SOUTH EL MONTE, Calif. - For the folks at Burke Engineering Co., giving back to the communities in which they do business is an important part of their business model. Sometimes the giving is as simple as buying Girl Scout cookies from employees' children or sponsoring a Little League baseball team. Often, however, it takes on a more ambitious role, aligning the company with national charities and international relief efforts through substantial donations of time and money.
This past year the distributor, based here, of Luxaire® heating and air conditioning equipment quietly distributed tens of thousands of dollars to a variety of organizations, in an effort to support the people who support their business. Beginning in January of 2005, Burke Engineering placed cans on the counters of its 17 branch locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada to collect money for victims of the 2004 tsunami disaster. The company matched the donations that were collected with a check to UNICEF for $5,600.