Pioneer Title Agency has been a dedicated member of the Arizona community since its inception in 1985. Formed by a family with the goal to support families, the company has been driven by people with the goal to help people. The Newlon family — Bob and his wife, Betty; son Keith and his wife, Cindy — founded Pioneer Title in Sierra Vista and, through their strong local ties, have made a positive impact to many in need.
“Our success is directly linked to our people — some of whom have been with us since day one,” shares Keith Newlon. “Beyond our real estate prowess, which is sizeable, our people and ‘local first’ company culture are what we are most proud of. Operating under the philosophy of ‘Commitment to Service’ since our inception, our community involvement commitment allows our team the freedom to sponsor local sports teams, organize fundraising walks for local organizations, to simply donate to causes important to individual employees and their families.”
And, while still very much focused on Arizona’s smaller municipalities and towns where the company started and thanks to strong leadership from the family, Pioneer has grown from a handful of employees into a nearly 400-member team with offices in every county across Arizona, including Maricopa County. Although the pandemic has changed the ways in which the company gives, it has not detoured Pioneer’s philanthropic spirit.
For many years, Pioneer was dedicated to the community through its hands-on efforts, operating via grass roots efforts whereby its teams were out volunteering in person. Its Old School and Take a Hike initiatives were cornerstone programs that drove its corporate citizenship efforts for many years.
The Old School philanthropy initiative encouraged Pioneer Title Agency team members to get involved in their community schools, and the team’s creativity served as further inspiration as they planned projects to support local students and educators. The projects were varied to fit the individual needs of communities across the state. One project helped clubs reach a fundraising goal to travel to a tournament, another provided classroom teachers with much-needed supplies while a third delivered snacks for children from food-insecure households. Over the year-and-a-half period of this initiative, Pioneer teams volunteered more than 700 hours and donated more than $43,000 plus countless amounts of supplies to their community schools.
During Take A Hike, Pioneer Title Agency teams hiked all 800 miles of the Arizona Trail, raising mor than $30,000 for the Arizona Trail Association. Together, the Pioneer team hiked, biked, ran or rode all 43 passages for the Arizona Trail. The trail is a continuous pathway from the Mexican border to the Utah border. About this initiative, Keith shares, “The initiative was two-fold. While raising money for the Arizona Trail was important, we also wanted to raise awareness of all the trail offers. It’s a unique giant playground for us all to enjoy, and we wanted to spread the word.”
“As it relates to our Commitment to Community initiative, due to the massive spread of COVID-19 and our social distancing efforts, our team was not getting out into the community as much as normal,” says Cathy M. Laganosky, MBA, CPA, chief financial officer of Pioneer Title Agency. “Volunteering hasn’t been a safe option for many, but donating is another way we can offer our assistance and support to our neighbors. This program allows us to continue to do our community work while keeping everyone safe.”
Pioneer Title Agency’s latest philanthropic campaign is focused on its Commitment to Community (C2C) initiative. With this initiative, the team gifts a $10,000 grant every month to an Arizona organization. These monthly grants are possible through the relationship that Pioneer Title Agency established with the Arizona Community Foundation, whose mission is to lead, serve and collaborate to mobilize enduring philanthropy for a better Arizona. Through this work, ACF catalyzes the generosity of its donors and partners around Arizona’s pressing needs and opportunities.
Pioneer’s partnership with ACF has served to manage and simplify the granting process on the company’s behalf. Submissions for support from the public and from Pioneer team members inform a list of potential grantees, many of which team members have already volunteered with. From there, Pioneer teams vote monthly to decide where that month’s grant will go. Thus far they have provided a donation to the ACF Covid Relief Fund, the ACF Black Philanthropy Initiative, Flagstaff Family Food Center, Child Crisis Arizona, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Home for Our Troops and Southern Arizona Community Food Bank.
The Pioneer Promise
Pioneer Title Agency promises to leave things better; do the right thing; foster a warm, family relationship; protect the customer; protect the team; love Arizona; and be different. It promises to do this both in business and in giving back to the beautiful Arizona communities.
Community organizations can apply for the Pioneer Title Grant Program through the Arizona Community Foundation at www.azfoundation.org.
Tyler Butler (“Tyler Butler | Giving in Style”), founder and CEO of 11Eleven Consulting, is a corporate social responsibility practitioner and expert leader in the corporate citizenship space. She has served on numerous national and local boards and is often cited as a subject matter expert by Forbes, Entrepreneur, U.S. News & World Report and more.
Photo courtesy of Pioneer Title Agency
