Environmental Enhancements is proud to announce that it has received a 2022 Employer Recognition Award. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ (COG) Commuter Connections program hosted the 25th annual awards ceremony at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., with Environmental Enhancements’ Fred Peratt, President and Owner accepting the Incentives Award.
“We are pleased and honored to accept this award,” said Fred Peratt, President and Owner of Environmental Enhancements. “Our vanpool program offers cost-savings for our employees and reduces cars on the road, both of which align with our core value of sustainability for people and the planet.”
“Environmental Enhancements’ vanpool program has been successful in getting employees to make the switch away from single-passenger vehicles as their main mode of commuting, which has notably reduced the company’s carbon footprint and decreased commuting costs for employees,” said Nicholas Ramfos, Director of Commuter Connections. “Environmental Enhancements is setting a great example for employers in the region looking to implement their own commuter incentives programs.”
Environmental Enhancements offers a full range of landscaping services to commercial and campus property managers, data centers, medical facilities, retail centers, and homeowner associations. Services provide visually pleasing, functional landscapes along with high-quality maintenance.
The company cares for its employees and understands that people working together as a team fosters success and makes Environmental Enhancements the best landscaping company in Northern Virginia to work for. The company believes that striving for a work culture with high employee morale, promotes engagement, loyalty, and commitment. This nurturing philosophy delivers positive outcomes to its clients and the environment.
The landscape company began a vanpool program to improve the reliability of employee transportation to customer worksites. This was in response to recurring personal car maintenance issues experienced by employees, in addition to a lack of access to transportation for some. Beyond the unreliability of getting to the worksite to earn a living, vehicle maintenance expenses were a significant cost burden on employees.
Since starting the vanpool program in 2017, the company has seen a dramatic reduction in employee absenteeism and an increase in punctuality at the worksites. Additionally, the vanpools have helped create a stronger sense of community among staff. Crew leaders can now plan their day with confidence knowing that their full team will be on hand and less stressed about transportation.
Due to the success of its first van, Environmental Enhancements expanded the program by purchasing a second. The company pays fuel, tolls, and maintenance expenses for the vans, and employees can even be picked up at home if needed. About one-third (32%) of Environmental Enhancements’ 38 employees in the Washington metropolitan area participate in the company’s vanpool program.
Administrative staff who are not required at customer worksites are given the option to telework, reducing both commuting costs and the company’s carbon footprint. The vanpool and telework programs reduce employee vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by 121,000 and save 5,505 gallons of gas annually.
During the 2022 Employer Recognition Awards ceremony, Commuter Connections also recognized the Northwest Federal Credit Union based in Herndon, VA for the Telework category, and Ellumen, Inc., located in Silver Spring, MD for the Marketing category.