| The Institute won the Corporate Social
Responsibility Award from PR News at the
annual Corporate Social Responsibility awards luncheon
at the National Press Club in March. The AICPA
received the award for its volunteer efforts and its
initiatives to build community ties. The
Institute also received the inaugural Best Community
Development Award, sponsored by Accentuate Staffing,
for its local outreach, and the 2008 Business
Champions Award from Business Leader magazine
and Wake Tech Community College, for its contributions
to job growth and employee training programs.
Following its relocation to North Carolina, the
Institute worked with the Volunteer Center of Durham
and Durham Public Schools to build a foundation for
volunteer opportunities for AICPA employees.
Among other things, the Institute has sponsored the
Durham Bulls Education Rewards Program, which brought
10,000 students and 9,000 educators to baseball games
last summer, supported Project Homeless Connect, and
contributed to various local arts organizations.
In March, the Institute invited Rep. David Price,
D-N.C., to meet the Institute’s staff and Hillside
High School students at the AICPA’s Durham office.
Price discussed issues, including public
transportation, outsourcing, local homeland security
and mental health assistance for war veterans.
Recently, more than 35 AICPA employees volunteered
to help build a Habitat for Humanity home in
Durham.The workers and the AICPA’s co-sponsorship of
the activity helped make homeownership possible for a
single mother and her three children. | 
A new line of business to consider
Maximizing the higher education tax credits