Times-Mail: Teamwork helps United Way effort
By Hoosier Times
Strategy initiated by United Way of Lawrence County over the last few weeks is praiseworthy. The group has not only given this year's fund-raising campaign a significant boost, but also has produced an admirable example of how people can come together for a cause.

Specifically, representatives of GM Powertrain and its labor unions shared their demonstrated expertise on successful in-house United Way campaigns with their counterparts at the Visteon plant. Patty Boone, United Way's executive director, referenced GM's Tom Bishop and Shannon Barger for having taken time to meet with Visteon's Riley McKeen and Sandy Lynch to talk about Powertrain's approaches to the annual campaign. The GM representatives then met with Visteon workers. In addition, individuals from most United Way agencies led presentations on how United Way contributions help them to provide needed community services. Boone and the United Way's Beth Nagle also were present to offer additional information and answer questions.


Most of what happened was simply educational. Visteon workers were exposed to information about United Way agencies and services that they might not otherwise have received. Some of it came in the form of Barger sharing her story about how she was able to personally benefit from services provided by one of the agencies that receives United Way funds.

The numbers illustrate that the GM Powertrain and Visteon partnership was indeed a success. Visteon employees contributed $53,00 last year. Boone said this year, workers "were shooting for a goal of $53,000, and they passed that early on." She added, "Their stretch goal was $70,000, and when they reached that, they moved the goal up to $80,000." Workers finished at more than $79,000 to boost the 2004 campaign to $274,800, which is about 69 percent of the campaign goal of $400,000.

It would be difficult for anybody to talk about the partnership with more enthusiasm than Kevin Beasley has when he looks back at it. He is president of the United Way board of directors and is a UAW training representative at GM Powertrain. Beasley assessed the effort well when he said, "It has been the greatest thing just to sit back and watch. ... It is one of the greatest examples of teamwork. It's amazing to watch two large corporations come together and work together. What was even more amazing about it was to watch the union managements come together and become one team to accomplish something."

Beasley said the shift in contributions from last year to this year was "monumental," calling attention to leadership as a key ingredient in making it happen.