PEOS IN THE COMMUNITY:   ALTRES: HAWAII’S POTHOLE CREW

At ALTRES, giving back isn’t a choice. It’s kuleana.

That phrase —Hawaiian for responsibility to take care of one another — is a mantra familiar to many Hawaiians. Fittingly, it’s also the guiding principle behind ALTRES’ community service mission.

As Hawaii’s largest staffing company, ALTRES has always seen volunteering in the Aloha State as a core tenet of its corporate responsibility. But it took its efforts to new heights in 2019 when it launched the ALTRES Foundation, its nonprofit arm that provides funding, expertise and volunteers to local organizations whose values align with ALTRES’. It was a way to mark the firm’s 50th anniversary and continue an enduring legacy when its 100th anniversary arrives.

Leaning into giving back only made sense. ALTRES President and CEO Barron Guss after all spearheaded the creation of NAPEO Gives Back, the association-wide initiative that has raised more than $1 million for the communities that host NAPEO’s Annual Conference & Marketplace and other meetings.

In tandem with the foundation, ALTRES also created a committee of 25 employees who plan quarterly fundraising activities and designate where the giving goes throughout the year. Employee-driven, the program includes donation-matching and collaboration across departments, leading to a stronger workforce and a more sustainable Hawaii.

“It’s our kuleana to serve together and the most exciting part is that it’s led by our staff,” said Siana Hunt, the company’s director of corporate philanthropy.

The combination of these efforts has manifested in what company leadership likens to fixing Hawaii’s growing pothole problem. Many get filled by public works, but an equal number of fresh potholes show up the next day. True to the meaning of kuleana, ALTRES believes the private sector has a responsibility to be part of that pothole crew — especially in a small, tight-knit state like Hawaii.

“If there are six degrees of separation on the mainland, there are two on Hawaii,” Hunt said. “One thing that’s impressed upon us as a company is that it’s incumbent on all of us to give back and make a difference.”

And make a difference they have.

When last year’s wildfires devastated Maui, the ALTRES Foundation quickly mobilized the company’s tech capabilities to launch HireMaui, a free service that matched workers left unemployed by the fires with local companies needing to fill key positions. With it becoming increasingly clear that workers needed to leave Maui — and perhaps even Hawaii — to stay employed, PEO owners from one side of the company quickly worked to bring on workers who went weeks without paychecks because local banks had been destroyed in the fires. Not only did it provide vital income for residents, but it also helped keep local businesses afloat.

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, ALTRES gifted state businesses with the Wellness Tracker, a free self-screening software that more than 250 Hawaii companies utilized. The tool allowed employers to send a daily health survey to workers who could self-report COVID symptoms, effectively keeping the community safe and helping to restart the state’s economy. It wasn’t the only gift from ALTRES that year: the ALTRES Foundation also donated $250,000 to help deliver more than 24,000 family-size boxes of fresh food to underserved communities in 2020.

ALTRES employees gather to donate food to those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.

They were all emergency calls answered by the pothole crew.

“As a company, we’re a bit more nimble and can move faster. We’re in a unique position to work with the public sector to address issues as they come up,” Hunt said. “There’s never going to be someone to solve all the problems in the community, so it takes all of us.”

Through the company’s paid volunteering policy, the ALTRES ‘ohana — Hawaiian for family — has logged more than 650 volunteering hours with 75 local nonprofits over the past five years. Efforts truly run the gamut, from beach cleanups to helping improve Hawaii’s fragile, oft-polluted ecosystem to volunteering for the Special Olympics. Employees are in the community filling backpacks for local children, spending time with the Pacific American Foundation to improve area schools, and strengthening native Hawaiian culture with the Malama Loko Ea Foundation.

These efforts are especially important for Hawaii, which, although known as a vacationer’s utopia, has faced increasing social and economic challenges in recent memory. For locals, paradise comes at a price.

The state faces an exorbitant cost of living, which has led to a growing homeless community, many of whom have no functioning mailing address, no credentials, and no identification. For potential workers, these are all barriers to workforce entry. For employers, they never make it on their hiring radar.

Preserving Hawaii’s ecosystem has been a focus of ALTRES’ volunteering efforts.

The service industry is stricken by poverty, and many potential workers cannot take on a job simply because they have no one to watch their children. Even if they do, the cost of childcare is simply too expensive. The result: an exodus of Hawaiians to the mainland U.S. in search of attainable employment.

That’s where ALTRES has stepped in. It partnered with nonprofits to help establish childcare in community housing projects and create jobs like cleaning trails or growing community gardens.

Leveraging its tech expertise, ALTRES has worked with local nonprofits to help the native Hawaiian community gain tech skills through the internal network of the PEO program. With many locals unable to afford college, ALTRES has worked hand-in-glove with universities to build apprenticeship programs to help launch successful careers in information technology, many of whom may have left the state for more lucrative opportunities. And during the pandemic, the company launched a pilot program with the public sector to provide PEO industry training and employment for 800 previously displaced hospitality workers.

It’s all part of ALTRES’ kuleana to serve the community it calls home, both today and 50 years from now.

“If you’re passionate about it, so are we,” Hunt said. “That’s what the PEO industry is about. You can make a difference too. Grab a shovel and join us.”