Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense program, has announced that HighPoint Program Operations Director, Doug Downey, will be this year’s Patriot Award recipient.

The Patriot Award is presented to individual supervisors or bosses that provide support to their employees who either serve in the National Guard or Reserve, or are spouses of a Guard or Reserve member, through flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, and other special arrangements.

Senior Project Manager, Josh Clark, who supports HighPoint’s Training, Quality, and Content (TQC) project for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, nominated Downey for his unwavering support of Clark’s service duties in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Clark is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve, where he serves as a Battalion Commander overseeing 1,200 people in the 687th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion.

According to Clark, this is the first company he has worked for that has been so accommodating of his service requirements.

“Doug has been awesome!” says Clark. “Whenever duties or orders arise, Doug always says, ‘No worries. We’ve got your back.’”

The ESGR presented Doug with the Patriot Award on Thursday, July 11 at HighPoint’s Allison Pointe office in Indianapolis.