In the Community

ISP is “America’s Home for College Sports.”  But ISP’s home is Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The company was founded in this peaceful yet energetic city 15 years ago and takes great pride in sharing its growth since 1992 with the community that has watched and applauded its development.

“We have always made a concerted effort as a company to be involved in and with our community,” Ben Sutton, ISP founder and now Chairman and CEO, says.

“As we have grown, the opportunities for that involvement have become more frequent and numerous.  Yet with that growth also comes a challenge and what I would term an obligation to encourage our expanding staff to take personally the commitment to give of themselves as citizens of this wonderful region.”

On the corporate level, ISP annually devotes a generous budget to charitable causes.  The budget is established by Sutton but administered by an employee committee that reviews requests from company staff in Winston-Salem and in 40-plus regional offices around the country. 

The primary charge of the committee is to commit a portion of the funds at its disposal to charitable organizations and causes that have directly impacted ISP employees or their families.  Personal involvement is a key determining factor.

The committee also studies carefully a variety of opportunities for financial support and sponsorship in the Winston-Salem area itself.  As a loyal corporate citizen of the North Carolina “Triad,” ISP has a sincere commitment to local charities and non-profit groups, particularly those that benefit the youth of the area.

In addition, the Winston-Salem corporate office annually conducts its own internal fund-raising campaign on behalf of United Way.  That yearly effort has resulted in increased monies raised in each of the past five years.

As a national company, ISP’s charitable outreach extends beyond the city limits of Winston-Salem and into the hometowns of many of its collegiate partners.  Whether its constructing houses for Habitat for Humanity or building lofts for an elementary school, ISP is ready to lend a hand for worthy causes.

Finances are important, of course, but personal participation is even more vital to ISP’s commitment to its corporate home.

Employees are provided numerous opportunities to become personally involved in a variety of charitable causes throughout the year.  Recent examples include elementary school mentoring, volunteering at the local Ronald McDonald House, and raising funds for the area Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter with two bowling teams in that organization’s annual fund-raiser.

Away from the workplace, ISP employees are strongly encouraged to participate in local recreation programs (the company fields a coed softball team), their local church, civic club or other charitable organization.  ISP staff willingly take their lunch hour or will re-structure their office schedule in order to stay active in these pursuits.

“We want our people to be involved,” Sutton states.  “We strive to provide them with opportunities on the company level and will never stand in the way of their personal involvement with organizations or causes that are meaningful to them on the personal level.  This is true both in our corporate office and in each of our regional offices all over the country.

“Our home, though, has been and will continue to be Winston-Salem.  This community is ISP’s community.  And whatever we can do to help make it a better place, we will always take great pride in doing.”