Program recognizes businesses that give back to the community

Boulder County businesses that give back to the community are being recognized and rewarded as part of a new program called Business Partners.

The program acknowledges businesses that donate 2 percent or more of their pretax profits to community charities. Donations can take the form of cash, in-kind services or paid employee volunteer time.

The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County spread word of the program through a series of mailings sent to all of the county’s chambers of commerce. Slightly more than 50 businesses have replied so far, said Phone Chase, an administrative assistant at the Community Foundation.

Businesses that have responded will be recognized at a breakfast on June 21. Chase said they also will be given Business Partner stickers asserting their status.

“Recent studies show that people in Boulder County definitely factor in charitable giving when they decide who to support with their business, said Josie Heath, president of the Community Foundation, in a statement. In a survey conducted in Boulder County last fall, two-thirds of respondents said they would choose to do business with a company that contributed to the community over one that didn’t.

The idea for creating the Business Partners program originated with Dave Gilman, president and chief executive officer of First National Bank of Colorado, which sponsored the program with The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County, all the chambers of commerce in Boulder County, the Daily Camera, the Boulder Economic Council and Tesser Inc. Visit www.commfound.org or call (303) 442-0436.

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