Companies send staff out of office with pay

Ashley Buerge missed a half-day of work this month at her UMB Bank teller job in Joplin - and her bosses didn't bat an eye. In fact, they paid her to leave the office.

Buerge was volunteering with the mentally disabled at Joplin Workshop. Under a UMB program started March 20, each bank employee can apply 16 paid hours annually toward community service.

"UMB as a company has always done many things to give back to the community," said Breck Skidmore, UMB's Joplin banking center manager. "But this program allows us to make more of an individual impact in our own specific communities."

UMB is one of several companies taking steps to help employees give their time and energy to nonprofits and community organizations.

Corporate culture

At Empire Bank, salaried employees also are paid to take time from their day to volunteer in the community. It's a perk that Senior Vice President and Loan Officer Barbra Wallace takes advantage of while tutoring at Pittman Elementary School, serving on the boards of the Family Violence Center and the loan review committee for Rural Missouri Inc., and helping with the bank's efforts for United Way's annual Day of Caring.

"It's important for me to be able to help others fulfill their own dreams, whether it's helping a kid learn to read and write or helping businesses continue to grow and employ other people and support the community," Wallace said. "I'm able to do that in part because Empire Bank lets me have the time to do it."

The story is similar for several of her bank co-workers; more than 30 Empire employees participate in its Study Buddy program at Pittman, and employees have completed landscaping and painting work at the school, according to Marketing Manager Andrew Tasset.

"Our bank is a community bank - our job is to loan money to people in the community, help people start businesses, get their kids to college, get their first home and car," he said. "But it also makes sense to support the community through volunteerism as well."

Accounting firm Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller CPAs PC has a similar philosophy, offering its employees paid time off to volunteer. In fact, according to Marketing Manager Vickie Hicks, the company ties promotions and accolades in part to volunteer efforts.

"As they progress up the career ladder, their level of involvement is encouraged to increase," Hicks said, noting that 12 of the company's 14 shareholders hold board officer positions at local nonprofits. "We encourage that as a part of our culture here."

The impact

Volunteering offers big benefits; the nonprofit Corporation for National & Community Service estimates that volunteer efforts in Missouri have a value of $3.7 billion each year, and that number is expected to grow as the recession puts more nonprofits in need of community help.

Chase Card Services is doing its part. After the Springfield office donated just more than 1,700 hours of service in 2007, local Vice President of Operations Michael Replogle charged his employees with volunteering 10,000 hours of service in 2008.

At the end of a yearlong campaign touting community involvement, the Springfield office logged 13,300 hours for 180 local 501(c)3 organizations.

Getting hourly employees involved was key, and to that end, Chase created its Gift of Time program. The program matches up to two hours a week of donated time during lunch breaks or after work with two paid hours off.

Replogle said the program was successful because it started at the top.

"We got management behind it, and got the hourly workers involved in their personal time. We told them if they'd just give one hour a month, we'd hit our goal," Replogle said. "Our point was that volunteerism isn't something we do on Thanksgiving or Christmas or when it feels good."

UMB Southwest Missouri Region President Ann Marie Baker hopes her company's new program is just as successful - and encourages others to follow suit.

"Many of us have volunteered for years in a variety of ways," she said. "But now more than ever, volunteer support is more valued. When we go out and volunteer, we feel appreciated."