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Aramark Chile, Good Corporate Citizenship Grand Prize 2010

The winners of AmCham’s 8th annual Good Corporate Citizenship Awards were announced at a ceremony at the Intercontinental Hotel on November 5th attended by Chile’s First Lady, Cecilia Morel, among other distinguished guests.

The Chilean branch of U.S.-based firm Aramark, which provides food services, uniforms and career apparel to companies and institutions around the world, won the Grand Prize for its program that integrates people with disabilities into the workforce by helping them obtain internships and jobs.

Other winners were Dupont Chile, which won in the Innovation category for its Integrare program that brings micro-entrepreneurs and large companies together; Metro de Santiago, in the Environment category, for its Bicimetro program which offers cyclists a safe place to leave their bikes; and Intel, in the Community-Corporate Partnership category, for its Educar program which trains teachers to use information technology in the classroom.

AmCham created these awards in 2002, with the aim of promoting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs that benefit local communities. The idea behind the awards - the first of their kind in Chile - is to highlight successful programs so they can be replicated by other companies.

The members of this year’s panel were: Cecilia Morel, First Lady; James L. Williams, U.S. Embassy Chargé D'Affaires (representing Ambassador Alejandro Wolff); Ricardo García, president of AmCham and chair of the panel; Ignacio Irarrázaval, director of the Centro de Políticas Públicas at the Universidad Católica; Pedro Arellano, Director of Fundación Desafío; Felipe Lira, president of Acción RSE; Charles Kimber, president of AmCham’s Sustainability & Corporate Communications Committee; Fernando Alvear, general manager of the Chilean business association, CPC (representing Rafael Guilisasti); and Father Agustín Moreira, chaplain of Hogar de Cristo.

AmCham’s García spoke about the importance of the awards and read a letter from the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere U.S. Department of Commerce, Walter Bastian, to the participants in the competition.

Santiago-based lawyer Roberto Peralta, of the firm Peralta, Gutierrez & Asociados, explained the historical context of Corporate Social Responsibility as well as mechanisms in Chile and other countries that are needed to promote these kinds of programs.

For her part, Lady Morel highlighted the importance of private enterprises in solving social problems in Chile and other parts of the world. As an example, she cited the role played by private enterprise in the reconstruction after February’s earthquake.

Category: Good Corporate Citizenship Grand Prize
Program: Labor market inclusion of people with disabilities
Company: Aramark Chile
This program is aimed at the labor market inclusion of people with disabilities. These people represent 13% of Chile’s population and often face serious difficulties in finding a job.

The program works with nine institutions for people with disabilities and has directly benefited 150 people in the Santiago Metropolitan Region who have found internships or jobs in areas such as cleaning, food preparation and administrative duties. One of the program’s strengths has been its high placement rate with 51% of participants eventually offered internships or employment.

The company plans to expand the program to new lines of business, as well as sharing its experience with clients and other companies in the United Nations Global Compact.

The panel said the program combines many of the CSR values promoted by AmCham and complies with the management excellence criteria. It is also based on a socially inclusive business model that helps people in a vulnerable social group to learn new skills and earn an income. The panel congratulated Aramark and all the companies involved in the program for setting a good example and, above all, providing an opportunity for people with disabilities.

Category: Innovation
Program: Integrare
Company: DuPont Chile
The panel recognized Dupont’s Integrare program for its innovative business model that helps micro-entrepreneurs sell their products and services. Large companies participating in the program are encouraged to buy from a network of suppliers from diverse social groups, such as women entrepreneurs, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples or other minority groups.

This program seeks to facilitate commercial opportunities and increase incomes for micro-entrepreneurs who often face great difficulties in selling their products and services. Through this program small business owners have the opportunity to become regular suppliers to large companies. Today there are 15 companies in this association and 280 suppliers incorporated into the network.

Category: Community-Corporate Partnership
Program: Educar
Company: Intel Chile
The Educar program promotes the use of information technology in schools through a strategic partnership between Intel, the Ministry of Education and 16 Chilean universities. The program is part of Intel’s global effort to help teachers to integrate information technology in the classroom, while helping universities to innovate in the areas of mathematics, science and technology.

Participating teachers receive training in how to use technology as a teaching tool. In partnership with governments, universities and educators worldwide, the program has trained more than seven million teachers in over 60 countries including more than 35,000 teachers in Chile since 2003.

Category: Environment
Program: Bicimetro
Company: Metro de Santiago
The BiciMetro program provides bike lockers at selected Santiago Metro stations where cyclists can leave their bikes in a safe place. This project is designed to integrate nonpolluting, energy efficient modes of transport in line with public policies aimed at promoting bicycle use to decrease pollution and improve quality of life in Santiago. The project, which began with lockers at four stations, now has double that number serving eight neighborhoods (Las Condes, La Cisterna, Recoleta, Puente Alto, Providencia, Peñalolén, Quinta Normal and Pudahuel) with plans to open more in the future.

The program, which offers individual bike lockers open seven days a week, has more than 2,700 registered users who have reduced their travel times significantly thanks to the service.