Purpose-Driven Business: Why Giving Back Matters

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Chamber Amplified from the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, host Doug Jenkins talks about the importance of community involvement for businesses with Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, the President and CEO of Garner Trucking. The discussion revolves around how businesses can impact their communities beyond simple economics through sponsorships and partnerships. Garner Trucking does this by involving employees in choosing which community initiatives to support, which extends their charitable efforts beyond the company's headquarters in Findlay to locations all over the country where their employees reside.

Sherri shares insights on strategic community involvement, emphasizing the importance of relationship-building with organizations looking for support. The conversation also highlights the symbiotic relationship between businesses and their communities, offering advice for businesses looking to start or redefine their sponsorship strategies.

Key Takeaways:

• Businesses can enhance their community impact by funding projects and engaging in partnerships, which extends beyond mere economic contributions.
• Garner Trucking's philanthropic strategy includes employee engagement, enabling personnel to direct charitable efforts in their communities across the country.
• Building relationships is crucial when seeking sponsorships; a face-to-face approach is often more effective than traditional methods like emails or letters.
• Community involvement can aid in employee recruitment and retention by aligning company culture with prospective employees' values and community influences.
• Smaller businesses can contribute meaningfully through in-kind donations and by enabling employees to use work time for community service.

Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Transcript

0:00:02 - (Doug Jenkins): Hello and welcome to the show. I'm Doug Jenkins from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. On each episode of Chamber Amplified, we're looking into issues that impact the local business community. From employee recruitment and retention, marketing, it issues. It's really anything that can be impacting your business. Our goal is to give the local business community tips each week on at least one way they can improve operations and thrive in the current business environment.

0:00:26 - (Doug Jenkins): Today, we're talking about the community impact of businesses. Now, we certainly know the impact on the local economy that local businesses have. We talk about it at length on this podcast. We do it in just about everything we do in the chamber. Today, though, we're changing that focus just a little bit, talking more about sponsorships and partnerships that your business can do that help elevate the community beyond just economics.

0:00:48 - (Doug Jenkins): Sherry Garner Brumbaugh of Garner Trucking is joining me to talk about why it's important for them to support community organizations through sponsorships and partnerships. How, how they go about determining what they support and how you as a business owner, as a manager at a business, can figure out that for your own organization. We'll also flip it around and talk a little bit about how to approach a business if you're looking for support for your own organization.

0:01:11 - (Doug Jenkins): Again, if you can rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or really wherever you're getting your podcasts, we're available. And I think every podcast player that's out there, all you have to do is search for Chamber Amplified. If you can rate and review it, though, that's great. It really does help spread the word. Now let's get into it. Welcome again to the podcast. Sherry Garner Brumbaugh of Garner Trucking. Sherry, thanks for joining us today.

0:01:34 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Sure. Thanks for the invitation.

0:01:35 - (Doug Jenkins): So the idea to talk about today, really sponsor. We just had our golf outing the week of this recording, but I have seen you a lot lately over at Liberty Benton with some sponsorships that you've been doing over that way. And it got me to thinking about community involvement for businesses for through things like sponsorships and partnerships and things like that. And, you know, some advice to give some of our members who are maybe looking to get into that arena or maybe they're getting hit up from all different angles, they don't really know where to start, what to do. And I thought you would be a really great resource for that. So we appreciate your time for this.

0:02:10 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Sure. Absolutely.

0:02:11 - (Doug Jenkins): So let's talk a little bit about the history of Garner in that arena. Certainly you go around it to different ball diamonds. You go to obviously the, the new scoreboard at Liberty Benton High School. Beyond just sports, though, you're liable to see a Garner logo on things. First of all, why is it important for you to sponsor clubs, organizations, sports, things like that through your business?

0:02:38 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Well, I, I think it's something that I inherited from my parents. It's been, you know, a long time of watching my parents. I am a second generation trucker. Garner's been around 65 years this year. So it's watching my lineage, if you will. My. And it was actually my mother that said, you know, we need to give back to our community. And over the years, you, we've, you know, just experienced giving to your community. You get back tenfold and you know, they're employees that live in our community and beyond. And I'll let you know how our gifting has changed over the years. But certainly it's giving back to the community and the feel good.

0:03:27 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): It's the right thing to do.

