Who are the “Difference Makers” in our lives? Nick Dyer is one for many Pennsylvanians.
In his longtime position as Human Resource Manager at Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Central Pennsylvania, he has made a consistent effort to share information about addiction and treatment with his colleagues. Thanks to him, over 1,000 Enterprise Rent-A-Car employees are now equipped with knowledge about opioid use and how they can get help for themselves and others.
1. Tell us about yourself and (if applicable) your organization? Where are you located and what is some of the work that you do?
My wife and I have two beautiful teenage daughters, one entering her sophomore year at Northern Lebanon High School and one entering her freshman year at Lebanon Valley College. Professionally, I recently celebrated my 24th anniversary with Enterprise Rent-A-Car where I serve as the Human Resource Manager for Central Pennsylvania. My role is to ensure we have an engaged workforce that provides exceptional service to our customers and gives back to the communities where we live and work. Our company has over 1000 employees in Central Pennsylvania with 80 car rental locations, five truck rental locations, and four car sales dealerships.
2. What kinds of problems have you seen in your community as a result of the opioid epidemic?
While the opioid epidemic has gripped the entire nation, Pennsylvania has been hit particularly hard. The Commonwealth has one of the highest mortality rates in the U.S. from opioid use. What is more difficult to measure is the impact on families who have a family member struggling with addiction and the economic impact of a workforce struggling with addiction. My colleagues with other companies report increases in employee absenteeism, workplace accidents, employee theft and decreased productivity from suspected substance users. Even family members of people with substance use disorder can struggle with workplace productivity and absenteeism as a result of their stressful situation.
3. What have you done to help with the problems your community (or your organization) faces?
The Commonwealth Prevention Alliance has produced many helpful prevention resources through its PA STOP campaign for families and employers. At Enterprise, we have shared many of these resources with our managers and employees, including the Family Toolkit and the Workplace Toolkit. The Enterprise Holdings Foundation presented CPA with a $20,000 grant in 2019 to help continue their amazing work.
4. What motivated you to try and help people affected by addiction?
As the father of two teenage daughters, it was troubling to hear news reports of young men and women dying from opioid use, oftentimes on the first use. I felt I needed to better educate myself and my family on the risks of opioids and through my research I found PASTOP.org. The resources were so helpful to me as a father that I felt compelled to share the information with our 1,000 employees, many of whom are parents themselves. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I learned that many of our employees have or have had family members with addiction issues, and they appreciated that we were proactively sharing prevention information with our team.
5. What are some of the best parts about helping people who have been affected by the opioid epidemic?
Hopefully, our employees understand how much we care about them and their families. Sharing resources related to the prevention of and treatment for opioid abuse is just one example of how we show our concern. We will likely never know the full impact of our communications, but believe based on feedback that the information is appreciated.
6. Is there a particular situation that sticks out in your memory related to the ways you’ve tried to make a difference?
I was humbled to present the Enterprise Holdings Foundation $20,000 grant to the CPA’s annual Prevention Conference in front of hundreds of true prevention professionals. It was rewarding to share our gratitude as a company for their tireless efforts to save lives and make our communities stronger.
7. Have you used PA Stop materials and resources to help you make positive changes in your community? Are there any other resources that you’ve turned to for guidance?
Yes! We have shared the Family Toolkit with our entire workforce and the Workplace Toolkit with our management team. While we have researched other resources, we have found the PA STOP materials meet our needs exceptionally well.