Shop owner enjoys unintended benefit of charity

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Philanthropy often delivers the unintentional benefit of boosting a business' reputation in the community, as Gus Herlong, president and COO of Palmetto Garage Works L.L.C. (PGW) and this year's Tire Business Tire Dealer Humanitarian award winner, can attest.

"If you're going to have your car serviced or worked on, and you don't know where to go, we're going to stand out because it's that 'feel good.' It's that, 'Well, if they're going to give back, I just feel better about going there.'

"Now, they might not know who I am or know anything about our brand, but at least they try us," Herlong said, who operates 32 Midas and SpeeDee franchise stores in South Carolina, northern Florida and Washington, D.C.

He advertises his business' philanthropy efforts and fundraising events, which he calls "cause marketing," to encourage community involvement with donations and to draw in new customers.

"You know when you come here and get an oil change or tires or repairs or whatever it is, we're going to invest back in the community we're doing business in. Whether that's food banks, whether that's giving cars away," he said.

"We're not entitled to your business. We have to earn it, and there has to be a differentiating factor in how I earn your business. And that differentiating factor that I've chosen is to find and partner with a nonprofit and know who they are," he said.

"It's not just pick a name out of a hat. You need to know who they are. Otherwise you can end up partnering with somebody that's not really giving as much back," Herlong said, noting he usually asks to see the financials of the organization to learn how much of its donations are distributed to the community, versus paying for administrative costs.

He encourages businesses to research the nonprofits they want to develop a relationship with.

"Partner with them, invest in them. Get involved with the community that way.

"And so that's kind of been one of our differentiating factors and labeling ourselves as we're a family company. We're going to invest in the community. We're going to give back. We create careers."

Instead of donating a little bit to numerous charities, PGW has chosen to partner with a few select nonprofits to make a difference in the community.

"I don't want to be a mile wide and an inch deep, making no impact. Because if I gave 1,000 people $100 donations, how far is that going to go, versus eight?

"That's not to say we don't help cheerleading squads and high school football teams and stuff, one-offs, but it can be much more impactful with these eight or 10 partnerships.

"I can see results happen. We're changing the organization versus just being all over the place," Herlong said.

He has longstanding partnerships with several Columbia-area nonprofits for which he has raised funds and donated to, including local food banks; Camp Cole for children with disabilities and illnesses; Family Promise of the Midlands, which helps those with housing insecurities; and Original Design, a mentoring program for youth.

"So it's one thing to be involved. It's great to be involved, but you've got to believe it. Number one, you can't just do it because you feel you should be getting a repayment for it.

"There is absolutely no expectation of entitlement coming from our actions to be involved, and there shouldn't be. You're in it for the wrong reasons if that's what you're chasing."

While he doesn't like to play favorites, Camp Cole is near and dear to him.

"We've donated the most to Camp Cole. They named the main portico after us. They have a huge campus and their entire campus has been built for every student to be able to enter the front door. There's no wheelchair access. There's no handicap accessible (ramp) over there on the side."

In other words, everything is accessible for everyone.

The facility hosts camps and events for various nonprofit children support groups throughout the year, such as for children with various disabilities, illnesses, Down syndrome, autism, etc. Buses pull up to the Midas portico to drop off campers. All venues are adapted for children with disabilities and the health-care center is staffed with specialists to care for the campers' various medical needs.

Herlong, a founding donor, said the camp transformed an open field into one of the few such adaptive camps in the country for children and teens. (See story on page 14).

The dealership also supports the Palmetto Baseball League for children, which had been displaced several times "to the point where it looked like they weren't going to be able to exist anymore. And they've been around for 30 to 40 years," Herlong said, who became a founding donor of the league's new baseball field which it now owns.

His family name and the Midas logo appear behind home plate.

"So now they have purchased their own facility and will never have to risk losing a facility again. Obviously, that's kind of cool. I grew up (playing in the league). It was going to go away, and now it's not. It's forever there."

Harvest Hope, a local food bank and Herlong's inaugural partnership, is also a favorite. PGW started with sponsoring a food drive at its stores and setting up donation boxes in the waiting rooms. PGW ran radio spots offering a $10 coupon for a donation of five cans of food.

The coupon was most often for an oil change, when the service normally cost at least $20. "And it snowballed from there," he said.

"And so then we enhanced our partnership with Harvest. We started doing financial donations to them because they could create more meals. They could create five times the amount of meals with the same dollar that I could give them, versus perishable food donations.

"So then we started campaigning out there of 'free oil change if you donate $5 to Harvest Hope,' because who wouldn't do that? You know, $5 versus your $20 (oil change). 'I don't even care about Harvest Hope, but I'll do that.'"

PGW expanded its partnership with Harvest Hope to include other area food banks.

"And that just parlayed into, well, there are people in need here that their lives depend on blood (donations). They don't have transportation, they can't get their medicine, they can't get their food," he said, noting the dealership is now involved in hosting periodic blood drives and giving away vehicles to families in need.

"It's really hard for me to (rank) just because the reason that we are as deeply partnered with all of them is because they're all my favorite in some way, is the best way to put it," Herlong said.

"But you know, the three that are named, they stick out the most because of the stories behind them, from either starting us in this initiative or something that was personal to me with PBL, or watching that camp come to fruition from nothing but mud to, in the United States, the third one of those camps, that's been hugely successful."

One of the big projects the business has been involved in the last couple of years is refurbishing older vehicles the company used as loaners to give to families in need.

"We call it 'the gift of transportation.' We do it right at the Thanksgiving holiday. Midas calls it Project Spark," Herlong said.

Columbia is PGW's biggest market from a store-count standpoint, so Herlong has focused most of his philanthropy in the Columbia market, especially since he is based in the city of 135,000 residents in central South Carolina and can direct the projects.

PGW's stores in other markets are involved in smaller philanthropic projects, such as supporting local schools or partnering with Down syndrome causes or the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, spurred by employees' favorite causes.

"A lot of times, if I want to get my operators involved in that, I need to figure out what's passionate for them. The community is going to need help wherever we can give it," Herlong said.

"So if my operator down there is very passionate about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, that's probably the direction we're going to be investing in down there, because I found a passion for somebody that can drive it more successfully there than I could, and hopefully mirror what we've done in Columbia."

The company provides small donations to teachers and first responders in its markets.

When he opens a store in a new community, his employees visit the local high school and give every teacher a free oil change coupon with a handwritten note saying, "Thank you for educating the kids in our community."

Employees visit every fire station and police station in their area with a similar note that says, "Thank you for protecting our community."

"This is not a solicitation. You don't even have to use it. This is just our gesture," Herlong said.

He draws a ring around the store location and determines who could benefit from the store's charity.

"First responders are important. Most of the time, they don't get paid attention to because everybody's doing something for Veterans Day or doing something for (another holiday), which is great.

"But first responders, the ones that drive the ambulances, they're the ones that protect us. The police and the fire stations. Teachers — obviously you hear about that all the time, like they are educating the next generation and that's a thankless task. So we want to recognize that, and so we've done that.

"If it's a local high school where the cheerleading squad wants new uniforms, OK, here's 250 oil change certificates. I don't want anything, and I don't care what you sell them for.

"And so we've done stuff like that, which obviously is a cost to us, but in my mind, it's teaching them how to earn it because they have something (of value to offer)," Herlong said.