0:03:29 - (Doug Jenkins): It's a little bit of what kind of gives a community its flavor and a little bit of the personality of a community. And we've had this conversation internally at the chamber. I know chambers all across the nation have really talked about this is the importance of bringing the local business community together and making sure that there are opportunities like this once you start to get in, not this way universally across the board, but when local businesses sell to an outside interest or something like that, sometimes that level of community involvement changes and it changes that dynamic. So it's really important as a chamber that we help businesses engage the community this way and see the benefits of that.

0:04:14 - (Doug Jenkins): It's not just getting your name out there. It's really supporting the community that you live in. And I think that's kind of what you're getting at there.

0:04:22 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): That's right. And it's finding those opportunities where I really like to get my employees engaged in that giving as well. If it's not time, it's talent, it's treasure. Right. It's all those three things. You hear that a lot. But it's getting them and getting them thinking about every gift and whatever it is in small or big way helps and it makes a difference.

0:04:48 - (Doug Jenkins): Let's you kind of hit on it already. That there's a strategy is probably not the right word, but you're going to get. There's hundreds of organizations in the community and everybody's looking for donations and things like that. And that's all well and good, but obviously you can't do every single one that comes in front of you. What does the process look like for Gardner when it comes to doing something like this?

0:05:13 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Right. For me, it used to, all those requests used to come to me as the, you know, I don't know the family name. I think those, they still start here sometimes. But. And the things that we have supported long time, like the Scouts, you know, like our united way, those, those things, some of our non profits here, other non profits, open arms. It's that once you, once I or our family or even the company has started something, we keep that line item open for next year's gift. So that's the consideration if you're going to start something.

0:05:52 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Those organizations rely on that year after year, whether it's, you know, for a one time capital improvement or if it's an ongoing fundraising, bowling for kids, for instance, every small way. And I, you have, you can't give to everything. And so we become very scrutinized over the year. It's like if I give to you, I have to reduce maybe dollars that I've already given to someone else. So I hate to say no, but I, you know, there's not an opportunity for either my employees to be involved in it or there's just not the capacity this year. So.

0:06:30 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): But we have expanded. This is the exciting part. These, these last several years, I kind of took it out of my hands. We still, I still have my pet projects, my pet, you know, nonprofits, the, the Scouts, Scouting America certainly. But I, I still go to those personally. Liberty Benton Scoreboard. That was a personal gift as well. I gave the company the credit and they've got the, they've got the name at the top. But it certainly came as a personal gift. But you know, we want to give those gifts to our drivers that live outside of our community too. And so we're, we're dedicating some dollars to drivers in their communities. They may be in Oberlin, Ohio or Cadillac, Michigan or somewhere about in Indiana. I have drivers from all over that they get involved in their community and they give, do that, give back. Because we are a national company.

0:07:30 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): You should see Garner a lot, especially east of the Mississippi. So that's how we are being strategic about. Our employees are directing a pool of money, a budgeted piece of monies that we budget for every year and they control those dollars.

0:07:49 - (Doug Jenkins): So it sounds like when you're looking at different organizations to get involved in this way, what if you're a business that's maybe looking to get started doing things like this Looking to what your employees are involved in. Seems like that's probably a really good jumping off point then.

0:08:06 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Oh, yeah, I think that's a very good, you know, what do you want to give to? What, what would you participate in? You know, what, what's time that you, you would be willing to give. And a lot of our nonprofits, it's, you know, they need board members, they need volunteers, you know, what, what else can you. Not everybody is interested or has the capacity to give those dollars. But what, what, you know, or I was a scout or I was a Girl Scout or, you know, I, you know, join the ymca. I learned how to swim at the ymca. So, you know, you have to find out what, what's important to them.

0:08:46 - (Doug Jenkins): This probably goes then to annual planning every year. When you're thinking about monetary donations and things of that nature. You, as you mentioned, there are line items that you already set for, for organizations that you plan to give to year after year. Do you have advice for businesses when they're trying to think of what percentage maybe they want to set aside for it? It's going to be different for every business, obviously, but maybe there are some benchmarks they could look at to, to figure out what they want to make that number.

0:09:16 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Yeah, I think it's, you know, what number are you capable and comfortable doing? And then make sure those dollars get to where you want them to be, where it maybe aligns with your, your, your business, your mission, something you can do, you know, and for us and trucking, a lot of times it's providing a truck and a trailer. What services do you have that you could give as a donation in turn as an in kind?

