2020 Building Better Communities Local Business Partnership

Description

As part of W&A Engineering’s 20th anniversary celebration, we have launched a year-long program, the Building Better Communities Local Business Partnership!

At the beginning of the year, the plan was that throughout 2020, W&A would partner with 12 local businesses to highlight the work they have done in establishing their business as an important part of the culture and economy of Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties.

In March, after monitoring developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic, W&A postponed the Local Business Partnership initiative. We encouraged everyone to support their favorite local businesses in any way possible while respecting the state and local guidance for staying safe. Employees at W&A started working remotely in mid-March and started a Take Out Tuesday promotion to celebrate the company’s tradition of eating out together, and the company has been actively supporting local businesses through the Athens Works Initiative and the Community Banking Entrepreneurial Collaborative, that has already assisted nearly 50 small businesses with securing support from local banks to apply for Payroll Protection Plan Loans.

It appears that this 2020 initiative to highlight and support local businesses is exactly what is needed as our communities start to cautiously get back to work. That is why the decision was made to relaunch our 20th Anniversary Local Business Partnership effective June 2020. Our leadership team agreed to pick up where we left off and move forward as we continue to show our support for local businesses in the pursuit of our mission to build better communities.