Ensuring our team members are able to put their passion behind causes they care about is one of our priorities. We offer associates paid time off for volunteer work at organizations like Stepping Stones, a charity which helps people with disabilities find pathways to independence. And over recent years, associates have donated more than three tons of food to the Freestore Foodbank in Cincinnati, which serves hungry children and families in our area.

We contribute to organizations aligned with our mission and values, and with the best interests of our key stakeholders in mind: our customers, our shareholders, our associates and our supplier partners. Our associates donate time and money to non-profits as a way to support and improve our communities, including the Ronald McDonald House and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Charities. We recognize mindfulness to the impact on our environment is a part of our overall social responsibility.

We reduce paper use in favor of digital documents. We have invested in twin screens for our associates, so they can easily refer to documentation while providing real-time service. Our distribution center stores more than half its documents electronically. Since we launched Besse.com, our online supply management center, we’ve seen a huge drop in the number of faxes we receive, with an estimated 70 percent decrease in overall paper waste—for both sender and receiver.

Our distribution center recycles more than 80 tons of corrugation per year and uses packaging supplies partially made from recycled materials. Purchasing new products with recycled content is a critical part of our work. We print with soy inks. In our office, all associates have reusable drinkware. We dispose of obsolete electrical equipment through a responsible third-party processor which minimizes landfill refuse by refurbishing or recycling equipment.

We’re mindful of how our teams travel to minimize impact, so we focus our presence at trade shows for best effect, only attending shows where we can meet customers from all over the country. Our distribution center has installed an electric transformer, making the facility 10 percent more energy efficient. The temperature-controlled environment protects products and keeps units from being overworked. The center reduced its vehicle fleet, cutting fuel consumption in half.