Local Company Receives Award From Department Of Defense

Friday, July 20th 2007, 9:40 pm

By: News On 6

The Department of Defense is honoring a Green Country company. The DOD has awarded Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group of Tulsa for the way it treats employees who are in the Reserves. Life on the homefront doesn't stop when Reservists are overseas. They still have bills and families to worry about, plus jobs they've left behind. News On 6 anchor Latoya Silmon reports it's a balancing act that can be difficult, but Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group hopes to drive down those worries with a little added support on the homefront.

Its name may be Dollar Thrifty, but its CEO says the company is generous when it comes to its employees. That attracted employee Blake Milam, but he says it's what the company did when he wasn't at work that impressed him the most.

â€œBeing in the Marine Reserves, it's different. You do have a life back home, and you put everything on hold to be a Marine for a year. Itâ€™s different. It's not as easy as someone would think,â€ Milam said.

A problem Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group says it recognizes.

â€œWe try to keep the Guardsmen and Guardswomen's lives level while they're away protecting us. So we continue their compensation. We supplement their Guard compensation to level where they would have had compensation if they would have stayed here, so their wives and families aren't disrupted,â€ said Dollar Thrifty CEO Gary Paxton.

Milam says it made all the difference while he was away in Iraq last year.

â€œI had a job a good job when I got home. I was due two raises, and I got both when I got home. The company also does profit sharing so that helped out a lot,â€ Milam said.

Milam nominated his employer for the 2007 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. And it was the only Oklahoma company to win it this year.

â€œWe're very pleased with the award, however what we do, we didn't do to gain any kind of recognition,â€ said Paxton.

He says the company was just being supportive.

â€œWe think that's pretty important, because they're doing an important job for the country,â€ Paxton said.

The CEO will to pick up the award September 12 during a ceremony in D.C.

Watch the video: Local Company Honored For Their Support Of The Guard And Reserve