0:09:45 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): You know, we move the youth theater production items around every year and certainly, you know, that that's not putting out a, you know, writing a check, but there's a service that we can provide. So what service can, you know, if you're, you're in marketing, can you provide some marketing? Can you carve out some time of your, you know, the employee time to work on a marketing piece for a nonprofit or something like that. So it's not just writing a check. I think it's services.

0:10:18 - (Doug Jenkins): I think that's really good advice, especially for smaller organizations that, you know, they're not, maybe they're not sure what amount that they can give, but they can certainly find different things that their employees are involved in or that they themselves are involved in. We've even heard of businesses that will set aside, like you mentioned, they'll let you set aside time at Work to do a little bit something, maybe it's marketing, maybe it's sending it out, a couple of emails, things like that.

0:10:44 - (Doug Jenkins): I guess that's really putting your money where your mouth is in a different way in terms of supporting the community. Because now you're giving company time to let people do something that helps the broader community.

0:10:54 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Absolutely, absolutely.

0:10:56 - (Doug Jenkins): So let's flip it around a little bit. If, if I'm an organization and I'm looking for sponsors or I'm looking for volunteers like that, what is the best way to approach a business of whatever size?

0:11:09 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Yeah, the worst way is to send a letter. I, I, that, that's not, maybe I'm old school or an email, you know, pick up the phone, talk to, you know, you know, find out that organization who, you know, who controls the purse strings or, you know, how does, how does it run? Take the time, take the time to get to know that organization. You know, still, I think a face to face meeting or can we go out for coffee or, you know, I want to tell you a bit about my organization. And then, you know, it's, it's a sales sometime you're know as a, a nonprofit or someone seeking. It's, it's developing, it's developing a relationship. I still think it's a relationship transaction so that you can really cultivate that year after year after year giving. And don't ever underestimate a small gift that could turn into a large gift. And that's, that's the Liberty Benton scoreboard.

0:12:12 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): You know, I was hoping for, you know, we've, we've supported, I've supported and you know, it was someone that took the time to fake find out that I was a Liberty bent and grad and you know, how can we cultivate that and take that small gift and, and that, you know, and turn it into something, something larger and long term. So that's, it's still relationship. Yeah, based, I do believe, and taking the time to do that.

0:12:43 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): I'm that way now. Your big corporations, they may be different, everyone's different. And you've just gotta figure out what those are.

0:12:51 - (Doug Jenkins): I also think it's an important skill for kids to learn. And I think that's a lot of times when you see like Boy Scout with a popcorn fundraiser and Girl Scouts doing the Girl Scout cookies or however you do it. Even our Hancock youth leadership, when they do their fundraising events, we have them going out to do it, learning how to make that ask and how to cultivate that relationship. Uh, it's, that's a Tough thing to learn how to do at first for some people. But I think it really helps them in the long run just to learn to be able. How do you ask for things?

0:13:22 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Yeah, and you have to have your wish list of everybody comes in at a different angle, different level or a different way. So it's just having, you know, how, you know, we want you to, to be and collaborate with us and, and how can we get you involved. That's, that's a good opener.

0:13:41 - (Doug Jenkins): I'll tell you the observation that I had during the scoreboard ceremony over at Liberty Benton a few weeks ago because they had all of the different sponsors in and again, that was, that was big time sponsorships and we're talking about that. But I mean, like you said, it can start with something real small. And even if you're a small business, there are different ways to get involved with the schools, things like that. But as they were announcing the, the sponsors for it and everything, obviously you were there. And then you see Scott Snap with Lone Depot and Scott Keller with Keller and as they're going out and Chick Fil A going down the line.

0:14:11 - (Doug Jenkins): Well, that's a Chamber member. That's a Chamber member. That's a Chamber member. That's a Chamber member. I'm like, wow, Chamber members are really, really involved in the community. I felt really great about that as that was going on there. And I don't know if it's, if there's a direct correlation or not, but in that moment I thought, wow, we really represent a lot of businesses that want to make an impact in the community.

0:14:39 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Very, very true. And I wanted to, you know, I wanted to mention that early on I'm a big Chamber fan. You know, I am. I love Fresh Brew business. It's one of my favorite programs to be part of. But, you know, early on I went through Hancock leadership. I was the first one of our company. I went to my dad and I plopped down the, you know, the annual fee for it. And I said, dad, I really want to do this. It's going to take me a day out of the office a month, but I want to be part of this. And he was a Chamber board member and very, you know, he, we were part of the Chamber for a long, long time.

