2000 - 2001 Winners

Alcoa Inc.

Alcoa, the world's largest producer of aluminum, is being recognized for its Alcoa Safety - A Way of Life program. Safety is a basic tenet of the company and extends beyond the workplace. Alcoa's safety initiative encompasses the health and safety of employees and contractors at work, employee and retiree families at home, and citizens in Alcoa communities throughout the world.

Driving toward its goal of an injury-free workplace, Alcoa has improved its safety performance tenfold in just over a decade. The company's lost work day (LWD) accident rate was dramatically reduced from an already low rate per 200,000 hours worked of 1.86 in 1987, to 0.15 as of May 2001. As a comparison, the U.S. manufacturing LWD rate in 1999 was 2.2. Throughout the company, the fundamental principle of working safely in a manner that promotes the health and well-being of the individual is a core value.

Through a global program, Alcoa provides important safety programs to enhance the quality of life and well being of employees and their families. In 1999 alone, more than 200 programs were offered throughout Alcoa's Pittsburgh headquarters region in topics ranging from Safety on the Road to Community CPR Training to a Safe Babysitter Certification Program.

Alcoa's commitment to safety is also reflected through community programs directed by Alcoa Foundation. In 1999, the foundation made grants of over $17.9 million in dozens of global communities that host Alcoa plants. Unlike many foundation-giving programs, Alcoa Foundation provides small grants for purchasing essential equipment to make communities safer, including funding for emergency and rescue equipment, safety and emergency training, and disaster relief.

Alcoa's comprehensive safety program covers a wide cross-section of communities, families, and individuals, and serves as a benchmark for other companies and communities.

Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. is being recognized for its long-term commitment to science education through the Merck Institute for Science Education (MISE). Its programs are designed to strengthen teachers' knowledge of science and education, provide access to exemplary curriculum materials, and support policies at the local, state, and national levels that promote science education.

On the local level, MISE has helped raise the levels of participation and performance in science for pre-K through eighth grade students in partner schools.

At state and federal levels, MISE advocates for policies that align curricula, assessment, professional development of teachers and administrators, school management, and allocation of resources with its vision for science education.

MISE, established in 1993, began by developing partnerships with four public school districts: Linden, Rahway, and Readington Township in New Jersey, and North Penn in Pennsylvania. These sites were chosen because Merck has major facilities in or near these communities. The partnership currently involves more than 1200 teachers in 34 schools.

The Consortium for Policy Research in Education, an external evaluator, reports that MISE has created an effective professional development program for teachers and has influenced state and national policies in science education. Data show that students who receive science instruction over several years from teachers who have participated in MISE-sponsored professional development outperform students who have been taught by non-participants.

MISE serves as a model for other companies interested in developing their own science education partnerships across the nation, thereby providing greater numbers of students with a rigorous science education and, ultimately, improving science literacy, and broadening the pool of high-caliber scientists.

United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service (UPS), the world's largest package-delivery company, is being recognized for its Welfare to Work programs in its facilities across the U.S.

UPS was one of the five founding companies in the 1997 launch of the Welfare to Work Partnership. Since the partnership's inception, more than 12,000 businesses have joined the organization.

Using a localized approach, UPS has developed relationships with major organizations across the country to address recruitment, training, and transportation issues for program participants. In two years, the company moved more than 20,000 welfare recipients to well-paying jobs with full health care benefits. As of December 2000, UPS had hired 35,000 former welfare recipients.

By moving people from welfare rolls to payrolls, UPS enables these new employees to gain a sense of self-sufficiency and motivation needed to increase their economic status. They are also able to achieve a higher standard of living for themselves and their families. UPS has programs that help new employees remain in the workforce—providing English as a Second Language classes and literacy programs.

UPS continues to expand its Welfare to Work program through partnerships with various government, social service, community and non-profit organizations nationwide. UPS also actively encourages other companies to become involved in this initiative.

The company lends its talent to others interested in replicating the program. UPS's efforts have been recognized by both government and community leaders and in the press. For more information on Welfare to Work, please visit www.community.ups.com.