United Way of Greater Cleveland is constantly reaching out to new businesses. Our goal is two-fold:

• to help these businesses better serve their employees by educating them on the health and human services available in Cuyahoga County; and
• to design a method for them to participate in the United Way experience.

A few philanthropic business owners answered the request to help build a better tomorrow for our friends, families and neighbors by not only running a first-time employee campaign in 2006, but by also participating as a Pacesetter Campaign.

What is a Pacesetter? It's a company that completes their employee campaign by mid-September, and increases employee participation and/or giving by at least 10 percent. For a new company with a first-time campaign, they must have a minimum of 25 percent participation with an average gift of $130.

Since this is the time of year that the New Business Market begins planning our Pacesetter Campaigns for the upcoming year, we would like to thank our market's 2006 participants...

Austin's Smokin' Steakhouse ran a first-time campaign with 40 percent participation! Owner/operator, Dan Campbell, spoke with each employee about what United Way does and why he values our organization. He discussed the importance of giving back to the community, and how, what seems like a little to us, can mean a lot to someone else.

Austin's Wood Fire Grille also ran a first-time campaign with 50 percent participation, beating the participation level of their sister restaurant! Dan Campbell has shown that he is creating more than great meals, he is creating leaders and good citizens.

InfoTelis, a brand new company, less than a year old, ran a corporate Pacesetter campaign. Their staff also participated in our annual Pancake Flip, by having breakfast delivered to their offices at their kick-off.

MemberHealth, Inc. conducted a first-time campaign with outstanding results. More than 40 percent of the organization participated thanks to a very energetic Employee Campaign Manager and Community Action Committee. They conducted events every day during their one-week campaign: bake sales, a baby picture contest, lunch, and a number of fun activities.

S.M.I.L.E. Ten years of success in the Smart Home Industry has had this company working on the homes of many of the area's top executives. When they received the call from our New Business Market Team, their leadership team was already in the process of deciding how to give back to their community. They showed that philanthropy is obviously contagious, because their Employee Campaign climbed into the Pacesetters' level of giving. While it was not their intent to be a Pacesetter, they are!

Our thanks to these companies and all the businesses that conducted United Way campaigns in 2006.