Winning the 2006 CG Schmidt Ovation Award For Corporate Support
Nets a $5,000 Contribution to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission
Milwaukee, October 16, 2006 – CG Schmidt, one of Wisconsin’s largest commercial construction firms, announced today that the Gossen Corporation, a Milwaukee-based moldings company, is the recipient of the 2006 CG Schmidt Ovation Award for Corporate Support and Madison’s Capitol Bank received an Honorable Mention.
Unbeknownst to CG Schmidt, Gossen President Jef Butterfield pledged that if his company won the award, he would match the $1500 contribution CG Schmidt would make to the Mission . Butterfield did more than that – he donated $3500 and increased the total contribution to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission to $5,000.
“The Gossen Corporation demonstrates that it doesn’t take a big company to have a big impact on the community,” said CG Schmidt President Steven Chamberlin. “Jef Butterfield reflects the spirit of the Ovation Awards. He leads by example and we hope Gossen’s efforts will inspire other small and medium sized businesses to actively support our community.”
The CG Schmidt Ovation Awards are designed to inspire giving in the small to medium sized business community by honoring smaller, lesser-known companies and their employees that give with all the vigor of larger, more prominent businesses. The Ovation Award for Corporate Support recognizes companies that have created long-term partnerships with non-profit organizations through financial or in-kind support, board involvement and the encouragement of employee volunteerism.
The Gossen Corporation has been a supporter of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission for more than 15 years. For the Butterfield family, it became a family tradition to serve Thanksgiving meals at the Mission and for the company it became a practice to hire graduates from the Mission ’s programs. The Milwaukee Rescue Mission is the state’s largest homeless shelter, serves over 200,000 meals per year, boards as many as 400 adults and children on any given day, and teaches them skills needed to get their lives back on track.
“At our company, community involvement is about a commitment to give back and support our community,” Gossen’s Butterfield said. “Our employees recognize that commitment and they appreciate it. When graduates of the Mission become their co-workers, they get a great sense of satisfaction.”
Honorable mention winner Capitol Bank was nominated by the Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center . The bank’s 40-plus employees are involved in nearly dozen different organizations. They support Wexford Ridge in a number of ways including once a week Capitol Bank employees pick up, package and deliver fresh produce and breads to the Center’s Food Recovery program. In honor of Capitol Bank’s work, the CG Schmidt Foundation made a $500 contribution to the Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center .
Ken Thompson, Capitol Bank’s President said, “It makes our employees feel good to know they are not just going to work every day, they are going to do something good for the community.”
CG Schmidt presented the Ovation Awards at the Donor’s Forum of Wisconsin’s Annual Statewide Conference on Philanthropy. It will award the Ovation Award for Volunteerism next April. Nomination forms will be available at http://wwww.cgschmidt.com.
