With an outside-in perspective, we can better understand the needs of the world we live in.

SOURCE:DOW

DESCRIPTION:

By Eunice Heath

Through continued collaboration, we are helping to facilitate the world’s transition to a more circular economy.

Bringing diverse perspectives to the table is an important way to help us think critically and unlock new opportunities. This is especially evident in the world of corporate social responsibility, where robust thinking and dialogue help shape a more sustainable world. Dow’s Sustainability External Advisory Council (SEAC) is a good example of a long-standing advisory board that has shaped our sustainability journey for the past 30 years.

At its inception, it was a first-of-its-kind council in the petrochemical industry when launched in 1992 by Frank Popoff, former Dow CEO and chairman, and David Buzzelli, former board member and executive vice president of Dow. The SEAC provides an independent, outside-in perspective on critical issues relating to sustainability and environmental policies that impact both Dow and our global community, such as climate change, ecosystem services, circularity and sustainable chemistry.

These thought leaders represent the best in academia, government and non-governmental organizations, and bring together a diverse, global perspective on a wide variety of vital and current issues. This approach and diverse set of stakeholders enable us to best address global challenges to drive sustainable and inclusive growth.

As we look back on three decades of collaboration with the SEAC, the impact they have had on our Company is evident. Through their challenging and thought-provoking feedback, we have pushed boundaries and made strides in bigger and bolder ways.

Making an impact

Notably, the SEAC had a hand in shaping our decade-long Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability Goals. As we crafted our 2005, 2015, and most recent 2025 goals, the SEAC challenged us to be bold, to be ambitious, and to be a leader in sustainability. With the council’s guidance, each successive set of goals was elevated and designed to have broader reach and impact. For example, with our 2025 Valuing Nature Goal, the SEAC served as a sounding board and thought partner and helped us incorporate nature into business decisions. To date, we are about three-quarters of the way to deliver $1 billion in value, primarily through avoided costs, from projects that are both good for business and for ecosystems. And through continued collaboration, we are helping to facilitate the world’s transition to a more circular economy. To do so, the council encouraged us to be bold in our actions and to seek new partnerships, such as through the Alliance to End Plastic Waste.

What’s to come

As we pause to celebrate three decades of collaboration and growth with the SEAC, we’re also looking ahead. The SEAC will continue to bring external perspectives that will guide us through many aspects of sustainability, from policy and advocacy to regulatory frameworks, consumer dialogue and the financial view on sustainability. As in the past, we will continue to learn and benefit from their industry expertise. Because of and in partnership with the SEAC, we recognize our purpose to deliver a sustainable future for the world through materials science and in collaboration with our partners.

Eunice Heath, Corporate Director of Sustainability

Tweet me:.@DowNewsroom’s Sustainability External Advisory Council (SEAC) is an example of a long-standing advisory board that has shaped the company's sustainability journey for the past 30 years. Learn more about the council and its impact: https://bit.ly/3TdGHSB

KEYWORDS: NYSE:DOW, Sustainability External Advisory Council, SEAC, 2025 Valuing Nature Goal, Eunice Heath

SOURCE:Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG)

DESCRIPTION:

We can all make decisions every day that can reduce energy use and increase sustainability. Here are the five simple measures you can take to save energy this month and all year long.

1. Install LEDs. Replace incandescent bulbs in your home with high-efficiency LEDs. LEDs use 80% less energy than conventional bulbs and last much longer. Remember to turn off lights whenever you’re the last one to leave a room.

2. Adjust the thermostat to save energy at night or when no one’s at home. If you have a programmable thermostat and you’re not using it, now’s a great time to start. Smart thermostat models include advanced features, such as remote control.

3. Pull the plug on standby power. Many electronic devices continue to use power when they’re turned off. Unplug chargers and other electronic devices when it’s convenient. Advanced power strips and smart plugs automatically shut off power to plugged-in devices when they’re not being used.

4. Go low flow. The typical shower sends more than 25 gallons of hot water down the drain. Save water and energy by installing low-flow showerheads and faucet aerators. Also, take shorter showers and reduce the temperature on your water heater to 120°F.

5. Run full loads. Your dishwasher and clothes washer use a lot of water and energy. Make the most of it by waiting until you have a full load to operate them. Air dry clothes when you can. It reduces energy use for drying and is easier on fabric, making your clothes last longer.

