Sauer-Danfoss employees were honored on October 13th for their participation in a work program for people with disabilities. Sauer-Danfoss Hillsboro has supported the Tualatin Valley Workshop, Inc. for over 27 years. This partnership provides Sauer-Danfoss with a great employee along with offering the opportunity for some to earn a wage while gaining skills people need to work within the community.

David Sprague (maintenance) has been working with Sauer-Danfoss for over four years. Even though David is actually employed by Tualatin Valley Workshop, Inc. out of Hillsboro, he is truly a part of the Sauer-Danfoss family.

Yet, it took more than just being a part of the program that led Hillsboro to receive this award.

Sauer-Danfoss’ Hillsboro employees were honored for going above and beyond the call. You see, as a part of the Tualatin Valley Workshop, Inc. program David has a transportation company take him to and from work. However, one night his ride did not show up to take him home. This is when Sauer-Danfoss employees stepped in.

Carol Donaldson of the finance department stayed past 8 p.m. to take care of David and make new transportation arrangements for him that evening. “It was the least I could do to help David. I care for this gentleman. He does his job so well and I am incredibly impressed by how hard he works.”

To make sure this never happened again, employees decided to work together with David, David’s family and the Tualatin Valley Workshop. From their dedication, this team built redundancy into the process, as well as raised awareness throughout the facility. More specifically, the team:

• made sure the people at the front desk have David’s contact information.
• created a “contact card,” making it easy for anyone to get information on David.
• worked with the transportation organization so they know who to contact if they have any questions or have a change in schedule.

“The employees of Sauer-Danfoss earned this award by going above and beyond all in an effort to help David,” Michael Terhost of Tualatin Valley Workshop says. “David is proud of what he does, and I believe he is proud to work with Sauer-Danfoss.”

It is because of efforts like these, doing what is right for one another, Sauer-Danfoss stands out.