Zymogenetics' Vandenburgh Award Profile

Communication is the key to progress
ZymoGenetics Inc. , a leader in the biotechnology field, has more than 300 employees commuting to its Eastlake area worksite. The company is making significant progress toward its commute trip reduction goals as a result of an intensive communication effort by Employee Transportation Coordinator (ETC) Patty Vandenburgh. This effort earns Patty Vandenburgh a Diamond Award for Employee Transportation Coordinator Leadership.

Jan. 30, 2002 Awards Ceremony

Accepting her Diamond Award for ETC Leadership is ZymoGenetic's Employee Transportation Coordinator Patty Vandenburgh, pictured with Chief Operating Officer Shinko Campos.

“ZymoGenetics is committed to helping our employees with commuting challenges,” said ZymoGenetics President Bruce Carter, Ph.D. “Patty's dedication combined with her use of many creative initiatives has made the program successful.”

Vandenburgh helped trigger this change in corporate culture with employees and management. ZymoGenetics has an internal Task Force that addresses transportation issues and ways to promote commuting options. The committee consists of employees from all levels of the organization, including a vice president. Having management represented on the working committee helps ensure that important information is presented at key meetings.

“We are working very hard to give more visibility to what we are trying to achieve through commute trip reduction,” said Vandenburgh. “In the past, a lot of people at our company weren't aware of the issues. Now our company and our employees have a sense of responsibility. We still have some progress to make. But there has certainly been a shift in peoples' approach.”

To keep employees informed and enthusiastic, Vandenburgh makes presentations at all-company meetings, publishes articles in the newsletter and sends company-wide e-mails. ZymoGenetics also holds contests and offers other incentives for employees who rideshare.

ZymoGenetics has 187 parking spaces for its more than 300 employees. This parking shortage causes employees to seek out alternatives to driving alone. In addition to providing transit, ferry, vanpool and rail subsidies to employees, ZymoGenetics offers creative programs to encourage employees to try ridesharing. A group of employees uses one of the company vans to commute. Along with traditional reserved carpool parking spaces, the company has three casual carpool spaces. These spaces are available to employees who are trying carpooling but are not officially registered. If the spaces are not used by carpools before 10:00 am, anyone is able to park there.

“We don't expect people to give up their cars and start right in with a full-time carpool. We want them to give it a try and then maybe carpool a few days a week,” Vandenburgh said.

*Some definitions: An “ETC” is the staff-level employee transportation coordinator responsible for the daily administration of the transportation program; “PM” is the transportation program manager; and “CEO” refers to the top management-level person at the worksite. “SOV” stands for single-occupant vehicle, and “CTR” for commute trip reduction.