Energy conservation is a year-round commitment. Little things, such as taking the time to turn things off when you’re not using them, can make a big difference.

Learn more about PSE&G here

Tweet me:We can all make decisions every day that can reduce energy use and increase #sustainability. Here are the five simple measures you can take to save energy this month and all year long. https://bit.ly/3jE51Re @PSEGdelivers

KEYWORDS: NYSE:PEG, pseg, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG)

SOURCE:International Paper Company

DESCRIPTION:

International Paper (IP) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) are helping landowners in Texas restore and manage their forests through IP’s Forestlands Stewards partnership. These efforts will benefit drinking water supplies and wildlife habitat, improve recreational opportunities, and support forest sector jobs.

With support from Forestlands Stewards, the Texas Longleaf Team and their partners have worked with private landowners to establish more than 4,700 acres of longleaf. More than 2.8 million trees were planted and an additional 37,000 acres of existing longleaf were improved and maintained with prescribed fire and other management treatments.

Prescribed burn certification workshops show landowners how fire is an essential forest management tool for reducing hazardous fuels and creating better wildlife habitat. Fire suppression, conversion to other forest types, and forest conversion to other land uses, like agriculture and housing, have reduced longleaf acreage to less than 5% of its historical range.

“Watersheds in the Southern Region are very important for drinking water supplies and are at a high threat of reduced water yield because of a changing climate and potential land use changes. Providing forest owners in Texas and across the South with options to keep their land in forests can help keep surface drinking water supplies plentiful and clean,” says Jon Scott, Program Director of Southern Forests at NFWF.

Water quality is a critical measure of success

Water quality and quantity is a key gauge of the health of local ecosystems and the success of smart land management. Healthy forests filter pollutants entering water supplies. And it’s not just about water for drinking. It’s about the economy and jobs. Surface water already accounts for about two-thirds of the existing supply for municipal, manufacturing, electricity, and mining demands.

“Too often, we lose sight of the critical ecosystem services that sustainably managed forests provide. Protecting water is one of the most important things people can do—we aren’t making any more of it. That’s why landowners like me are excited that the Forestlands Stewards partnership is helping us improve the water supply,” says Amanda Haralson, Chair of The Longleaf Alliance, and an active member of the Texas Longleaf Team.

The mission of The Longleaf Alliance is to ensure a sustainable future for the longleaf pine ecosystem through partnerships, landowner assistance and science-based education and outreach. Forestlands Stewards is supporting the Longleaf Alliance and other partner efforts to engage private landowners.

Ecological services from forests that we all depend on

One of the major strengths of the Forestlands Stewards partnership is its ability to bring people and organizations together to share ideas. A good example is the Savannah River Clean Water Fund. The Fund includes IP, conservation groups, utilities, and county and city governments—many of whom are Forestland Stewards partners.

It’s a model that could work in Texas with longleaf. The Fund is showing that conserving upstream forests in the Savannah River Basin can not only reduce downstream pollution but can do it at less cost than expensive water treatment facilities.

“We are finding more and more in Texas and across the [US] Southeast that private forest owners are interested in supporting ecosystem services like water quality and biodiversity. We need to keep working together through partnerships like Forestland Stewards to recognize and support private landowners who use prescribed fire and other techniques for public benefits,” says Jenny Sanders, Coordinator of the Texas Longleaf Team.

Forestland Stewards investments

• NFWF and IP have invested more than $2.7 million in longleaf pine restoration and management in east Texas since 2013.

• Our investments help provide landowners with options to keep their forests as forests and choose native longleaf where appropriate, which benefits water and wildlife.

• Studies show that longleaf pine, managed with prescribed fire, typically uses about 15% less water than a typical mixed pine-hardwood forest with no fire.

About the Forestland Stewards Partnership

International Paper and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation formed the Forestland Stewards partnership in 2013 to conserve and restore southern forestlands, which comprise some of the United States’ most iconic landscapes. The partnership supports projects to restore native forests, strengthen important fish and wildlife populations, and protect watersheds—while at the same time promoting and supporting working forests in 12 states across the South. Learn more: Forestland Stewards.

