Daktronics Redwood Falls Recognized at United Way Appreciation Event

Daktronics strives to support the communities we live and work in, and our Redwood Falls employees recently received the Inaugural Award from United Way of Southwest Minnesota (UWSWMN) for their first annual employee giving campaign for the organization. Redwood Falls was also recognized as a 2019 Corporate Leader and received the Bronze Level award for our generous donation to support United Way’s mission to improve lives and strengthen communities in southwest Minnesota.

Redwood Falls employees were given the option to donate to UWSWMN for the first time last year, when Daktronics learned United Way of Redwood County would be closing its doors at the end of 2018. We changed the local payroll deduction donation option to UWSWMN because it was already serving portions of Redwood County.

UWSWMN gave out these awards during its annual progress report to the community on Tuesday, 26 March in Marshall, Minnesota. The event highlighted United Way’s 2018 accomplishments and recognized volunteers, investors, and community partners. Tom Quackenbush, Redwood Falls plant manager, and Matt Kurtz, Daktronics HR, attended the event on behalf of Redwood Falls.

“We were honored to receive the Inaugural Award for holding the employee giving campaign in 2018,” said Quackenbush.

“Working with and getting to know the team at Daktronics has been wonderful. We are excited for this new partnership,” said Sarah Kicmal, United Way of Southwest Minnesota president and CEO.

Attending the event gave Quackenbush and Kurtz a better understanding of the organization, and how Redwood Falls’ contribution truly makes a difference.

“We learned that thousands of people receive benefits from this drive, in terms of dollars, supplies, and services,” said Quackenbush. “We heard many inspiring stories about how important this initiative is to supporting people in need.”

“Currently, our service area includes the south and western portions of Redwood County which includes the school districts of Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Milroy Public/Charter schools,” Kicmal explained. “Forty-eight thousand six hundred people throughout our eight-county service area were impacted by United Way of Southwest Minnesota (UWSWMN) initiatives, community partner programs, and partnerships in 2018-2019. Over the last five years, UWSWMN has re-invested more than $2.3 million locally to benefit the lives of our friends and neighbors.”

Daktronics’ employee giving campaign for United Way runs in conjunction with annual benefits open enrollment near the end of each year.

In 2018, Redwood Falls employees pledged $2,464 to UWSWMN. With the Daktronics match, those pledge totals reached more than $4,900 for the 2019 year.

“We are looking forward to continue partnering with Daktronics and truly appreciate the support from the company and the employees,” said Kicmal.

This article is by Christianne Beringer
in Employee Communications.