Community Connect

The Interwest family believes in community involvement on all levels. We enjoy sharing our time, talents, and resources with organizations and various programs that help make a difference in our local communities.

Interwest is committed to supporting our employees to help build strong and active communities, improving quality of life, and making a positive difference where we live and work.

Here is just a sample of how our company and employees are connected:

Habitat for Humanity

Our Windsor Colorado office donated design services for a Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity Project. Our employees donated their time and energy in the construction projects for a Habitat home.

Leadership Fort Collins (Spring Creek Daycare Project)

The Interwest staff participated in the reconstruction of a playground for a low-income daycare facility. Leadership Fort Collins is a program for the Chamber of Commerce. This program informs the community about the history, government, economy, social issues, needs and opportunities in Fort Collins.

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

This program pairs civil engineers with elementary school classrooms to teach children the importance of exploring, experimenting and sharing their creativity through engineering. Our Colorado staff has been an active participant in this chapter.

The Elk Classic Charity Gold Tournament

With its inaugural tournament in the fall of 2002, the Elk Grove Classic Charity Golf Tournament has generated the largest endowment fund and single largest scholarship award benefiting students in the Elk Grove community. Co-chaired by Bob Lee and Mike Kashiwagi, the scholarship proceeds from this special event have been awarded to graduating seniors who have been accepted to prestigious universities such as UCLA, UC Berkeley, Johns Hopkins University, M.I.T., Northwestern University and Santa Clara University.

The event features a full day of fun at Valley Hi Golf Club. The 2007 event featured opportunities for players to win a car with a hole-in-one, a weekend getaway to the Napa wine country and a grand prize golf weekend to the world famous Pebble Beach Resort.

Interwest created this event as a way of giving back to the community of Elk Grove. The event volunteers are primarily Interwest employees who play a large part in contributing to the festive atmosphere and success of this annual tournament. We are proud to participate in such a worthy cause by providing support to students seeking to further their education and ultimately enhancing their lives.

“Home Boys” Radio Program

Ron Beehler, manager of our Sacramento Building & Safety team, co-hosts a Sunday radio show called “Home Boys.” He and his buddy answer homeowner questions regarding remodeling and construction.

California Building Officials Foundation (CALBO)

Interwest supports CALBO and the CALBO Foundation through volunteers, Rick and Dee Renfro, Bob Stetson, and Mike Rodriguez. The CALBO Foundation selects and supports worthwhile humanitarian projects throughout California on a yearly basis by utilizing the association’s wealth of building experience and expertise. We are happy to work with CALBO in these endeavors and to enjoy such a direct impact in changing someone’s situation.

The CALBO Foundation’s inaugural project in 2007 was a team effort between the Sacramento Association of Building Officials (SVABO) and the Eskaton Foundation, a provider of healthcare, housing and social services for seniors. Two residences were chosen in the Sacramento area to be completely retrofitted and brought up to “code.” Conditions of both homes created an unsafe environment for the occupants. Rick, Dee and Bob worked with other volunteers on the South Sacramento residence of Mr. Garcia. Mr. Garcia was completing chemotherapy treatment and the passing of his wife five years ago left him alone with little support. Over the years he had renovated his home without the benefit of permits and the home gradually became uninhabitable. CALBO Foundation volunteers spent their time removing clutter and debris, cleaning and completely rebuilding, refurbishing and restoring the interior and exterior. In addition, donations allowed for new paint, flooring, appliances and some landscaping. After the project was completed, Mr. Garcia jokingly remarked he had several offers on his house due to the outstanding renovation.

The 2008 CALBO Foundation project was located in San Diego with volunteers working to refurbish the home of Mr. Jeffers, a 25-year-old Marine veteran recovering from catastrophic wounds received in the Iraq war. In February of this year, Rick and Dee were part of the crew who updated his home with better accessibility including entrance ramps, conversion of carpeting to wood flooring, paint, cleaning, etc. The CALBO Board of Directors, local building officials and their staff worked throughout the week to complete the successful project.

CA Metro Fire District Urban Search & Rescue Task Force #7 (USAR TF-7)

JR Rahrick, one of our Elk Grove Building & Safety engineers, is a an active Structural Specialist for the Sacramento, CA Metro Fire District Urban Search & Rescue Task Force #7 (USAR TF-7), attached to the State of California Office of Emergency Services (CA-OES), (FEMA), & the Army Corp of Engineers. He has been with TF-7 since about October of 2001, just after the 911 WTC, Pentagon, and Flight 93 disasters. Simply put, he routinely trains and is called upon in times of disaster.

He is one of approximately six to eight Structural Specialists consisting of licensed professional engineers (some chosen for various specialties), they train monthly with the task force as a necessary component to a team of other specialists consisting of fire fighters, K-9, and swift water search and rescue, hazmat, heavy lifting and rigging, medical, transportation, and communications and logistics professionals, to name a few, preparing for potential deployment as first responders to any major disaster within the continental United States.

As an example, TF-7 was deployed and responded to the 911 WTC disaster and both major hurricanes in Florida and New Orleans.

Based on task force standby rotation status, personnel rotation status, and/or specialty demands, he has only been deployed on various local or away training exercises or MOBEX’s which have lasted anywhere from 8 hours to 72 hours. MOBEX’s are annual major test training exercises requiring deployment and mobilization of the task force personnel and support equipment cache via ground and/or air transportation to a predetermined simulated disaster scenario site (typically somewhere in northern California).

The specialized training and camaraderie associated with being part of this special team of professionals has been and continues to be quite rewarding.

Soroptimist

Soroptimist is an international organization for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world. Almost 95,000 Soroptimists in about 120 countries and territories contribute time and financial support to community–based and international projects that benefit women and girls. The name, Soroptimist, means "best for women," and that's what the organization strives to achieve. One our employees has been involved in this organization for several years and has really enjoyed working with an organization that truly makes a difference in the lives of women and girls.