Randy Bareither, an Avista Corp. pipeline safety engineer, has a green light to leave his job midday to volunteer on company time for Meals on Wheels Spokane, a nonprofit program that delivers food to elderly and home-bound residents.

Sometimes, Bareither drives one of Avista's alternative fuel cars to make the deliveries. A 14-year employee, he has volunteered for about 10 years to deliver meals one day every four weeks.

"It's always been understood you could take work time to serve," he says.

He estimates that more than 100 Avista employees take routes for Meals on Wheels deliveries, which prompted the idea a few years ago to ask the nonprofit to drop off a big batch of the meals to dedicated space at Avista's office, at 1411 E. Mission, so employees could drive directly from there to neighborhoods.

"I'll usually grab someone I work with, just as a chance to visit," Bareither adds. "When Avista is out there letting their employees give their time, it's good for the people we're working with to help them. It's good for Avista because it shows we care."

Bareither is one of at least 570 Avista employees, or 38 percent of about 1,500 total workers, logging a collective 52,000 hours a year as community volunteers, says Avista spokeswoman Jessie Wuerst. She says that volunteerism is encouraged as a publicly stated corporate goal.

Employees who volunteer during work hours are asked to check first with their direct supervisors, and it's voluntary for them to log in with the company the number of service hours they contribute both during work time and after hours, Wuerst says.

Avista provides energy to more than 600,000 electric and natural gas customers in Eastern Washington, North Idaho, and parts of Oregon. Wuerst says the company also has a long tradition of plugging its employees' talents into nonprofit boards, community service days, and other donated time that ranges from volunteer firefighting to teaching children in the Junior Achievement program.

"It exists in our culture that volunteerism is supported and encouraged and has been part of Avista's culture for the 123 years we've been around, to be active partners in the community," Wuerst says. Based solely on what employees have logged in, the company estimates the volunteering supports more than 1,000 community programs or boards.

Avista says in its 2012 performance report that in addition to its corporate financial donations, "investments are also made through the time, talent, and treasure that our employees put into the organizations in the towns they call home throughout our service territory."

That corporate commitment extends to its top executives. Scott Morris, Avista's chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer, is chairman of Innovate Washington, an agency that supports young technology enterprises. He previously served two terms as campaign chairman for Spokane County United Way.

Loaned executives

Additionally, Avista supports what it calls a loaned executive program that currently includes Anne Marie Axworthy, Avista's director of consumer affairs.

For about a year, Axworthy has been tasked by Morris to split her time between Avista and a role to support the development of an academic health science center at the Riverpoint Campus. She is paid full time by Avista, although she estimates she spends about one-third to one-half of her time as a facilitator for a regional steering committee involved in the center's planning and coordination.

Mainly, she supports the panel's work that has analyzed the center's feasibility, community and economic impact, coordinated business plan, funding, and what's called a moving-forward strategy. The co-chairmen of the committee are Morris and WSU President Elson Floyd, and it involves WSU, University of Washington, Eastern Washington University, regional hospitals, and Greater Spokane Incorporated.

With the $78 million WSU Biomedical and Health Sciences Building under construction on campus, Axworthy says her role supports the regional broad vision toward creating a Spokane-based medical and health learning environment, including a four-year medical school.

Axworthy has desks both at Avista and GSI, but she says, "It's the kind of role you can do here and there."

She adds, "It's a comprehensive vision for the community to create an academic medical center," and that includes health, dental, and pharmacy education as well as related research here. The center is expected to have an economic impact of more than $1.6 billion and more than 9,000 jobs estimated in the first 20 years, she adds.

"This is a communitywide project," she says. "It's not just the hospitals. It's not just WSU. It's not just the business community. It's filling our physicians' shortage for the future, meeting the community's need for research, raising the quality of health care here, and ultimately, the economic impact that has for our entire region."

She adds, "For Avista, the strength of our economy ties directly into the strength of our business. This is a game changer for our region."

Additionally, she is involved in work toward a community learning network to broaden science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, which she says is directly related to the medical school here as well as to Avista's workforce and that of other companies.

In her job at Avista, Axworthy also is involved in helping nonprofits and community programs that approach the company for donations or volunteers. She says community organizations often request the assistance of Avista employees to serve on nonprofit boards.

"Our office also assists our employees when they ask where they can be of service," she says.

Among employees who are members of community boards is Latisha Hill, an Avista regional business manager for the West Plains. She serves as a board member for the West Plains Chamber of Commerce, among other organizations in Spokane.

"It fits into what we are as a company," Hill says. "We're really part of this community. I think oftentimes, in any role, you can get bogged down in the technological aspects of a job, but when you're out there hearing people, touching people, and working alongside them, you hear what matters to them. You make better decisions."

She adds, "We want to make sure our community organizations are healthy, so we're healthy."

Jeff Smith, an Avista senior strategic business analyst, is a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician for Spokane County Fire District 8. A 12-year Avista employee, he has volunteered for about five years out of Station 85 in the Saltese Road area, where he has a home.

When the Valley View fire spread in the Dishman Hills area on the afternoon of July 10, 2008, Smith heeded the call for extra firefighters and left work to help at the fire for several hours, he says.

"It's something that you work out with your manager," Smith says, adding that he typically only leaves for large incidents if they occur during work time, which hasn't happened very often. When home, he sometimes goes on calls to assist with medical emergencies in the early morning hours.

"You're out there helping these people, but you yourself get a benefit I wouldn't get anywhere else," he says. "I definitely look at it is as I have two careers. I'm fortunate that Avista lets me do this other career. I've had to leave work early to get to training."

Wuerst says that sentiment of employees gaining personally and professionally when volunteering is another benefit recognized by the company. She says other examples include Avista employees running technology at Hoopfest, and hours spent to help Girls Scouts, Mobius Kids, KSPS-TV, and the Salvation Army with its Backpacks for Kids program.

"These are great opportunities for our employees and great for the organizations that get their time and talents, and then our employees grow from being out in the community," Wuerst says. "There's real engagement, and they can bring back that knowledge about what's happening out in the community. Professionally and personally, their lives are enriched."

While Avista's prime responsibility is providing energy, she adds, "What's really neat is our employees can put a face on that, if you will, and really make a connection out in the community."