More Than a Job

It would be hard to find a better corporate social responsibility example than Cascade Engineering in Michigan. The company is part of the state’s Welfare to Work program, which matches people receiving public assistance with jobs that can become careers. Cascade employs a social worker to aid new applicants in learning the job and adapting to a new work environment. The social worker enables employees to focus on their job while they are at work. They can talk to the social worker about all the problems they may be experiencing at home. Companies practicing corporate social responsibility always look for ways to solve problems in the world while staying economically viable for stakeholders. Cascade Engineering has found a fantastic way to do this.

Practicing Sustainability

Cascade’s CEO and founder, Fred Keller, is very interested in sustainability. He is pragmatic-he built the company to be different because that is the vision he had. Keller founded the company in 1973 as a plastics injection molding shop with six employees. Cascade now employs over 1200 people at 10 facilities. Keller also spreads his message of sustainability as a professor at Cornell’s Johnson School of Management. He acts as a consultant for companies seeking to achieve a triple bottom line. Keller believes that many companies are failing economically because they do not practice sustainability.

Another special program, that makes Cascade a great corporate social responsibility example, is in hiring people who are returning to society after being in prison. The company supports these people in their transition and helps them become responsible members of society. Keller states that parolees find their work rewarding and are some of the best workers at the company. According to Keller, companies that succeed in helping society and in environmental improvements will also succeed in business. Many people coming out of the prison system just need a chance to work. Cascade Engineering provides that chance while promoting sustainable growth.

Creating Opportunity

Cascade Engineering practices sustainable production and staffing. The company employs people and helps them get off public assistance. Cascade grants opportunities to people recently released from prison. CEO Fred Keller believes in social entrepreneurship and demonstrates this belief in the company’s hiring process. All these factors make Cascade Engineering a terrific corporate social responsibility example, with a model other businesses can follow.