By TONY SPILDE

When Tom Ollenburger needed time off, he got it.

When he told his employer he'd be gone for at least a year, they said good luck; your job will be here when you return. Then they began assembling a care package and told Ollenburger they'd help his family out if they needed it while he was gone. They did the same for Jeff Scholl and his family. Both men are members of the North Dakota National Guard's 188th Air Defense Artillery. They are in Fort Lewis, Wash., now, and leave for Afghanistan in a couple of weeks.

For its extra efforts, the Expressway Inn and Suites - where Ollenburger and Scholl work as front-desk clerks - will receive the Five Star Award on Friday, the highest honor given by the office of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.

The hotel has gone above and beyond what is required by law, said ESGR volunteer Don Huber.

"They have some soldiers that said some nice things about them,” Huber said.

By law, mobilized soldiers must get their jobs back, at the same or higher wage, when they return from duty. Businesses in the Five Star program must be willing to do more than the minimum, though. They send care packages, keep in touch with their employees and help the soldiers' families while they're gone.

The Expressway Inn and Suites had been doing those things without knowing they were attached to an award.

"They've been really good to him, he told me that many times," Ollenburger's father, Loren, said. "They were really flexible, adjusting his hours so he could work anytime when he had free time. They've gone above and beyond."

The privately owned Expressway Inn and Suites has two facilities in Bismarck and one in Fargo. It has had at least two other employees get mobilized in the last three years, assistant general manager Mike Motschenbacher said.

"We're not a franchise, and we do consider ourselves more of a family down here," Motschenbacher said. "While (the soldiers) are overseas, we'll send them care packages. Their families know, if they need anything, to call us and we'll help them. We agreed to do that without them asking. The soldiers made the ESGR aware of that."

Greg Wilz, director of North Dakota's division of Homeland Security, will present the award at 3 p.m. Friday at the hotel.

Huber said Basin Electric Power Cooperative and Camp Bros. Heating and Air Conditioning also have received the award.