Corporate Citizenship
COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
Being a good corporate citizen is an important part of TransAlta's success as a company. Through the resources we provide - volunteers, gifts-in-kind, financial support and employee expertise - we seek to enrich the quality of life in communities where we live and work.
In 2003, we contributed about $5 million to non-profit organizations and community initiatives. Examples of community investments announced or pledged during the year included:
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US$1 million, five-year commitment to Centralia College in Washington state, including scholarships, paid internships, equipment to be used in the college's education program as well as the in-kind donation of TransAlta employees' expertise
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$800,000, multi-year commitment in support of Hull TransAlta Community Connections, a new Hull Child and Family Services facility in Calgary
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$340,000 to Fringe Theatres Adventures, Edmonton, continuing our support of the Fringe's programming for two additional years
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$100,000 donation to "Targets Excellence in Education" capital campaign for the Lambton College of Applied Arts and Technology in Sarnia, Ontario
In most cases, we maintain long-term relationships with community organizations long after our financial commitment ends, by engaging employees and retirees. For example, although our multi-year financial commitment to the Calgary Zoo was completed in 2003, we continue to provide in-kind resources as well as visible support through the participation of TransAlta CEO Stephen Snyder as chair of the Calgary Zoological Society's Board of Directors Trustees.
$800,000, Multi-Year Donation to Hull Child and Family Services
We invest in initiatives we believe will make a difference to communities and allow our employees and retirees to be involved in a meaningful way.
For example, in 2003, TransAlta announced an $800,000, multi-year donation to Hull Child and Family Services in Calgary. The donation was used to help fund construction of the Hull TransAlta Community Connections facility, a new centre to deliver the agency's community services to high-need families in southeast Calgary.
While the dollars are important, our partnership is about much more. In early 2004, TransAlta employees and retirees also volunteered their time and talents, building desks for the new site and providing assistance with the facility's grand opening.
US$1 Million Commitment to Centralia College
The Centralia College Center of Excellence for Power Plant Operations, formed out of a partnership between TransAlta and the Washington state college, took a major step forward in 2003 when TransAlta announced a US$1 million, five-year financial commitment to the college. This money will be used to fund student scholarships, equipment purchases and create a new course of study for power plant operators.
Our donation forges stronger relationships with the college to develop a program that will provide TransAlta with much needed skilled workers and support the local economy.
The center will operate a two-year program - one of a handful of power plant operating programs in the U.S. - that will equip students with the skills they need to work at power generation plants across the country. The program was developed in early 2004 after a group of college and TransAlta representatives visited the TransAlta Electrical Power Industry Centre (epiCentre), a similar centre created through a relationship with TransAlta at Calgary's Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
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Marjorie Taylor
Human Resources generalist, Centralia, Washington |
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Only a handful of power plant technology training programs exist in the United States. Last year TransAlta partnered with Centralia College to create Washington state's first power plant training program with the launch of the college's new Center of Excellence for Power Plant Operations.
Working behind the scenes over the last two years to help build the industry-college partnership was Marjorie Taylor, Human Resources generalist at TransAlta Centralia and chairperson of the advisory committee for the new Center.
"This collaboration provides a good fit for everyone because TransAlta needs highly trained workers, it expands the college's course offerings to more closely match the very technical positions at TransAlta and the training will help to keep more jobs in the local community," says Marjorie.
The company has pledged a commitment of US$1 million in donations and services over five years to the community college for scholarships, equipment, in-kind services, paid internships at the Centralia facility and creating a new course of study.
Marjorie says the idea for the Center was originally developed collaboratively between Dr. James Walton, the college's president, and Linda Chambers, then president, TransAlta Centralia Generation and Mining, and now the company's executive vice-president, Technology.
"Linda realized that, with an aging workforce at Centralia and with many of our people close to retirement, there is an important need to recruit new skilled operators over the next five to 10 years. We wanted to be able to prepare for the future as seamlessly as possible."
As a first step in 2003, Marjorie and other college and TransAlta representatives visited the TransAlta epiCentre, a similar power plant training program at Calgary's Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), created through a relationship with TransAlta.
"We've developed a relationship with the people at SAIT. It's given us a great opportunity to share ideas, discuss curriculum and to learn about what works - or doesn't work. We'd like to emulate what SAIT has done so successfully in Calgary."
Marjorie is now working closely with the other 11 members of the Center's advisory committee, which includes representatives from the college, industry, TransAlta and organized labour, to develop the program's curriculum. A two-year certificate program in power plant operations will begin in the fall with an expected class of 25. The Center also includes a Web site network for companies to post openings and for students and people in the field to post resumés.
"Because education is our society's future, it's key that we continually think about creative ways to form alliances between business and the education community," says Marjorie. "With this collaboration, TransAlta has taken another important step in this direction." |
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We celebrated the grand opening of the TransAlta Arts Barns, which allows the Edmonton's Fringe Theatre Adventures to reach out and enhance the city's dynamic arts community.