Dick Levan becomes latest Scanlon Stewardship Award Recipient

Canadian businessman Dick Levan receives the Scanlon Stewardship Award, for his contribution to labor/management cooperation and employee involvement.

The Scanlon Stewardship Award is the highest honor given by the Scanlon Leadership Network. The award is named after Joe Scanlon who pioneered labor management cooperation, employee involvement and gainsharing in business. The Scanlon Leadership Network is a nonprofit association of progressive organizations headquarted in East Lansing, Michigan.

Dick LeVan took his small family owned foundry (a producer of wood burning stoves) and made it into the largest producer of manifolds in North America. Today, Wescast is a publicly traded company, the winner of numerous quality and environmental awards, and a company with a reputation as one of the best places to work in Canada.

Dick Levan served on the Board of the Scanlon Leadership Network for eight years. He became an effective advocate for the Scanlon way of doing business.

According to Dick Levan "Several of my friends and colleagues have commented on how much I have done for Scanlon over the years, but that works two ways. Scanlon has done a great deal for our company and me. It helped us create a work environment that encouraged our employees to actively participate in the business. I am proud of our people and how they have responded to the challenge of making Wescast a more successful company. I am also gratified to see that more organizations are beginning to understand the real value and impact of Scanlon on their people and their business."

Prior Scanlon Stewardship Award winners include: Dick Ruch, former Chairman of Herman Miller, Dwane Baumgardner, Vice President of Magna-Donnelly, Buzz Kersman, CEO of Lorin Industries, Dr. Carl Frost, Professor Emeritus of Michigan State University, Dr. Bill Greenwood, owner of Greenwood Consulting, Pat Thomson, Chairman of Trans-Matic, and D.J., Hugh and Max DePree of Herman Miller.