Company Values

Vectorworks Invests in our Planet and Our Communities

At Vectorworks, we believe in the power of investing in not only our employees and customers but also in the communities we serve. That’s why the theme of Earth Day 2023 — “Invest in our Planet” — hits remarkably close to home this year. Earth Day is the world’s most significant environmental movement, and the 2023 theme focuses on engaging governments, institutions, businesses, and the more than 1 billion citizens who participate annually in Earth Day activities to do their part to invest in our planet to improve our environment and give our descendants a better and safer future.

Vectorworks Employees built 50 cages for the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

Giving back is a unique and indispensable component of our company culture. So much so that all employees are provided 24 hours of “Volunteer Time Off” (VTO) yearly to volunteer and give back to their local communities. In the spirit of this year’s Earth Day theme, employees at our corporate headquarters in Columbia, Maryland, used their VTO hours and dedicated time to invest in a critical environmental resource close to home — the Chesapeake Bay.

(Photo courtesy of the Oyster Recovery Partnership)

We recently spent time with the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) team to tackle a project benefiting the organization’s goal of supporting a healthy ecosystem. The ORP is the nonprofit expert in Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration. They are working toward restoring the Bay’s native oyster population by building reefs, supporting the aquaculture (oyster farming) industry, recycling oyster shells, and engaging the public through hands-on volunteering and events. Founded in 1994 with the support of major partners like the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the ORP is home to the Shell Recycling Alliance, the largest shell recycling network in the U.S., annually recycling 36,000 bushels of oyster shells from a network of 200 plus restaurants and 70 public drop sites in the mid-Atlantic region.

Science has shown that oysters can play a role in restoring water quality because of their filter-feeding capabilities. A single, healthy adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day. Knowing the potential positive impact oysters can have on the Bay’s health, the ORP has planted over 10 billion oysters on 3,000 acres of reef and recycled more than 260,000 bushels of shells. To help further this mission of achieving a cleaner Chesapeake Bay, our team members rolled up their sleeves to help build oyster cages for the ORP’s Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, which engages over 2,000 volunteers to nurture young oysters during their most vulnerable year of life.

Vectorworks staff worked in groups to manually bend, attach and assemble 50 oyster cages for the program. They also got an expert insight into the critical role oysters play in the health of the Chesapeake Bay and our local ecosystem, plus they got a hands-on tutorial on how to shuck oysters.

Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CPO Darick DeHart, Senior Director, Customer Success Juan Almansa, and Business Performance Manager Fred Burdine bend material to construct oyster cages.

Event Marketing Manager Tania Arabian and Employee Experience Specialist Rachel Sigwalt use their knot-tying skills to add ropes to the oyster cages.

Vectorworks employees hard at work fastening oyster cages together.

Senior Product Marketing Director Rubina Siddiqui, Partnership Specialist Lee Draminski, and Inbound Marketing Manager Claire Manley work together to build an oyster cage.

The team's finished product: oyster cages ready to be used.

Our Columbia, Maryland headquarters employees weren’t the only ones who participated in volunteer activities in honor of Earth Day and Global Volunteer Month. Our team members helped a variety of charities and organizations this month, including:

To learn more about Vectorworks, our unique company culture, and our core values, check out vectorworks.net/company/values.