We also look forward to celebrating in 2017 the 70th anniversary of Chesapeake’s incorporation in Delaware in 1947. The past 70 years is a story of creative energy producing powerful growth. Creative energy flows among our employees to our customers, communities, shareholders and business partners. We are energized by the reciprocal energy that flows from them to us.
Our business for more than 70 years has been energy; our goal, powerful service and growth with lasting value. Identifying creative solutions to meet customers’ energy needs, we produce long-term growth. Bringing our hearts and hands to serve our communities’ needs, we grow personally and forge lasting bonds with our fellow employees, our customers and our communities. The creative, powerful work that we do together for everyone we serve flows from our shared values of Aspiring and Caring.
Chesapeake is a growing company with ambitious aspirations to surpass our past success. Our employees are the creative and powerful heart of our Company. Everyone counts in helping us reach our growth and service goals. We encourage our employees to grow professionally and personally and to engage in community service.
For the fifth consecutive year in 2016, Chesapeake was recognized as a Top Workplace. Our employees’ responses to a third-party survey have bestowed this honor on our Company over the past five years. Employees point to the Company’s strong values and ethics, its genuine appreciation of employees, and their confidence in the direction of the Company as reasons why they believe Chesapeake is a Top Workplace.
Our employees’ creative energy also makes Chesapeake a Top Workplace. That energy is expressed through several ongoing programs that benefit our employees, their families, our customers and the communities where we live and serve.
For example, our monthly Chesapeake Cares events celebrate employee milestones, Company accomplishments and growth plans. Through our recognition program, employees honor fellow team members who have exemplified our shared values in their interactions with one another and customers. A team of more than 40 Brand Champions organizes Chesapeake Cares events for their colleagues at every Company location.
Through our Chesapeake Aspiring Scholars program, the Company annually supports the educational aspirations of employees’ children. In 2016, we awarded students of employees across our Company with scholarship grants to support their college education endeavors.
We also provide opportunities to support our employees’ health and wellness efforts. Our Chesapeake Wellness Program promotes health awareness and supports our employees’ efforts for a healthier lifestyle. Throughout our Wellness Program, we sponsor community runs and walks, and encourage employee participation with company sponsored registration for these events. We also host health fairs at Company locations for employees and family members, offering biometric screenings and other resources to support wellness.
Safety is a high priority in everything that we do. We encourage a culture dedicated to promoting safer environments in our workplaces and in communities we serve. Our Chesapeake Aspiring & Caring Employee Awards Program honors those who go the extra mile to excel in safety. We recognize employees for their exceptional efforts to protect the safety of their colleagues, our customers and communities which we serve.
In 2016, ESNG and FPU were both awarded Safety Achievement Awards by the American Gas Association (AGA). We also hosted an AGA Peer Review at which our employees and other AGA member companies shared their best safety practices.
Our customers and the communities where we live and work are extensions of our Chesapeake family. We strive to create meaningful connections with our customers and provide safe and reliable energy resources. We take that responsibility seriously.
In 2016, Nassau County, Florida honored FPU for going above and beyond to assist customers following Hurricane Matthew. On Amelia Island in Nassau County, approximately 90 percent of electric customers on the Island were without service after the storm, and our Eight Flags Energy CHP Plant was intentionally removed from service prior to the storm. FPU was the first group of responders on Amelia Island when law enforcement opened the roadways. Within three hours, our Eight Flags Energy CHP Plant was operating. By the end of the day, power was restored to approximately 80 percent of our customers affected by the storm. Full service to all of our customers was restored within 55 hours.
Beyond the energy services we provide, we take pride in being a true partner in our communities. Chesapeake employees served as volunteers on boards and committees and provided direct services to those in need. In 2016, we contributed more than $217,000 to approximately 100 organizations nominated by employees throughout the Company.
Chesapeake partnered with the American Heart Association as a Legacy Sponsor for the Go Red for Women® campaign. Elaine B. Bittner, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development, was the Event Chair for the third consecutive year and led a team of employee volunteers from our Delaware, Florida, Maryland and Ohio locations. In celebration of the “Power of a Woman’s Heart,” this team channeled their creative energy and assisted the Delaware American Heart Association with another record-breaking event, raising more than $220,000 in 2017 and approximately $470,000 over the past three years.
Annually, Chesapeake participates companywide in the United Way® campaign. In 2016, employees pledged more than $66,000. For the third consecutive year, FPU contributed $25,000 to Step Up for Students, Inc., which provides scholarships for underprivileged children to attend school through a tax credit program offered throughout the state of Florida.
For 13 years, our Company has been an active contributor to the Chesapeake Emergency Energy Recipient Program, also known as the SHARING Program, which not only assists natural gas and propane customers in Delaware and Maryland with paying their heating bills, but also provides grants used for appliance purchases and repairs. In 2016, we awarded 92 grants and since the beginning of the program, we have awarded grants totaling more than $544,000.
Our Holiday Cares Volunteer Event, “Thanksgiving For All,” draws many enthusiastic participants. This program enables our employees throughout our business areas to give back to our communities within our service territories. Employees from Delaware, Florida, Maryland and Ohio donated approximately $30,000 and packaged more than 1,400 holiday meals for local food banks and other charitable organizations.
“The Thanksgiving for All program started five years ago in Delaware, and the passion and drive of our employees has resulted in a companywide effort to help families in need to enjoy a healthy and warm Thanksgiving dinner,” said Elaine B. Bittner, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development.
This summer, we expanded our Summer Cares program across our businesses with volunteer and charitable events taking place in Delaware, Florida, Maryland and Ohio. Volunteers from our business offices sorted more than 21,500 pounds of donated canned goods, fresh produce and other food items, and prepared approximately 4,800 summer meal packages for children in the community.
Through our companywide Cares With a Cause program we harness the power of our collective efforts to create a larger impact. Each quarter, we select a charitable cause to support through volunteering time or contributing goods. In 2016, our employees collectively partnered with local charities to donate books and school supplies at the start of the school year, promote breast cancer awareness, distribute employee donations of toys and gifts for Toys for Tots or local shelters and collect winter coats for Code Purple and local organizations assisting those in need.
Our Chesapeake Cares Mentor Program supports students in our communities. We partner with Connecting Generations and Junior Achievement to enable our employees companywide to become mentors in our local schools. The program focuses on in-school mentoring at all grade levels and an investment of our employees’ time provides encouragement and guidance for these students.
Through volunteer efforts and sponsorships, Chesapeake has partnered with the Delaware Chapter of The Nature Conservancy in support of conservation and protection of natural resources in Delaware. In 2016, employees from our Delaware, Maryland and Florida locations volunteered for local events. Through sponsorships Chesapeake has donated $55,000 to the Delaware Chapter.
“The Delaware Chapter of The Nature Conservancy staff continues to be impressed by the positive, can-do attitude of everyone they meet from our Company,” said Steve Thompson, Senior Vice President and a board member of the Delaware Chapter of The Nature Conservancy.
In 2016, Chesapeake was honored with the “Outstanding Service by a Major Company” award by the Jefferson Awards Foundation at the fourth annual “Salute to Service” in Delaware.
“It is an honor to be ranked with other companies who have spearheaded many initiatives to benefit Delaware communities. Our employees, through our companywide community programs and their individual charitable initiatives, exemplify Chesapeake’s caring and aspiring culture,” said Michael P. McMasters, President and CEO.
As one Company, we work together to develop meaningful connections with our customers, business partners, community organizations and local governments. Our employees’ creative energy strengthens these partnerships that powerfully benefit all.