The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ (COG) Commuter Connections program proudly recognized five local employers and organizations today for their outstanding commute alternative programs at the 25th annual Employer Recognition Awards ceremony at the National Press Club.

Commuter Connections recognized Environmental Enhancements of Sterling, VA, Ellumen of Silver Spring, MD, and Northwest Federal Credit Union (NWFCU) of Herndon, VA, with awards for their incentives, marketing, and telework programs, respectively. In addition, COG’s regional commuter program honored the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) with the 2022 Employer Services Sales Team Achievement Award and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) with the 2022 Employer Services Organization Achievement Award.

“The employers we are honoring today have implemented innovative and successful commuter and telework programs. We hope that through their example, other organizations will embrace similar initiatives, creating more opportunities to maximize the efficiencies of shared commutes,” said Pamela Sebesky, Chair of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board at COG, and City of Manassas Vice Mayor.

Commuter Connections received nominations from employers throughout the region, all of which focused on improving their work culture and community through innovative commute alternative programs. A selection committee evaluated these nominations and chose winners based on their efforts and accomplishments to reduce gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions through fewer vehicles trips and miles traveled—while creating measurable and sustainable commuter benefits for employees. By incentivizing and marketing these commute alternative programs, employers help reduce traffic and improve regional air quality.

“We are thrilled to honor Environmental Enhancements, Ellumen, NWFCU, DDOT, and NCPC for their implementation and support of innovative commute alternative programs and their ongoing commitment to reducing air emissions and traffic congestion in the region,” said Nicholas Ramfos, Director of Commuter Connections. “We look forward to seeing how these organizations continue to grow their commuter and telework programs, while serving as a model for other employers throughout the region who are looking to develop their own.”

The 25th annual Employer Recognition Awardees are listed below, along with a summary of their efforts to improve employee commuting and advocate for commuting alternatives.

Incentives Award

Environmental Enhancements received the 2022 Employer Recognition Award for commuter incentives. The landscaping services company developed a unique incentives program centered around an in-house company vanpool program, intended to improve the reliability of employee transportation to customer worksites. The vanpool program has led to reductions in absenteeism and commuting and vehicle maintenance costs for employees. Of the company’s 38 employees in the metropolitan Washington area, about a third (32 percent) participate in the program. In addition to vanpooling, administrative staff who are not required at customer worksites are given the option to telework, further reducing commuting costs and the company’s carbon footprint. The vanpool and telework programs have helped reduce employee vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by 121,000 and save 5,505 gallons of gas annually.

Marketing Award

Ellumen, a small privately held healthcare IT company, received the 2022 Employer Recognition Award for the marketing of its commuter benefits program. To help attract diverse and qualified new hires, Ellumen promotes its telework program when advertising externally to potential job candidates. During new employee onboarding, Ellumen encourages the practice of teleworking and offers training programs designed to help employees adjust to a remote work environment. Ellumen also highlights the achievements of its remote employees through a monthly Staff Appreciation and Recognition program (STAR), which recognizes high-performing employees. The marketing of Ellumen’s commuter benefits and telework programs have contributed to reducing employee vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by 512,080 miles and saving an estimated 23,276 gallons of gas annually.

Telework Award

The Northwest Federal Credit Union (NWFCU) received the 2022 Employer Recognition Award for the telework offering of its commuter benefits program. Out of 533 employees in metropolitan Washington, 344 employees (65 percent) work remotely; with 256 employees (48 percent) doing so 1-2 days per week, and 88 (17 percent) teleworking full-time. Launched in 2020 and formalized in 2021, the financial institution’s telework program provides employees with home office equipment such as laptops, headsets, monitors, and keyboards, and NWFCU supervisors receive training on managing employees in a remote work environment. The NWFCU telework program has led to the reduction of nearly 886,000 vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and saves more than 40,000 gallons of gas annually.

Employer Services Sales Team Achievement Award

For the second consecutive year, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) has won the 2022 Employer Services Sales Team Achievement Award. During the past year, DDOT made more than 1,700 contacts with employers in the District of Columbia, 485 employers were designated as Employer Ambassadors, and 75 meetings and 11 webinars were held by its goDCgo staff. Selection of the award recipient was based on information provided by the sales teams as part of their required monthly reporting to COG/TPB and through on-going database verifications. DDOT’s goDCgo program is proudly supported by Foursquare ITP and Clark Concepts.

Employer Services Organization Achievement Award

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) received the 2022 Employer Services Organization Achievement Award for its ongoing work helping federal agencies preserve and enhance historical, cultural, and natural federal assets and resources to enrich the lives of those who live, work, and play within the National Capital Region. NCPC assists federal agencies in developing robust Transportation Management Plans (TMPs) that prioritize environmental protection, sustainable development, congestion reduction, energy consumption, and quality of life. NCPC works to improve metropolitan Washington by guiding federal employee commute behavior through more efficient and effective means.