“Many people talk about Corporate Responsibility and Corporate Philanthropy… I think it’s all about leadership: tackling the social and environmental issues of the day not because you have to, or because everyone else is doing it, but because you want to and you feel morally compelled to.”

Kevin Trapani

Corporate responsibility, a core part of our business strategy, commits us to be socially responsible in all of our business operations: balancing the needs and concerns of our customers, stakeholders, employees, and communities that we serve.

We are here to make a difference - by driving social change, returning benefits to communities, supporting social and economic progress and environmental sustainability, inspiring changes in the way we impact our world.

Being successful by doing great things in the right way is a core value of our corporate culture. We accept the responsibility to “build a better future” – not only for our shareholders but also for our customers, employees, business partners, community, nation and the wider world.

As you can read in the Social Audit & Community Support section of our 2006 Company Report, we increased our charitable contributions by 75% during a year in which the company had significantly lower profits. I know, thatıs not sustainable. But it was us who chose to fund an infrastructure build-out last year, not the folks on the ground in Africa making micro-credit loans and giving goats to needy families. It wasnıt the dedicated young people working as Teach for America associates in some of the toughest schools in our country. And it sure wasnıt the woman in a deep urban YMCA teaching autistic kids to swim. Weıll make more money in 2007, but we had obligations in 2006 to help lots of good people continue their miraculous work. We simply refuse to prioritize short-term profit over the long-term improvement of the human condition. American business has tried that model for way too long. We choose a different way and we are not about to change. We believe in The Redwoods Way with a passion.

Our employees, who spend 40 hours of their work time each year in service to the community, built houses for the working poor, tutored kids in homeless shelters, served meals at soup kitchens, shaved their heads to raise money for childhood cancer research and helped our communities in countless other ways. In fact, in 2006, nearly 100% of our employees either gave time in service to the community or contributed financially to support those less fortunate than we are. Most did both.