By Logan Braman

In today’s economic situation, giving back to the community might seem like the last concern on the minds of CEOs and presidents of companies nationwide. That’s not the case for Schneider Electric, a $45 billion global company with ties to Indiana through the Square D factory in Peru.

Amy Huntington, president of Schneider Electric U.S., flew to Indiana to visit the build site before the Cowan-Brown’s new home was complete. She said Schneider Electric’s involvement with the build was a way for the company to give back.

“Giving back to the community is a big part of our philosophy and our culture,” she said. “It’s been exciting for us to see so many of our employees from the Peru plant come out and lend a hand.”

About 90 employees from the Square D factory helped with the week-long build. The company provided panel boards with circuit protection and surge protection for the home. It also donated indoor lighting for the home through Juno Lighting, another local subsidiary of Schneider Electric. Huntington said the company wanted to help where it could with the donations.

“We toured the house and it’s amazing to see what can happen in less than a week,” she said. “I know the team from Hallmark has to be exhausted. They supplied all the labor and the plans. We supplied the product and that’s the easy part.”

Huntington said all of the workers from the Peru plant who worked on the job did so on their own time and some even took vacation time to help. The decision to help with the build came after Hallmark Homes got in touch with Schneider Electric to see if it would be willing to donate some of the necessary parts for the home. Huntington said making the call to help with the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” build revealed some surprising connections.

“It’s pretty inspirational to hear about Kori and her challenges and how she has inspired people around her,” she said. “When we got the call to ask about our interest, I think it was an easy decision for our plant manager. Coincidentally, when the family was made public, they attend the same church as several of the employees from our Peru plant. So there was a personal connection there with a lot of the workers. It’s kind of neat that at Peru, where we build the load centers, all the employees watched the panel come off the line. They knew that the panels were for this family. It was really a neat thing within the plant.”

All told, Schneider Electric donated more than $40,000 in equipment and cash to the build. Huntington said this investment had a noticeable affect on worker morale in Peru. Marty Hanna, vice president of communication for Schneider Electric, said the impact was felt beyond Indiana as well.

“We announced this to all our people in North America, and there are about 14,000 people in North America,” he said. “I just talked to the plant manager who sent out the announcement and he said he’s getting emails from all over North America saying what a great thing this is. As a company it’s something we get behind and support. People love to see this sort of stuff especially these days.”

Huntington said Hallmark Homes did a great job of involving sponsors in the build. She was impressed with the interactions between the community and the companies that made the build possible. She said Paul Schwinghammer, president of Hallmark Homes, and Derek Wilder, CEO of Hallmark Homes, helped make the build special.

“We’re really impressed with Paul and Derek and their commitment to the community,” she said. “Their business culture really does seem to be one about giving back. We’ve met family members while we’ve been here; we’ve met every employee that’s been on site and seen the work. There’s a lot of pride and craftsmanship that’s going into this home.”