About International Paper

International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a leading global supplier of renewable fiber-based products. We produce corrugated packaging products that protect and promote goods, and enable worldwide commerce, and pulp for diapers, tissue and other personal care products that promote health and wellness. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 38,000 colleagues globally. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2021 were $19.4 billion. See how we’re building a better future for people, the planet, and our company at internationalpaper.com/Vision-2030.

Tweet me:.@IntlPaperCo & NFWF, through their Forestlands Stewards partnership, help landowners restore & manage their forests to benefit drinking water supplies & biodiversity, investing $2.7 million in longleaf pine restoration & management in east TX. https://bit.ly/3FlTKxH

KEYWORDS: NYSE:IP, International Paper, Forestlands Stewards, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)

SOURCE:Suncor Energy

DESCRIPTION:

Chris Fitzgerald has always loved to solve problems. Ever since he started with Petro‑Canada over 15 years ago, he has worked all over Suncor with one common theme—taking complex problems and finding solutions that work for employees, leaders and the business.

Chris, who is currently a development manager focused on optimization for Business and Operations Services at Suncor, and his team were recently recognized for an innovative way to solve some of the most complex issues at the company. The ‘idea blast’ is an entrepreneurial concept designed to generate a lot of ideas in a short amount of time, before narrowing them down with the help of a team of judges.

“The idea blast came about due to a perfect storm of needs,” says Chris. “It needed to address three things: better engagement with end-users, introducing new ideas and increasing the development pace.”

For the inaugural idea blast, Suncor’s supply chain team was selected. The supply chain team was up to the task, they embraced new ways of working, provided dedicated team members to join the team, and even pitched the concepts to the executive team together. To Chris, the key to a successful idea blast is an effective partnership with the end-user of the solution.

“It’s fundamental,” adds Chris. “Suncor is a complex organization. Without partnership new ideas or solutions might not resonate with the team that will use it in their daily work. If the people designing the solution are the ones who ultimately use it, it creates a much more successful solution.”

The idea blast started with hundreds of ideas from Suncor supply chain employees as well as external partners and vendors. Connecting with people outside of our company was key to generating new and unique ideas. After brainstorming the initial ideas, the team refined a list of over 100 ideas over the course of three months, culminating in a pitch with the innovation board for feedback and approval.

Currently, Suncor’s innovation team is proceeding with two digital concepts from the idea blast with the potential to improve worker experience in the field and support the Northern Lights Project, a digitalization project that intends to enhance operations across all of Suncor’s sites. The two ideas were created by employees and there is potential for the ideas to be applied across Suncor.

Idea blast was a finalist for a Suncor Excellence Award in the People’s Choice category. Suncor Excellence Awards have been handed out for the past 20 years at the company. The awards are used to recognize and celebrate employees and contractors who are leading the way in strengthening our company’s culture and living Suncor’s purpose and values.

Tweet me:Chris Fitzgerald has worked all over @Suncor with one common theme—taking complex problems and finding solutions that work for employees, leaders and the business. Read about his team's latest entrepreneurial concept: the Idea Blast: https://bit.ly/3HEQv5M

KEYWORDS: NYSE:SU, Suncor, idea blast, problem solving

SOURCE:Marathon Petroleum Corporation

SUMMARY:

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversaw a regional, full-scale oil spill drill it conducts every four years that assessed the combined response capabilities of Marathon Petroleum and several multi-agency partners.
• The exercise at Marathon’s Mandan, North Dakota, refinery involved 125 participants, including members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Three Affiliated Tribes.
• The two-day drill focused on a scenario in which oil reached the nearby Missouri River. 

DESCRIPTION:

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) works diligently to prevent incidents throughout its operations and maintain robust preparedness to enable an effective response if an emergency event occurs. This commitment to response readiness is reflected through its continuous training, including 20 multi-agency, worst-case oil spill exercises in 2022 alone as well as numerous smaller drills and tabletop exercises that were regulatorily required. MPC demonstrated its capabilities for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the fall during one of the year’s largest drills, a regional response exercise in which MPC teams successfully collaborated with 125 participants from 14 federal, state and local agencies, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Three Affiliated Tribes, and BNSF Railway.

