Katy Shebath played a critical role alongside her brother, David Nathaniel, throughout the last 32 years of Standard Products’s journey. She remains, with David, the heart and soul of this company.
A Driving Force Behind STANDARD
When Katy joined STANDARD in 1986, she took on the administration of the company. At that time, this involved management of the office, finances and human resources, as well as managing the payroll and IT departments while David worked at developing and acquiring new products, and managing sales. As STANDARD continued to thrive, all these tasks were delegated and new departments were shaped. For her part, Katy was perceived as a well-organized and conscientious professional, but she was also considered a deeply human individual, one whose profound humanity touched each person with whom she came into contact.
The heads of the Finance, Human Resources and IT departments continued to report to Katy. However, her role evolved in such a way as to allow her to spearhead a number of strategic initiatives. Many of these included specific projects and activities that led to the improvement of employees’ well-being and STANDARD’s commitment to support its community.
Katy Shebath was the STANDARD ambassador: she spared no effort in promoting the company and its workforce both within and outside its walls.
Cultivating Corporate Values
As STANDARD progressed, Katy felt it more and more pressing to cultivate and shape the STANDARD corporate values. In 2008, she assembled a team whose mission was to define the company’s core values. The corporate values were then communicated to all STANDARD employees. They were integrated into the employee assessment protocols and they were posted on office walls in all STANDARD facilities throughout Canada. Thanks to Katy’s dedication and generosity, these values strengthened and soon became the backbone of this company.
Her Legacy
Katy felt it was imperative to underscore the efforts of the men and women who contribute to STANDARD’s success on a daily basis. For this reason, she introduced a number of initiatives that not only support corporate values, but also ensure the well-being of STANDARD employees and its corporate community at large.
- Donation Day: a percentage of all sales on this day is donated to various causes that are near and dear to Stanpro
- Partnership with Habitat for Humanity Canada
- Stanpro is designated as one of the Canada’s Best Managed Companie
- Stanpro Scholarship: Each year, a $3,500 scholarship is awarded to a student as an incentive to the up-and-coming generation working in the electrical industry
- Wellness Month: February is the month dedicated to fostering wellness
Katy also played a key role in the construction, design, layout, and move into our Head Office building at 5905 Côte-de-Liesse, in Saint-Laurent.
She felt it was very important to constantly evolve at the technological level, thus improving STANDARD’s efficiency and level of service to its customers. Katy played a key role in the selection of SAP as our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and its successful implementation.
Katy Creates Donation Day
In 1999, Katy decided to bring all charitable donation efforts together on a single day. Thus, on one specific day of the year a percentage of all sales was donated to six causes dear to STANDARD’s heart. Over time, this day became more notable and today, donations are distributed to more than 80 charitable organizations and establishments that are of great value to STANDARD, namely, medical research facilities, organizations that help the less fortunate and homeless people, family support groups and many more.
Since the launch of this initiative in 1999, STANDARD has donated close to $800,000 to a wide range of charitable organizations.
As of today, this special yearly event will be now be known as Katy’s Donation Day to acknowledge the commitment of its architect and to honour her.
In Memory of a Truly Exceptional Woman
Katy was a source of inspiration to all those who knew, loved, and respected her. We cherish her keen spirit, her dynamism, and her ardent love of life.
Since 2018, Katy’s Donation Day is dedicated to Katy’s memory: this event day commemorates this exceptional woman whose benevolence and selflessness touched us all.
