Alpha Natural Resources, K-V-A-T Food Stores Make Benevolence the Bottom Line
business, community involvement, philanthropy, quality of life,
Two of Washington County’s biggest companies continue to lead the way in philanthropy.
Whether it’s through formulated giving based on corporate earnings or employer-employee match and challenge drives, Alpha Natural Resources and K-V-A-T Food Stores both generate hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for a staggering array of community initiatives and nonprofits.
“We use our estimated earnings before appreciation and amortization to give back, and this year that number’s about $1.1 million,” says Donnie Ratliff, vice president of external affairs for Alpha Natural Resources. “We also take an additional $500,000 and give it to eight operating units, with the percentage based on their head count.”
Those are the funds that pay for Little League uniforms, after-prom parties, D.A.R.E. programs administered in conjunction with local law enforcement and more. The corporate funds go to such organizations as the William King Regional Arts Center, the Barter Theatre and to school districts for activities ranging from athletics to debate teams.
“Last year we wrote about 660 checks on the corporate level, and our operating divisions used their money in the communities where they work and live,” Ratliff says, “We don’t really get involved in capital projects, but we do have things like the Second Harvest Food Bank, to which we have obligated $100,000 in payments every other quarter, and we’ve also committed to health clinics and the Appalachian Area Agency on Aging for their assistance programs.”
Alpha targets the areas of education, arts and culture, social programs and human services for its philanthropy, with all manner of programs falling under those very wide umbrellas.
The roster is very similar at K-V-A-T, whose more than 12,000 associates own 15 percent of the company through an employee stock-ownership plan and thus help guide its charitable efforts, says Steven Smith, president and chief executive officer, whose family owns the remainder of the privately held company.
“We realize the importance of what a supermarket means to people – that it’s the hub, the community center in a small town,” Smith says. “We work to help those towns be better places to live, and we’re rewarded by the people that move there, stay there, and do business with us.”
While the company doesn’t adhere to a rigid set of guidelines for its giving, it does focus on youth and education programs and women’s causes, as those groups are the majority of its customer base. That’s led to major support for everything from Susan G. Komen for the Cure to Apples for the Students, a classroom computer-donation program in which the company has participated for 20 years. The program allowed for $50,000 worth of computers and other classroom equipment into Washington County alone last year, Smith says.
The company also pulls its associates together for major efforts such as hunger remediation, using both local events and its sponsorship of the Food City 500 NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway to generate funds.
“We’re in the food business,” Smith explains. “Nobody in this country should go to bed hungry. We donate millions of pounds a year and have fundraising drives that raised more than $250,000 for food banks. It works for us.”
Story by Joe Morris
