Photo: Lisa Kazor, President and CEO of Savantage Solutions, in the computer lab the company donated to Thurgood Marshall High School in Baltimore.
Savantage Solutions, a Rockville-based technology solutions firm, holds corporate citizenship high among its core values and is committed to making an impact in the areas the company serves.
Savantage’s Innovation Connection program promotes innovation and education in local, under-served community schools. The program has impacted school districts in the District of Columbia and Baltimore City by providing fully outfitted computer labs for a school in each district.
“We originally decided to pick a D.C. school because all of our customers at the time were federal clients and most of our work was with federal clients in the District of Columbia,” Rob Smith, Vice President of Savantage, said. Savantage provided the school with a 30-work station lab complete with equipment, printers, and furniture. The program was successful, but the District of Columbia shut down the school.
“Though the D.C. school adoption was successful we decided that since we are a Maryland-based company we should do something to benefit Maryland as well,” Smith said. Savantage then adopted Thurgood Marshall High School in the Baltimore City School District.
Smith said the school was chosen because the student to computer ratio at the time was 45 to 1. “We are able to reduce that ratio to about nine students for every one computer. That’s really a tremendous impact that I don’t think we could have achieved elsewhere, and it did a great deal to help the students in that school,” Smith said.
In addition to the computer lab, Savantage is considering providing the school with a donation to bring in an additional instructor to focus on computers and technology, and specifically, the computer user certification, IC3.
“We’re partnering with Morgan State University and the Mayor’s Office because they have a particular expertise in this certification, which is very helpful to high school students because, whether they’re going to continue their education outside of high school or go to work right away, it gives them a leg up on employment opportunities,” Smith said.
In addition to Innovation Connection, Savantage also just completed a fundraiser for the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity during the Association of Government Accountants’ annual conference, which was held in the city.
“Traditionally we’ve thrown some sort of cocktail reception for our clients, prospective clients, partners and stake holders. This year, because of the way the economy is going and because of the locale of the conference, we wanted to do something that better reflected our company’s core values,” Smith said. “So we held a fundraiser and were able to raise over $10,000 for the New Orleans-area Habitat for Humanity.”
Savantage Solutions was recently named a Maryland Small Business of the Year during an awards luncheon at the BWI Airport Marriott. The award recognized the company for its business success, as well as its community involvement.
“The award just goes to show that when we stick with our core values, one of which is being a good corporate citizen, that the quality of our people and what they provide to our clients is going to be recognized,” Smith said.
For more information about Savantage Solutions visit http://www.savantage.net.
