Laurie Hager
Williamsburg, VA (PRWEB) April 03, 2012
La Tienda, a family-owned company with thirty-five employees, will receive the national Outstanding Workplace of the Year Award, on April 11th, 2012 from the Commission on Adult Basic Education, for its six year commitment to providing English classes for Spanish-speaking employees.
"We saw what a struggle some of these folks were having adjusting in the community as recent immigrants, and it just made sense. The English classes did improve communication at work, but more importantly, the classes helped them in their lives outside of work," said Tim Harris, CEO of La Tienda.
Provided at no charge to the employees and conducted during business hours, the weekly classes involve tutors from the local chapter of Literacy for Life, who adapt their instruction to the individual needs of the employees. In addition to English classes, La Tienda has provided Spanish classes to its English speaking employees and is in the process of rolling out Learning.LaTienda.com - an online educational platform for teachers.
Tutor, Jennie Kelly, commented, “It was certainly a pleasure to work with La Tienda and I’m thrilled they were chosen to win the national award. It was clear to me from working with the learners in La Tienda’s English class and from observing their interactions with the rest of the employees, that La Tienda strives to be more than a workplace – it is a community for mutual growth and learning.”
The purpose of the Outstanding Workplace of the Year, Chester Klevins Award is to honor an institution which has developed an outstanding workplace literacy program serving a local community, state/province, region and/or nation. La Tienda will receive the National Outstanding Workplace of the Year Award from COABE at an awards luncheon in April.
About La Tienda:
Founded in 1996, La Tienda is an online retailer offering a selection of over 800 gourmet items from Spain. Family–owned and managed, the business is dedicated to working with artisan and small family businesses in Spain. La Tienda is headquartered in Williamsburg, Virginia, with its Spanish operation based outside of San Sebastian, Spain. Warehouses in Virginia and Alicante, Spain, ship throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada and Europe.
La Tienda will ship to over 95,000 customers in 2012, including restaurants and renowned chefs. In 2010, the company was awarded the Captain John Smith Award by the James City County Economic Development Team to a business, organization or individual for exemplary contributions to their local community. In 2011, La Tienda received the Outstanding Workplace Education Partnership Award from the Virginia Association for Adult and Continuing Education (VAACE).
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