The two-day drill at MPC’s Mandan, North Dakota, refinery was organized by EPA Region 8, which covers North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado. Planning with MPC began in the spring to allow time to address the event’s size and scope. It was a full-scale exercise, meaning it simulated an actual emergency with containment and recovery equipment, an incident command post and ongoing updates in real time that prompted decisions and actions intended to help validate preparedness. 

“By working together with our response partners, we can reduce impacts of both natural and humanmade disasters on people, the economy, and the environment” said Betsy Smidinger, Director of U.S. EPA Region 8’s Superfund and Emergency Management Division. “Partnering with Marathon, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the state of North Dakota and city and county emergency management entities in the full-scale exercise allowed us to work through, and evaluate the effectiveness of, our response protocols in a setting that simulates the real-world challenges we could face in a true emergency.”

Teamwork leads the way

Under the exercise scenario, drill participants acted as if they were responding to an oil spill at the refinery’s tank farm that led to oil reaching the nearby Missouri River. On the drill’s first day, the refinery fire department’s emergency response team deployed booms on the river to demonstrate how spill containment would look.

“Showcasing the Mandan team’s ability for all the agencies was priceless,” said MPC Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Servil Hoff. “This is an aspect that most people don’t ever see, including the process of boom deployment with recovery and all the equipment and resources that are required.”

The second day involved running an incident command post and organizing a unified command team to manage the response. Refinery General Manager Chris Staats was the incident commander. Other refinery personnel, MPC employees from across the company and agency members also filled roles. The unified command team included federal, state, local and tribal on-scene coordinators.

“EPA wanted to make sure Standing Rock was involved to show them the ability of the refinery to respond and to ensure them that we are all united if an incident were to happen,” Hoff said.  

Mandan Refinery Fire Chief Jamie Reinholt pointed to this emphasis on cooperation as a major factor behind the drill’s overall success. He noted the positive feedback from third-party evaluators who were on site throughout the exercise.

“All observers had great comments from both days. The planning teams worked great together, groups were engaged and well-prepared, and it showed,” Reinholt said. “I think everyone that participated took something back to their locations.” 

Tweet me:The EPA oversaw a regional, full-scale oil spill drill conducted every four years that assessed the combined response capabilities of @MarathonPetroCo and several multi-agency partners. https://bit.ly/3IrSg71

KEYWORDS: NYSE:MPC, Marathon Petroleum Corp, EPA, oil spill, Missouri River

By Lydia Logan, VP of Global Education and Workforce Development, IBM

SOURCE:IBM

DESCRIPTION:

As we face a historic skills shortage across industries and particularly in STEM, I'm inspired by programs that offer a fresh approach to skilling our future colleagues and leaders. Experiential programs like hackathons and accessible technologies like virtual reality are creating more opportunities to deliver richer learning to more students. This is key for many STEM professions like cybersecurity analysts, which require problem-solving and collaboration.

One example of new teaching technologies is in IBM's work with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). We are collaborating with 20 HBCUs to bring new technical training opportunities to students and co-create cybersecurity training centers. Faculty and students have free access to IBM SkillsBuild coursework, lectures, certifications, cloud-based software, and professional development. Within these centers, we also hold immersive "Capture the Flag" simulations. These are not the hide-and-seek games of our childhood, but they do require mental gymnastics to find hypothetical cybercriminals. Conceptually, it's similar to Escape Rooms, where teams parse clues to solve puzzles.

Continue reading here.

Tweet me:Lydia Logan, VP of Global Education and Workforce Development at @IBM discusses how new teaching technologies help train tomorrow's top talent: https://bit.ly/3BXDP6h via @businessinsider

KEYWORDS: NYSE:IBM, IBM, Insider, STEM, technical training, Business Insider

SOURCE:Cummins Inc.

DESCRIPTION:

People working in STEM careers hold the key to our world’s sustainability; in fact, some of the most in-demand, highest paying and fastest growing careers are in the STEM fields. Although jobs in this career are in high-demand and will be a key piece of our sustainability, according to the National Science Board, fewer than 50% of minorities are in the STEM labor force.

As a global power technology leader, Cummins Inc. is working to increase the exposure of STEM careers to minorities and women across the world through various programs and initiatives. In fact, through the CARE initiative, the company held a special STEM activity at multiple sites in the U.S. during the month of November to celebrate National STEM Day.