0:15:18 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): But when I went through that Hancock leadership program, there was a marketing day and we had an individual from Cooper Tire had a degree in marketing. I'd never met anybody that had a degree in marketing. Now this was, this was the late 90s, if you will. So. And she said And I thought it was profound. And I think about it when I. When I've done marketing for my business, and I think others should, too.

0:15:42 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): You shouldn't want anyone to drive by your business and go, I wonder what they do there. And now for trucking, it's pretty obvious. We put something in the back of a trailer, we take it somewhere, and we deliver it. You know, if you're, you know, a coffee shop, obviously you're making coffee, you know, and selling coffee, or, you know, there are many manufacturers, you know, Whirlpool, they're making obvious. It's. But it's.

0:16:08 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): What. What would it. Could I see myself working there? What kind of place is it? Is it a nice place to work? Is their boss? Is their owner a. You know, do they care, you know, about their community? Do I. Can I see myself? That's. This generation now is very selective of the type of company and culture they want to be a part of. The. The young, you know, the millennial Generation Z kind of groups. And beyond being part of culture that they can align themselves. So it's very important to be out there and.

0:16:45 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): And showcase what kind of culture you have.

0:16:47 - (Doug Jenkins): That's a really good point. It's all. You don't do it for this reason. But a secondary effect is that it can help you with recruitment and retention down the line.

0:16:56 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Yeah, yeah. It's that, you know, what. What kind of comp. What. What's important to a company? It's not all. It's not all about, you know, yes, profit isn't a bad word, but it's. What portion of that are they slicing out to give back?

0:17:12 - (Doug Jenkins): Well, Sherry, we appreciate your time to talk about this today. I think it's a really important topic. If somebody would want to sit down and just talk with you about how you structure community involvement through Garner Trucking or something like that. What's the best way to get in touch with you?

0:17:26 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): S. Brumball at Garnertrucking.com or Garner Trucking.com. you can find me there, or they can go through you. And I love to drink a cup of coffee, and I could always work on my golf game.

0:17:38 - (Doug Jenkins): I. I'm in favor of both of those things.

0:17:42 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): You know what?

0:17:42 - (Doug Jenkins): I don't even. I don't drink much coffee on the golf course, though. No, I have my Gatorade and I'm good to go. So.

0:17:49 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Good.

0:17:50 - (Doug Jenkins): Sherry, we appreciate your time today. Thanks for doing this.

0:17:54 - (Sherri Garner Brumbaugh): Thanks for the invitation.

0:17:56 - (Doug Jenkins): I think one of the biggest takeaways from that conversation is that getting your name out there as a sponsor or a supporter of an organization or event or whatever it is that's really the byproduct of that sponsorship, for instance. And this is just taking it down to the Chamber level. We have several businesses who sponsor our annual golf outing. And while the exposure is something that we want to give our members through the outing, a lot of the sponsors do it simply because they know it's a way to help us do things. Like this podcast or the Small Business Workshop series, or even a new series that we launched called Strengthening Business or Stronger Business Series. I gotta remember the name of that going forward, but we just had our first one this week. It went really well.

0:18:34 - (Doug Jenkins): It even helps us do things like hire new employees so we can bolster things like our leadership program that in turn benefits the community in other ways. So you can kind of see the ripple effect that that sponsorship does. And again, that's really granular just here on the Chamber level sponsors. So I think if you're looking at sponsorships for anything, not just for a Chamber event, for whether it's, you know, a sporting team that your kid plays on or like Sherry does with the boy with scouting, you'll see a big return on that investment, just beyond dollars and cents. It's really a community impact piece for your business.

0:19:04 - (Doug Jenkins): Well, that'll do it for this week's episode. Chamber Amplified is a free podcast for the community, thanks to the investment of members in the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. Because of our robust membership, we're able to focus on providing timely information to the Findlay and Hancock county business community, run leadership programs for adults and teenagers, and be an advocate for the area. That's all while providing tools to help local businesses succeed.

0:19:26 - (Doug Jenkins): If that sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, just let me know and we can talk about how an investment in the Chamber not only strengthens your business, but the community as a whole. If you have any ideas for topics that you'd like to see covered on future episodes, send me an email. Djenkinsindleyhancockchamber.com thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time on Chamber Amplified from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.