Hypertherm Celebrates Milestone of Community Service

Hypertherm Inc. (Hanover, NH) marked 150,000 hours of community service by preparing dinner for residents of the Hixon House, a shelter for homeless adults run by the nonprofit Upper Valley Haven that serves people struggling with poverty by providing food, shelter, education, service coordination, and other support. Hypertherm associates normally cook dinner for Hixon House residents on the first Wednesday of every month. At this month’s dinner though, the associate-volunteers took a minute to celebrate a milestone of 150,000 Community Service Time hours with a quick photo.

“We are thrilled and proud to celebrate this momentous occasion at the Upper Valley Haven, who is one of our strongest and longest strategic partners,” said Stacey Chiocchio, the community citizenship manager for Hypertherm. “Although we marked our 150,000th hour at the Hixon House, this achievement is a testament to the work of all of our associates worldwide who have volunteered throughout the years, as it is all of their hours that have collectively allowed us to reach this great milestone.” Though their associates have volunteered throughout the company’s entire 50-year history, their current Community Service Time (CST) program was not formally introduced until 2003, when all associates were granted 16 hours of paid time off to volunteer in the community. During that inaugural year, 73 of the 700 associates working at the time volunteered for 739 hours.

This program has enjoyed steady and rapid growth since then, with the company increasing their CST program to 24 hours per associate in 2012 and 32 hours in 2017. Last year more than 86 percent of associates served a combined 138,949 hours, an average of 21 hours per volunteer, with many serving in excess of their 32 hours by doing everything from physical labor to working in classrooms and serving terms on nonprofit boards. Hypertherm combines their volunteer work with philanthropic funding though the HOPE (Hypertherm Owners’ Philanthropic Endeavors) Foundation, because the company believes that close collaboration with nonprofit organizations will help them accelerate the positive impact they hope to have in the community.

www.hypertherm.com