And thanks in part, too, to companies like The Dow Chemical Company and their Get Out the Vote campaigns supported by the Business and Industry Political Action Committee’s (BIPAC’s) Prosperity Project.
Dow’s campaign is a company-wide communications initiative designed to encourage employees and retirees to participate in the voting process. Dow provides voter registration materials, absentee ballot request forms and information about candidates and their positions on business-related issues. And in a series of articles published in the company newsletter, senior managers remind employees that voting is an important civic duty.
“On election day, voting is your most important job,” Dow’s Vice President of Operations Arnold Allemang told the company’s 20,000 U.S. employees. “All Americans have the responsibility to hold their elected officials accountable for representing their needs and interests as citizens.”
Like many companies, Dow moves its employees around the world through relocation or business travel, and this makes it more difficult for people to participate in the democratic process. “We feel that the company has an obligation to help these employees register to vote or apply for an absentee ballot, so they have a voice in the election,” said Gina Gibbs Foster, public affairs leader.
During Dow’s first voting campaign, in 2002, more than 7,000 employees logged onto the company’s Get Out the Vote intranet site, and the site received more than 16,000 hits in the campaign’s four-month time frame.
Employees responded favorably to the effort. “As an American and a resident of a small community, I’m glad to see Dow encouraging an informed electorate,” a Dow manufacturing leader said.
This year, the company is reaching out to include its 37,000 U.S. retirees, many of whom are stockholders and live in the communities where Dow operates. “We consider them to be part of our extended family,” Gibbs Foster said.
“We’re looking forward to a very successful campaign this year,” said Allemang. “We think it’s a great opportunity to be a good corporate citizen – and to encourage our employees to be good citizens too.”
Allison Conte is editorial director of Leadership for Manufacturers.
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