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32 / BUILDING DIALOGUE / March 2021 ELEMENTS Corporate Social Responsibility Construction Companies Take on Social Stewardship C olorado has become a focal point for corporate relocations and business growth, with many organizations choosing our region for lifestyle benefits and the ability to recruit and retainskilledemployees. One important criterion for achieving this reputation is local organizations that embrace corporate respon- sibility measures that percolate into every facet of their values and conduct. At Saunders, we don’t just build projects, we build leaders and communities with a commitment to sus- tainable and ethical business practices. To this end, we have recordedandreportedourmeasures inourCorpo- rate Social Responsibility Report every year since 2010. This report discloses our commitment to provide best- in-class employee training, support to more than 80 nonprofit organizations, and engagement with small, minority- and women-owned businesses. In addition, we hold ourselves to higher standards of environmen- tal stewardship. Over the years, we have learned a lot about how this program can energize our employees and hold us accountable to being a responsible mem- ber of the communitieswe build. The Saunders CSR initiative was started in 2009 by an enthusiastic group of employeeswhowanted to ex- pand the scope of our existing Green Committee. This committee was charged with researching and imple- menting a comprehensive CSR program – a program that still stands up today through continued efforts to align economic, environmental, governance and social goals. The program also informs and directs our long-term strategic planning and objectives. This year marks a decade of continuous improvement and com- mitment to a cause that has truly become ingrained in our company culture. We have had the opportunity to prioritize the as- pects of CSR that resonate with our company while making themost meaningful impact on the local com- munity, environment and economy. In 2019, our em- ployees clocked over 7,148 training hours and worked more than 1 million hours while maintaining an in- dustry-leading positive safety performance record. The Saunderswell-beingprogramcontinues to support em- ployees’ overall health through a broad assortment of wellness offerings. In the past decade, the company di- verted 186,166 tons of our construction waste streams and built 57 LEED certified buildings while employees have contributed more than 4,500 volunteer hours to our community. Of course, there have been challenges along theway. Saunders partnered with environmental consulting experts to accurately calculate our impact and develop internal databases to gather the dataneeded. However, we desired to measure and drive change beyond just environmental impact. Because CSR was such a new concept in the construction industry, establishing independent benchmarking standards was difficult. Ultimately, we utilized the Global Reporting Initiative standards before eventually moving to the B Impact Assessment standards. This benchmarking platform aligned with our business model and culture, and has proved to be important for both adoption and peer company comparisons. Cultural alignment, accurate data tracking, practical benchmarking, and resource al- locationwere all areaswherewe have seen significant improvement. Efforts included consistent communi- cation from executive leadership on the initiative’s importance to the organization, as well as our custom- ers, while establishing transparent feedback channels across every department and construction project site. We remain steadfast in ourwork to be a business for good. This work will require advancing the organiza- tion’s CSR functionanddeveloping additional account- ability measures, as well as researching and deploying new technologies and approaches. For us, embarking onCSRwasmuchmore anextensionof our corevalues than an initiative to start from the ground up. The im- petus alreadywas inplace,withemployees leading the charge. We are thrilled that we’ve been able to take a virtual unknown in our industry 10 years ago and driv- en accountability and stewardship into the very fabric of our organization.\\ g.schmidt@saundersinc.com Greg Schmidt Chairman & CEO, Saunders Construction In the past decade, Saunders diverted 186,166 tons of its construction waste streams. Saunders employees have contributedmore than 4,500 volunteer hours to our community, including at Food Bank of the Rockies.