By Malik Majeed, President, CEO & General Counsel
As we near the end of another exceptional year, I wanted to take the time to reflect on PRWT’s accomplishments and express my excitement for the New Year.
For me, all of this year’s bigger moments can be bucketed into three categories that are central to PRWT’s mission: commitment to our employees, dedication to our clients and communities in which we serve, and business excellence.
Among the grander moments of this year was celebrating the Company’s 30th anniversary. It was truly extraordinary for me to see so many of our Philadelphia-based employees gathered together in one room to congratulate each other for 30 years of marked success. The day was made even more special by our company’s founder Willie Johnson’s attendance.
Mr. Johnson understood the importance of coming to work every day not just for us and our families, but also for the communities in which we live and work, and he fostered that in each and every one of us. Those values were exemplified this year by our team members who work on the Salvation Army Ray & Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in Guayama, Puerto Rico. In the year since Hurricane Maria made landfall on the island, our team was able to bring the center back up to operational standards – a feat which, unfortunately, far too few on the island were able to achieve. Joe Rivera, the Kroc Center project manager, summed it up best in this Al Dia article when he stated: “We went where other companies may not have been able to go to.”
Whether it is helping our client recover after a major disaster or adopting a struggling high school in Philadelphia, we continue to invest in our communities, and that sense of purpose feeds into all other areas of our work. Indeed, we continue to be an exemplary company in the minority community, as 2018 marked our 20th consecutive year of making Black Enterprise Magazine’s Top 100 Largest Black-Owned Businesses in the country. Additionally, we are only one of two black-owned businesses in all of Pennsylvania to make the list.
I know that our success is only made possible through the commitment, dedication and perseverance of our employees and professional service partners, so to every single one of you, I extend a sincere “thank you.” I am so proud of what we have been able to accomplish this past year, and I look forward to the opportunities ahead of us in 2019. And of course, we will continue to support other minority owned enterprises and seek new opportunities to positively impact them.
Our company’s future remains bright, our relationships remain firm, our customers remain pleased with our services, and we will continue to compete as hard and intelligently as ever. Cheers to 2018, and bring on the New Year!