Thirteen Years of Recognition for Corporate Service
In 1997, The Washington Business Journal released its first list of Greater Washington’s most philanthropic companies. It marked a turning point for both the Business Journal and for businesses across the region, as a powerful spotlight would now shine on corporate philanthropists and volunteers. For the first time, companies were evaluated by more than profitability. After the initial list in 1997, the race was on. As more companies looked to be included on the annual list, it became a challenge to not only make the list, but also to remain on the list. The McCormick Group is proud to have been recognized and ranked 13 straight years, and we’re still counting.

The McCormick Group has always believed in serving the community as well as serving clients, and it’s never been an either-or scenario. As The McCormick Group has grown over the years, so has its commitment to philanthropy. Before the inception of the Corporate Philanthropy list, our specialists worked with not-for-profit organizations in a number of functional areas, including providing pro-bono assistance. After the first annual Business Philanthropy Summit in 1998, the desire to respond to the needs of community-serving organizations evolved into the now successful Not-for-profit & Associations practice of the McCormick Group. This practice group has allowed the company to focus on the community on a daily basis by consulting for both local and national organizations of all sizes. The McCormick Group is proud to assist the not-for-profit world, especially in this latest economic downturn, as we know first-hand how important these organizations are.

The McCormick Group not only donates services as an organization, but also encourages employees to give back. Each employee is given six days per year to volunteer. These volunteer days have been used to re-build homes, paint facilities, clean up parks, and time swim-meets, just to name a few. Almost everyone finds a way to give back, as The McCormick Group is continually ranked in average volunteer hours per employee.

Senior Vice President, Lyles Carr, believes that successful companies like The McCormick Group have to focus on more than just the bottom-line. “It is no doubt a challenge to grow as a company and give back at the same time,” Lyles said. “But it’s a challenge we embrace. The rewards are significant.”

The McCormick Group thanks the Washington Business Journal for its commitment to recognizing corporate philanthropy, and we look forward to remaining on the list for years to come.

Paul Rothenburg Featured in Rosslyn Magazine
Paul Rothenburg was featured in the Summer issue of Rosslyn Magazine for his commitment to community service, notably to The McCormick Group’s neighborhood of Rosslyn. The article is below.

For 20 years, long before he was a VP with The McCormick Group, or chairman of three non-profit organizations, or an integral part of Rosslyn Renaissance, Paul Rothenburg was a newspaper man.

It started with his first job out of college, working in the Motor City for the Detroit News. He ran what was the marketing department, won two Clio advertising awards, and eventually rose to become VP for Circulation. “It was an almost 24-hour-a-day operation that I was responsible for,” he says, “involving 13,500 people to distribute the newspaper.”

“The appeal of the newspaper business,” he goes on, “is the immediacy. It’s a timely, very complicated process to put out a new product every day. You start from scratch – every single day you start with nothing.”

For years, Rothenburg thrived on the intensity, but at age 40 took a year off, then ran his own newspaper consulting business. In 1982, one of his clients gave him a once-in-a-lifetime offer – the chance to become VP and General Manager of the newly-formed Washington Times. “To start a newspaper in the nation’s capitol, arguably the capitol of the world,” he says, “ was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down. It was a great experience.”

He was at the Washington Times for five years, and has remained in the Washington region ever since, working in the real estate/ construction and banking industries before joining an executive search firm, The McCormick Group, in 1994, where he is currently Vice President of Business Development. The McCormick Group, founded in Rosslyn in 1974, has always emphasized civic participation, and it’s part of Rothenburg’s personal business philosophy. “Being a good corporate citizen,” he says, “is more than doing a good job at work.”

A member of the inaugural class of Leadership Washington in 1987, he has also served as chair of the Columbia Lighthouse of the Blind, Goodwill of Greater Washington, and vice-chair for the United Negro College Fund, always bringing exceptional leadership skills and management expertise to bear. To say nothing of the good humor he brings to any table at which he sits, ever able to lighten up difficult discussions with his hearty laugh.

Early Days
Rothenburg grew up in the northwest suburbs of Detroit with his parents and younger brother. After high school, he received a degree in communication arts from Michigan State and from 1963 to1968 served stateside with the U.S. Marines. He also attended the Detroit College of Law, and had a stint as chair of the Grosse Pointe Woods Planning Commission, good preparation for site plan reviews in Arlington. He arrived in D.C. in 1983, along with his wife-to-be, Kathleen, who is also in the newspaper business. They just celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary, along with their three daughters and four grandsons.

RR Urban Design Committee
As First Vice President of Rosslyn Renaissance, he also co-chairs RR’s Urban Design Committee, which, he notes “has become a required stop for developers.” “There are currently eight blocks in Rosslyn that are either under development, or about to undergo construction, or in planning. Eight blocks in a small, defined community is a lot. When you look at it, you’re talking about the future of Rosslyn,” Rothenburg states. “That’s why it’s important for RR and the Urban Design Committee to be at the very focal point of all this development, where we can be a voice that brings various aspects together – Arlington County government, developers, civic associations, the business community and residents. The community in its entirety looks at UDC and RR for their input because it represents a cross-section of the business and civic community.”

After he says this, you can imagine him making an aside from back in his newspaper days. “Get me Re-Write! This place needs an edit!” Everyone will laugh, and get down to the business of making Rosslyn an extraordinary place.

Dave Ris Finds GRREAT Families for Golden Retrievers
When David Ris is not placing candidates, he is placing Golden Retrievers in homes across the region. For almost ten years, Dave has volunteered with GRREAT (Golden Retriever Rescue Education and Training). He interviews families who want to adopt available Retrievers and often helps out at “Adoption Days” where adopting families meet available dogs. Dave and his wife also open their home to foster dogs in transition. As a Golden Retriever lover, Dave feels the need to give back to man’s best friend. “I am trying to give something back to a breed that has given our family so much joy. Golden Retrievers are wonderful animals. Unfortunately, too many Goldens are in situations where they need a new home. I do my part to ensure that Goldens who lost one family never go through that trauma again. I want to do everything that I can to help them to find a new, loving, and life-long home.” To find out how to adopt or volunteer, visit www.grreat.org.