CARE sponsored Lego engine builds for local high school students in Atlanta and Detroit, and has STEM activities scheduled for students in other CARE cities in 2023. The participating youth built Cummins engines out of Lego bricks; for many, this was their first exposure to the world of science, technology, engineering and math.

“To celebrate National STEM Day we wanted to introduce and support students on their STEM journey in our targeted CARE communities,” said Delilah Morgan, Cummins Director of External Diversity Initiatives. “The data is clear; minorities are underrepresented in STEM fields, and we know a large reason is lack of exposure to STEM careers. A core value of Cummins is diversity and inclusion, and our company believes our diversity of thought helps position us as a global technology leader. We believe investing in our youth today is a direct deposit into the planet’s future.”

The international comparisons fueled discussion of U.S. education and workforce needs. The bipartisan congressional STEM Education Caucus noted: “Our knowledge-based economy is driven by constant innovation. The foundation of innovation lies in a dynamic, motivated and well-educated workforce equipped with STEM skills.”

National STEM Day began as a result of studies in the early 2000s revealed U.S. students were not achieving in the STEM disciplines at the same rates as students in other countries. The report predicted dire consequences if the U.S. could not compete in the global economy due to a poorly prepared workforce. Thus, educators focused on science, math, and technology research, on economic policy and on education. U.S. prosperity seemed to depend on it.

Growth in America’s STEM jobs in the first decade of the 21st century tripled the rate of growth in non-STEM jobs. However, racial and gender gaps remained a problem. Employers continue to struggle with the need for qualified STEM workers.

Tweet me:.@Cummins is growing the next generation of technology leaders. Cummins participated in National STEM Day by introducing engaging STEM activities to youth in Atlanta and Detroit. #STEM https://bit.ly/3PZXkBg

KEYWORDS: Cummins, NYSE:CMI, STEM

SOURCE:Las Vegas Sands

DESCRIPTION:

Las Vegas-based nonprofit Green Our Planet is currently the most senior member of the Sands Cares Accelerator, Sands’ global three-year membership program that works to advance nonprofit organizations to the next stage in their evolution. Scheduled for graduation from the Sands Cares Accelerator at the end of 2022, Green Our Planet has achieved tremendous growth during its time in the program.

Green Our Planet was founded in 2013 by documentary filmmakers Ciara Byrne and Kim MacQuarrie as a fundraising tool for conservation projects, but the founders decided to pivot the organization’s original mission to focus on school gardening as a means of increasing student achievement in STEM subjects, while educating about environmental conservation. Now the largest STEM school garden and hydroponics program in the United States, Green Our Planet provides educators with grants and materials to begin a school or hydroponic garden, along with the curriculum to teach students about STEM, nutrition and financial literacy through planting, harvesting and selling plants grown in gardens.

Green Our Planet charted ambitious goals for its time in the nonprofit accelerator program, aiming to scale its hydroponics garden program to serve more students, as well as leverage a new initiative to bring hydroponic gardens to companies as a funding stream to establish gardens at more schools. The nonprofit also used Sands Cares Accelerator resources to grow the organization’s marketing expertise and capacity.

“When we joined the Sands Cares Accelerator in 2020, Sands saw growth potential in us that we hadn’t seen yet,” Byrne says. “Through our membership in the program, we gained both the confidence and tools to achieve an even broader vision. Along with the funding we received, Sands gave us invaluable expertise and mentoring on how to sustainably grow our reach and impact in new ways.”

Launched during its time in Sands Cares Accelerator, Green Our Planet’s HydroHealth initiative is a B Corporation that brings hydroponic gardening to workplaces and leverages a 1-to-1 model to fund one school hydroponics system for every system purchased by a business. Since introducing HydroHealth, the organization has successfully started 10 hydroponics programs at different corporations.

“We’ve found that our hydroponics gardens in the workplace have been a platform for colleagues to positively connect at work, which has been a huge need during the pandemic,” Byrne says. “In addition to bringing healthy green spaces to businesses, the gardens have been a source of healing for our business clients. Sands helped us make this initiative possible through financial support, which funded a marketing executive for HydroHealth, as well as strategic mentoring to help us develop the program.”

