Our Community
At Energy Harbor, we’re all about Living with Power, and while we embrace this pillar through our day-to-day business operations, our definition of living with power goes far beyond turning on the lights or heating the home. It also means playing an active role in ensuring our local communities are vibrant, thriving, and, well, powerful.
2022 Bridgestone Senior Players Golf Championship
We proudly sponsored public seating at the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship. Branded lawn chairs were provided on several of the holes, and we encouraged guests to take them home at the conclusion of the tournament on Sunday. It was so great to be apart of such a fun event in our own backyard.
Zippy and Energy Harbor Spread Some Holiday Cheer
Energy Harbor employees in Akron joined Zippy from The University of Akron to bring some holiday cheer to the students at the Mason Community Learning Center for their annual holiday party provided by Akron Hopes. Energy Harbor "adopted" several classrooms, so each child would receive a present. Fourteen of our headquarters employees went to Mason to pass out gifts and play with the kids.
WIN (Women in Nuclear) for the Holiday Win!
WIN (Women in Nuclear) representatives partnered with Leadership Lake County and Mentor Rotary to be the students’ “hosts” at a holiday party at Lake Metroparks Farmpark. Each volunteer was paired with a student from Mentor School. The pair went shopping for gifts, had a wagon ride, saw a show from Jungle Terry, visited farm animals, and had lunch with Santa.
The Community Involvement Committee sponsors Leadership Lake County and numerous Perry employees are alumni, so the holiday party was a great opportunity reconnect with our roots and make an impact!
“Signs of Hope” unveiled
Energy Harbor’s Community Involvement Committee partnered with Leadership Lake County (LLC) and the local chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to design and install "Signs of Hope" throughout Lake Metroparks. These encouraging and inspirational permanent signs serve to ensure mental health support is accessible to the community A simple scan of the QR code located on the sign will get them directly to NAMI’s website. NAMI works to provide advocacy, education, and support and works to raise public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental health conditions can lead healthy lives.
Academic Challenge is back!
Energy Harbor partnered with IBEW Local 245 to sponsor the high school quiz show, which made its triumphant return after production went on hiatus due to the pandemic. The half-hour show puts a spotlight on academic excellence and the importance of education in schools across Northwest Ohio and Southeastern Michigan.
Partnership with Ohio Governor’s Imagination Library
Akron, Ohio, May 6, 2020 – Energy Harbor announced today it is contributing $100,000 to the Ohio Governor’s Imagination Library. The program promotes early childhood literacy and supports students and their families whose schools have closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Imagination Library’s mission is to put more books in the hands of Ohio children and help ensure that every student enters kindergarten ready to succeed.
Houston Makes a Kitchen Kit Assembly Line
Energy Harbor employees in Houston came together to assemble kitchen essentials kits for women in domestic violence shelters and families living at or below the poverty line. The kits - which include hand-decorated dish towels, can openers, spatulas, and mixing spoons - were distributed by the United Way of Greater Houston and its partners. It was a fun office engagement event that was made even sweeter knowing that we’re bringing some hope to those in a hopeless place.
Read Across America
The Houston Office joined United Way of Greater Houston at Lantrip Elementary and Buffalo Creek Elementary to read to students in Kindergarten to 4th grade. This was part of United Way’s Read Across America Day: an exciting day of promoting literacy and encouraging students to read for fun. So proud of our employees for participating and making a difference in these young students' lives!
Annual Day of Caring
In November, the United Way of Lake County with Women United held its annual Day of Caring event. During this day, volunteers visited the homes of low income, disabled and elderly homeowners to do some yard work. Representatives from Perry’s Women in Nuclear partnered with Mentor High School students to lend a hand and some rakes.
Community Building with Habitat for Humanity
Recently our members of our Marketing team and Team Perry teamed up with the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity to participate in a Community Build in Cleveland’s Buckeye neighborhood. In this season of giving we're proud to have employees that care about continuously improving their communities“Thank you to those who took time out of their busy days to help those most in need,” said Rod Penfield, Site Vice President. “This is what makes [Energy Harbor] so special – the desire to be a part of the community and always lend a helpful hand!
Preserving the history of Summit County and Akron
The Energy Harbor Finance team exhibited true altruism by volunteering to preserve the great history of the Summit County Historical Society of Akron, OH. In addition to being a great teambuilding event, they played an integral part of preserving our community’s historic footprint by helping to enhance properties such as the John Brown House and the Perkins Stone Mansion.
Davis-Besse Turns Annual Girl Scouts’ Derby Digital
Jarrod Nolan, a nuclear engineering specialist at Energy Harbor and Girl Scout troop co-leader, took the Girl Scouts of the USA motto - Be prepared - to heart when the pandemic threatened to cancel the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio's annual Pinewood Derby. He simply took the event virtual. Thirty-five cars were delivered to the Davis-Besse Energy Education Center for race day, and scouts watched via Facebook Live. Congrats to the winners, and to our proud scout dad, Jarrod, for making the popular event possible.
Energy Harbor Network for Empowering Women Kicks Off!
