizenship

by Debbie Simock, Community Investment Manager

At Avista Utilities, we’ve found that challenging financial times have created the opportunity for us to reaffirm our commitment to our communities in creative ways and to create a new chapter in our company’s 113-year history.

Within the utility industry, we are a relatively small, regional utility with about 1,800 employees and about 415,000 customers in the Pacific Northwest. In spite of its size, Avista Utilities has a history of being a leading corporate citizen within the communities we serve in the Pacific Northwest.

The past 18 months have been especially challenging for us financially for a variety of reasons. As a result, we had to reduced our 2001 corporate giving budget by 50 percent over the previous year’s amount. That was particularly difficult for a company that prides itself on its tradition of community support.

As it happens, the company-wide budget reductions left us with excess goods and services, which we realized we could pass along to our communities. In early 2002, the company reduced the size of its fleet to save maintenance costs. Rather than sell the vehicles, we elected to donate them to community organizations throughout our service area. Twenty-four cars and trucks worth approximately $86,000 went to such nonprofits as the Boys & Girls Club, food banks, and a tribal ambulance service.

Another result of cost-cutting was that Avista was not using all of its contractual printing service each month. Rather than let this resource go unused, we encouraged community nonprofits to fill in the gaps with their own print jobs. Consequently, we have donated more than $14,000 in free printing to local organizations.

Finally, when Avista divested its telecommunications company in 2002, a surplus of office furniture, equipment and office supplies remained, much of which was donated to local organizations. Surprisingly, the most appreciated seemed to be the donation of surplus staples such as coffee, cups, and creamer.

When Avista was faced with the reduction and possible elimination of its corporate giving budget because of financial pressures, we knew we had to think creatively if the company was to continue its core value of giving back to the community. We had been discussing the idea of establishing a corporate foundation for about 20 years, but it was the financial situation of the past 18 months that really crystallized for us the importance of having a secure way to continue our legacy of community support. (See Member News) Through the sale of appreciated company-held stock, the Avista Foundation is now a reality and the company’s legacy of community support ensured.

The Avista Foundation and the various ways we have found to compensate through in-kind giving for the reduction of our cash grants show that companies, regardless of their size, are able to continue their efforts in the community if they think creatively and have the support of others within the organization.