Because every corporate garden enables a new school garden and curriculum, Green Our Planet has been able to amplify its reach and potential to help more students. Green Our Planet currently has hydroponic gardens in 16 states, serving 160,000 students, and the organization is preparing to launch another 250 school gardens and hydroponics programs when the new school year starts in August. Green Our Planet will focus its last half year in the Sands Cares Accelerator on continuing to scale its school hydroponics and HydroHealth program, as well as leveraging its expanded marketing capability to create new video lessons that can be used by teachers, students and employees at participating corporations.

Launched in 2017, the Sands Cares Accelerator is a unique nonprofit accelerator program developed by Sands to help catapult selected nonprofits to greater community impact through a customized blend of extended funding along with structured guidance, consulting and mentorship from Sands. While each member develops its own specific area of focus and goals to accomplish during its time in the Sands Cares Accelerator, the overall aim is to sustainably increase the organization’s capacity to serve the community.

To learn more about the Sands Cares Accelerator, please visit https://www.sands.com/responsibility/communities/sands-cares-accelerator/.

Tweet me:Sands Cares Accelerator is a unique program developed by @LasVegasSands to help catapult selected nonprofits to greater community impact. Learn about their most senior member, @GreenOurPlanet2 and their HydroHealth initiative: https://bit.ly/3YvyahG

KEYWORDS: NYSE:LVS, Las Vegas Sands, Green Our Planet, Sands Cares Accelerator

SOURCE:Booster Fuels

DESCRIPTION:

As a tech-driven, customer-obsessed company, Booster has many directives. But at the center of all our operations sit our core values around sustainability and customer satisfaction. As the transportation sector’s energy transition demands more of fleet managers and drivers, these values become increasingly central to Booster’s goal of bringing adaptable, cost-effective fueling to fleets.

During a recent podcast interview with Biodiesel Magazine’s Anna Simet, I looked back at where Booster began, and where we’re headed as the energy market continues to evolve. As it does, Booster is committed to helping fleets of all sizes, resources and vehicle types access flexible, sustainable energy solutions.

A New Take on Fueling

The idea for Booster came to me at home. When my wife and I were expecting our first baby girl, she asked me to be the ‘Chief Fueling Officer’ for the family. Essentially that means she never wanted to go to a gas station again. They are dirty, inconvenient, often unsafe and are significant contributors to pollution. And yet the majority of the transportation industry and almost all passenger vehicles have no choice but to rely on them.

I knew there had to be a way we could help our communities solve this problem. I wanted to develop a fueling solution that was safer, sustainable and cost-effective. Over time, we honed our vision to really focus on the fleet industry, especially as the boom of last-mile delivery has accelerated the need for sustainable solutions in fleet transportation.

As I discussed with Simet, there has long been an industry that has delivered conventional diesel fuels to large vehicles. But I wanted to take a more modern approach, one that targets the market of smaller, everyday vehicles like delivery van fleets, ambulances and school buses — the vehicles that really enable the backbone services of our communities. These vehicles had for too long had no option beyond the gas station, and I knew I could create a tech-forward solution. The vision was to bring simplicity to the work lives of those drivers and fleet managers by offering delivery of various fuels and energy types along with data-driven efficiency insights to really bring these fleets into the sustainable future we are all working toward.

Thus, our mission was born: bring mobile energy to the world, meeting fleets where they are to take them where they are going.

Sustainability Through Flexible, Reliable Fueling

As idealistic as we might all be about the altruism behind sustainability and decarbonization initiatives, we must recognize that business decisions are rarely simple, and must be made with the bottom line as a top priority. Often, the need to make money obscures desires for sustainability because, in reality, a company can’t do anything — let alone drive positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) change — if they can’t stay in business.

At Booster, we are committed to making sustainability work for fleets, not the other way around. That is why we center the customer’s needs at every turn, working tirelessly to ensure that with our service, sustainability is the easy, cost-effective option. It really sits at the heart of our business objectives; we want our customers to derive value from our service across the multiple objectives of efficiency, sustainability, and cost-savings.

In short, our mobile energy delivery service provides customers with a range of fuels delivered directly to their fleets. We work with customers to decide what fuels they want, how much they need, and where they need them. Then our dedicated service professionals come to their fleet yard and fuel the vehicles during non-operating hours, so every driver can start their day with a full tank, ready to go.

