From left: Paul Venker, Tom Orris, Calvina Cook, Steve Sanders and Ted Williams,
ST. LOUIS - Williams Venker & Sanders and its executive director Mary Hoffman were recently recognized as a "Patriotic Employer" by the Office of the Secretary of Defense's Employer Support for the Guard and Reserves (ESGR).
Hoffman and the firm were nominated by U.S. Army Sgt. Calvina Cook, a former Williams Venker & Sanders employee who left the firm to pursue a career in the military.
While Cook was serving overseas at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, the firm's employees sent her cards, multiple care packages and regularly emailed her with well-wishes.
"I want to thank the firm as a whole for their support while I was in Afghanistan," Cook said in a statement released by the firm. "Furthermore, I am especially grateful to Mary Hoffman for the love and care she has expressed during and after my years with Williams Venker & Sanders."
The ESGR Patriotic Employer award recognizes employers for contributing to national security and protecting liberty and freedom by supporting employee participants in America's National Guard and Reserve Force. This honor is awarded to only 5 percent of the hundreds of employers nominated.
Hoffman and the firm will be formally recognized at a ceremony next year.