Symposium on generosity hears wisdom from both national and local leaders
Interviewer Bruce Hamsher of ProVia, left, chats with local business leaders Brian Miller of ProVia, Misty Fraelich-Clark of Troyer Cheese and Sam Yoder of Berlin Gardens during the 2019 Symposium of Community Leaders, which focused on creating a culture of generosity in the workplace.
The recent Symposium of Community Leaders that took place at the Performing Arts Center Kent State Tuscarawas on Feb. 12 saw a number of nationally renowned speakers dispense information about the importance of generosity in the workplace.
The symposium also gave an opportunity for local entrepreneurs to share their thoughts on innovative ways they have implemented generosity in their workplace.
“We are speaking to a local audience, so our community members know the people they work with and are around all the time,” ProVia President and CEO Brian Miller said. “Sometimes it is that small idea you get from someone locally that allows you to pick up the phone or go visit them and develop a line of discussion so you can implement what they are doing in your own business."
Miller said various programs may not fit every company or business to a tee, but businesses can take ideas and tweak them to fit their own company. He said ProVia has learned a great deal from Keim Lumber over the years, and connecting locally gives people a chance to grow their companies on a personal level.
Joining interviewer Bruce Hamsher of ProVia to discuss generosity in the workplace were Sam Yoder of Berlin Gardens, Misty Fraelich-Clark of Troyer Cheese and Miller.
Yoder talked about generosity flowing like a conduit rather than a reservoir, noting that people need to allow sharing and generosity to flow into them and through them to others.
“We can walk out of here today and be excited about being generous, but if you want to live a life of generosity, it starts with having a heart of gratitude,” Yoder said. “It’s about being thankful because everything I have has been given to me.”
Yoder said a reservoir holds water, but without an inlet and an outlet, it becomes stagnant like the Dead Sea. On the other hand, if there is a conduit, new, refreshing water is able to pass through.
He also said people can’t give what they don’t possess, and having that water — their gifts and talents — replenished is a vital part of being generous.
“Whether it is finances, gifts and talents, or even time, we need to take time to rest and be replenished,” Yoder said.
Berlin Gardens also has gone to great lengths investing in character programs for its employees. Yoder said even though the investment is large and eventually the people they are investing in may move on, the value of doing so is great.
“All of the book studies and everything we teach, we tell people we want them to apply it in life personally, professionally, in the community and the church,” Yoder said. “At the end of my life, I am going to be a lot more grateful if I know that if an individual worked at Berlin Gardens for a week or 30 years, they have grown and become a better person and hopefully they have passed it along.”
Fraelich-Clark touched on the idea of people within a company giving without spending monetarily. She said generosity is given in words of kindness and acts of goodness. She said telling an employee or a fellow worker what they mean to the company, how they have contributed in a positive way and how they have made a good impact on those around them goes a long way in building relationships and growing a company steeped in generosity.
“It’s about taking time with individuals and investing in them any way we can when we don’t have anything to give but ourselves,” Fraelich-Clark said. “Even if it is just a genuine smile, that can change their day because we don’t know what is going on in their lives.”
Fraelich-Clark also said Troyer Cheese is generous through missions, where they allow employees time off to go into the mission field and serve others. “We say go if you have a servant heart,” she said. “Go do what you feel led to do. Serve and give to individuals who have nothing.”
Miller said to view employees and fellow workers not as expenses but rather as investments. He said ProVia looking at a profit and loss statement and looking at the bottom line to see profit and losses can be misleading, especially when a person looks at direct labor expenses because there is simply expenditure after expenditure.
“That is clearly not the way we want to look at the people we work with,” Miller said. “We think of it as an investment, something you want to pour resources into to create value. That is the intent with employee-development and leadership-development programs. Pour it into people so that they can increase in their bounty.”
Another local entity that joined the symposium program was Vicki Conn, director of Love in the Name of Christ.
For Conn and the churches involved, it was a matter of becoming more involved in personal ways with the families in the area who needed aid, guidance and a helping hand in turning the corner on building some financial stability in their lives.
The Holmes County Ministerial Association quickly caught the vision, providing Love INC with a grant that helped begin what has over four years grown into an asset in Holmes County.
Conn said seeing so many people give out of love and compassion on the local level has been an inspiration to all of those who are connected with the organization, and that commitment has helped many families find their way to a better way of life.
Whether it is dealing with ways to improve childcare, create financial stability, find affordable housing or simply help with expenses, Love INC has found ways to display generosity on a daily basis.
“Love INC is not here to simply give people things or to make everything all better,” Conn said. “We are here to work together and to build up the body of Christ because every single one of us has something to give, and it has been a joy to see the journey take place. Our theme for the year is to see opportunities and to meet needs.”
Giving a voice to local business owners who have found ways to be generous with employees and within their communities and organizations that are dedicated to serving through generosity and compassion is a large part of what the symposium is designed to do.
Those who created the event hope those receiving these words and ideas of encouragement and generosity will help instigate discussions around the county for businesses and other entities to implement their own ideas and to create an atmosphere of generosity of their own.