Grant Thornton’s “Green Team” initiative safely brings employees back into the neighborhood
The Rosslyn company kicks Earth Day up a notch with “Earth Week,” culminating in a park cleanup
Remote work hasn’t stopped Rosslyn’s Grant Thornton office from thinking “green” this spring! The accounting giant is setting its sights on our own backyard with initiatives that help the environment and safely bring employees back into the neighborhood, thanks to the company’s “Green Team.” Through a zero waste office, a local park cleanup and even the adoption of our own Gateway Park, Grant Thornton is aiming to make lasting change with its environmental impact. The Rosslyn BID recently sat down with Greg Wallig, Grant Thornton MetroDC-Arlington Managing Principal, to discuss these efforts and his hopes for the way they will help employees engage and interact with their community.
A company situated right on the “gateway”
As an Arlington resident himself, Greg recognizes the value of Grant Thornton’s location in Rosslyn as the gateway between Washington D.C. and Virginia. And with over 1,200 employees calling the Rosslyn office home base, Grant Thornton strives to make the physical office space a welcome landing spot for employees that regularly straddle remote and client-site work. Within this office space you’ll find open layouts and collaboration spaces that foster a communal environment (not to mention killer views of the Potomac!). But with Grant Thornton’s employees currently working from home (with the option to reserve office space if they choose), they’re eager to find ways to still feel connected with each other and the neighborhood.
Turning ideas into action in the neighborhood
One of the ways the people of Grant Thornton have stayed connected is through the company’s various employee engagement groups. One such group is the Green Team, dedicated to environmental sustainability efforts. Already a zero waste office, the Green Team has furthered this work with small, everyday changes that pack a big punch — including partnering with a local, veteran owned composting company, Veteran Compost, to add bins to their kitchens! Recently, the Green Team saw the opportunity to spread their efforts beyond the walls of their building and into Rosslyn with Earth Week, a week dedicated to environmentally-friendly actions in the community in honor of Earth Day.
This year, Grant Thornton’s Earth Week culminated in a volunteer group cleanup of Hillside Park (1601 N Pierce St). This park cleanup day brought 30 of Grant Thornton’s employees out to Hillside Park to safely mulch, clear out brush, paint public picnic tables and help with general maintenance around the park. The BID was even onsite with a breakfast from Rosslyn’s Bethesda Bagels, ready to fuel volunteers through a morning of hard but rewarding work.
Linking company and community through a park
But the Green Team’s vision doesn’t stop there! The company’s adoption of Gateway Park at 1300 Lee Hwy, in close collaboration with Arlington Parks Department and the BID, offers another opportunity for Grant Thornton to help the environment while merging their indoor offices with outdoors spaces to create a more flexible environment for its employees. And while the adoption of Gateway Park was a goal of the company even pre-pandemic, Greg noted that the park is now more important than ever for employees and Rosslyn’s inhabitants alike.
“The health and safety of our employees is always the number one priority, but we know that working from home has many of them missing the collaboration and socialization that comes with an office environment,” Greg explained. “The Gateway Park adoption will not only allow us to give back to a beloved community amenity, but through cleanups and events it will also provide a space for our employees to get out into the physical neighborhood and connect with each other in an open, inspiring space.”
The outdoors as an extension of the office
Even as one of the world’s leading accounting firms, Grant Thornton is thoroughly invested in supporting the local clients, employees, businesses and community that make up Rosslyn. Greg is hopeful that taking advantage of Rosslyn’s local parks and amenities will allow employees to safely reconnect while helping the traditional office environment to evolve.
At the BID, we had a similar goal in mind when we created Rosslyn’s outdoor office, O2, located in Gateway Park, and we’re excited to continue work with our friends at Grant Thornton to safely welcome Rosslyn’s employees, residents and visitors back into the neighborhood!
