Establishing a charitable foundation during these very difficult economic times might seem extremely challenging. However, for a company with the values embodied by LAZ Parking, it was simply the right thing to do. "Now is exactly the right time to establish a charitable foundation because the need in our communities is greater than ever," said Michael Harth, President of the West Coast region of Sunset/LAZ Parking.
The mission of the newly formed LAZ Parking Charitable Foundation "is to contribute time and financial resources to charitable organizations that make a positive difference in people's lives." In order to involve as many of the 6,000 LAZ employees as possible in the process, a contest was launched whereby all employees, both full time and part time, were asked to nominate a national charity. The nominations were then voted on by each region until the top three organizations were selected. All nominations were vetted by the LAZ Charitable Foundation committee members to ensure they meet the highest standards for charitable foundations. Through this process, Special Olympics was selected to receive financial and volunteer support during the first year of the Foundation's activities.
Founded 1981 and headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut with a single valet location, LAZ Parking has grown to one of the largest parking companies in the country, specializing in the management, leasing, ownership and development of parking facilities throughout the United States. In addition to Hartford, the company has regional offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. LAZ Parking currently has 1,300 parking facilities, encompassing 435,000 spaces in 21 states and 99 cities. Through the tremendous dedication of over 6,000 talented employees, LAZ has grown to become the fourth largest parking company in America.
In 2007 LAZ formed a partnership with VINCI Park, the world's leader in the parking concession business. VINCI Park operates over 1.2 million parking spaces in more than 350 cities and 12 countries throughout the world.