Distinguished Community Business Partner 

Tonight marks the 20th Annual Community Volunteer Awards, so it seemed fitting to honor a local business partner who has been with us for the long haul. That would be Paul Schubert and Golden State Water Company.

Paul’s 20-year career at Golden State reflects continuous generosity to good causes in Rancho Cordova. Paul has taken it to even higher heights by being a steady, reliable community leader. He is like the water in your kitchen faucet – when you need it, it’s there. 

Starting as a water supply superintendent, Paul steadily moved up the ranks to become general manager in 2014. Throughout his career, he has been one of us – a longtime resident, with kids in our schools.

Paul’s professional excellence has earned him leadership positions on water authority boards across the region which assures adequate water supplies for all. 

Despite a busy career, he still finds time to give back to Rancho Cordova on a personal level. He is a two-time president of the Rancho Cordova Rotary Club and treasurer of the Rancho Cordova Rotary Charitable Foundation. He has shared his business experience as a board member for the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce.

Julie Hagan Belka, a philanthropic leader in her own right, nominated Paul for this award. 

She said:

Paul has made sure that Golden State is always in the forefront of local giving. Sometimes it is difficult to figure out where the goodwill of Paul Schubert ends and the goodwill of Golden State Water Company begins. 

As part of Operation Gobble, Golden State has donated thousands of turkeys to needy families at Thanksgiving. They roll up to City Hall with a truck full of birds to be distributed through the Cordova Community Food Locker and other emergency food partners – part of the 232,000 Thanksgiving turkeys distributed by the company over the past 27 years.

Paul has shepherded support to the community through the Cordova Community Council Magic Maker program, swung his clubs for a cause during the Rancho Cordova Community Classic Golf Tournament, and has been a trusted advisor to the Rotary’s Hometown Hero grant.

Good corporate citizenship is the ideal that corporations have obligations to society 

as a whole, not just to investors, employees or customers. Responsible companies are socially and ethically minded, taking on worthy causes.

Paul has been part of Golden State’s corporate policy-making, which requires managers to serve in their community and encourages strong engagement by all employees. Golden State has discovered that when employees are deeply rooted in their community, they take more pride in what they do and do a better job. That all contributes to the company’s bottom line, making it a winner for all involved.

Paul is the premiere example of this altruistic way of thinking.

We are fortunate to have Golden State as a community booster. And we are delighted that we get to work with Paul as part of it. Congratulations and thank you to both as our Distinguished Community Business Partner.