Our Network for Empowering Women program is a grassroots effort led and built by employees to further develop ourselves, connect with one another, build a safe and supportive space together, and lift women into Leadership roles. This is a company wide effort, expanding through all our sites focused on positioning Energy Harbor for future success by elevating women into leadership and enhancing the availability and accessibility of professional development opportunities for all employees.
No coal for Perry’s Women in Nuclear (WiN)
Perry’s Women In Nuclear (WiN) spread some extra Christmas cheer this year with special needs students from Mentor Elementary Schools. WiN partnered with Leadership Lake County and Mentor Rotary to host students at a Lake Farmparks Christmas party. The students and hosts went on a wagon ride, toured the Farmparks, watched an animal show by Jungle Terry, received gifts from their hosts, and visited with Santa.
Concord Township, Ohio
1st Annual Energy Harbor Charity Golf Classic
It was a beautiful day at Fowler's Mill Golf Course and an even better day to raise money! The NAGYN groups at each site put together a golf fundraiser to raise funds for each of their select charities: Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation (Beaver Valley), Salvation Army (Davis-Besse), Mobile Meals (Akron/DOC), and Womensafe (Perry). We had36 TEAMS of employees and brokers playing a four-player scramble, along with five skill-shot challenges, and over $20,000 was raised! And special congrats to Team 5A aka Nick Cicero, Chance Proverbs, Scott Schroeder, and Frank Travaglione, C.E.M. on their win of the scramble!
Pens for Painesville
One of our key pillars of community is advancing an educated workforce by supporting professional development and literacy, so we were happy to support the Salvation Army with a $5,000 donation to aid in their efforts to provide supplies to the students of Painesville. Here’s to a great school year!
Energy Harbor 2022 United Way Campaign
Our 2022 United Way campaign was an overwhelming success. More than 450 of us participated and together we raised over $258,000. With company match, we'll be providing over $516,000, surpassing our 2021 campaign. Once again, the Energy Harbor team has demonstrated an amazing spirit of sharing and a willingness to share our gifts with those in our communities that need it most.
400 Meals to Haven of Rest Ministries
In 2022, our employees raised approximately $2,500 to cover the cost of holiday meals served by the Haven of Rest Ministries shelter across the street from our headquarters in Akron. The Energy Harbor Community Impact Committee fund matched this for a grand total donation of $5,000, which will help Haven of Rest to serve over 400 meals at their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Special thanks to Devin Skelton for coordinating all the fundraising and David Hamilton for presenting the gift to Haven of Rest.
No such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen
Our Community Impact Committee partnered with the North Hill Development Corporation to provide a grant for their community. This grant will contribute to the elevation of culinary artists of color at the NoHi enterprises and expand cultural programs connecting North Hill residents. To support this organization, you can visit the NoHi Pop-Up location at 778 North Maine Street, Akron, OH 44310.
2023 Harvest for Hunger Campaign
Harvest for Hunger campaign is one of the largest annual, community-wide food and funds drives in the nation, and we kicked off our campaign last week! In 2022 we raised a total of $73,500 across all of our sites for local food banks, and in 2023 we surpassed that total with over $75,000 in employee donations!
Energy Harbor partners with ACCESS to cover housing application fees
Energy Harbor presented a $10,000 donation to ACCESS, an organization that has been serving women and children experiencing homelessness in the Akron community since 1983. In a recent study of their residents, ACCESS found that these women were spending on average $350 on housing application fees. Our donation will be used to alleviate the financial burden of the journey that their residents face in the journey between homelessness and permanent housing. We're so proud to help combat homelessness in our own backyard.
Let there be (backup) lights!
After raising nearly $100,000 for a new generator, the Ronald McDonald House in Akron ran into some serious supply chain issues. They soon found their project funds were $35,000 short of what was actually needed to purchase the generator. We're proud to say we could step in to help support RMDH and to ensure they always have the power to provide for the hospital needs and stays of local families in need.
Energy Harbor is a proud supporter of Footprints Center for Autism
Energy Harbor’s Community Involvement Committee was the presenting sponsor of the Footprints Center for Autism annual “A Blue Carpet Affair” event for the second year. The event included a large basket raffle and an inclusive fashion show that featured children of all abilities from our community. We’re proud to support the Blue Carpet Affair and FCA’s mission to improve the lives of individuals with autism everywhere.
Sing in the Spring
Energy Harbor’s Site VP, Terry Brown, presented a $6,000 check from the Energy Harbor Community Involvement Committee to Toledo Choral Society to support their free Spring Concert. For over 100 years, the Toledo Choral Society has contributed to the cultural development of Toledo by making high quality choral music and performance accessible to all in the community. Energy Harbor had previously sponsored the group’s Christmas concert.
Energy Harbor Supports Leadership Akron
Energy Harbor presented a $10,000 check to Leadership Akron, a non-profit focused on creating a better and stronger Akron by empowering its local leaders to broaden their community impact. It provides the necessary tools and skills workshops to help our leaders create diverse and inclusive workplaces as well as a thriving community overall. We're proud to not only support this organization but to have several members of our own leadership go through the Leadership Akron program themselves.