The labor shortage is real, cost of labor is high and anything fleets can do to maximize paid driver hours is crucial to sustained success. By utilizing mobile fueling, fleet managers save the time and labor costs they would spend on drivers’ individual gas station trips, freeing up that time for execution of business objectives, like package delivery.

Driving Adoption of Renewable Fuels: Education and Access

Meeting fleets where they are now means jumping in at a time which, for many fleets, is volatile. Sustainability is a major focus, but a tight economy facing a driver shortage means decisions around ESG are fraught with compromise. They don’t have to be. Not all sustainability solutions are time- and capital-intensive; renewable fuels can decarbonize quickly on a budget. They just needed to be available and well-known.

We quickly recognized the gap between renewable fuel production and consumption: there are plenty of renewable fuels being produced, but few traditional fueling stations offer them to customers. Given the increasing number of government incentives aimed at stimulating production and adoption, and the market-wide push for sustainability, this will be a huge market for ICE fleets to decarbonize while they electrify and integrate other zero-emission vehicles. But to drive this change forward, fleets need education and access. That’s where we come in.

There has been a lot of misinformation about renewable fuels around their efficacy and cost, but these fuels have come a long way in recent years. Many of these fuels perform better than traditional fuels, and with current production scale and incentives, they can even be offered at price parity with their conventional counterparts. To bridge the gap between perception and reality, education is the first step.

We take a two pronged approach to driving the adoption of sustainable alternative fuels. One prong focuses on getting the word out there, educating our customers and really encouraging them to adopt these lower-carbon alternatives. The other focuses on making these sustainable alternative fuels not just accessible, but the more convenient choice through our mobile energy delivery service.

As I explained to Simet, this model offers an incredible opportunity to convert fleets overnight from conventional fuels to renewables through direct delivery of fuels not offered by most gas stations. Because many of these fuels — like renewable diesel — are drop-in replacements, they are fully fungible with their traditional counterparts and can even mix with them. You don't have to perform any modifications on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles for these fuels to work, and they’re often cleaner from an emissions perspective.

We’ve done these overnight conversions with many customers and found great success. As of September 2022, we have converted nearly all our California-based diesel fleets to a renewable diesel and biodiesel blend offered by Chevron Renewable Energy Group, which offers significantly lower emissions than traditional diesel.

Fleet Fueling Across the Energy Transition

Booster aims to work with fleets of all sizes to ease their journey across their unique energy transitions. A local landscaping fleet will decarbonize in a vastly different way than an Amazon delivery fleet, for example, and we want to be the adaptable solution for all of them. That is why reliability and flexibility over the long-term are really at the forefront of our business. We believe in flexible, modular energy as a complement to conventional infrastructure for fleet decarbonization. This means we are looking at creating mobile energy solutions of all types, including electricity, hydrogen, and renewable fuels.

As always, our customers come first. Our business began with the customer in mind, on the goal of offloading the undesirable task of fueling from drivers’ to do lists to make their lives easier and more efficient. Across the ongoing energy transition, and throughout any market shifts and changes it may bring, we will continue to center ease and efficiency for our customers, driving a more sustainable future for fleets everywhere.

Tweet me:.@energydelivered is committed to making sustainability work for fleets, not the other way around. That's why they always center the customer’s needs, ensuring that with their mobile energy delivery service, #sustainability is the easy option. https://bit.ly/3YX16PV

KEYWORDS: Booster Fuels, sustainability, Fleet Management

Words by Gary E. Frank

SOURCE:TriplePundit

DESCRIPTION:

Working to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is not just “the right thing to do” for Herbalife Nutrition — it is a business imperative, said Kim Congdon, the company’s global vice president of Human Resources and Talent Management.

“Companies will not be growing or even surviving if they don't understand the importance of inclusion,” Congdon told TriplePundit in a recent interview. “The makeup of our country and the global network of our organization — and all organizations — is very different than it was 20 or 30 years ago. We can’t afford to miss out on a diversity of backgrounds, ideas and experiences.”

With nearly 10,000 employees around the world, including a global network of independent distributors, and manufacturing facilities based in China, California and North Carolina, Herbalife Nutrition says it has always recognized diversity as a strength. Now it has committed itself to a wide range of policies and programs to build an even more inclusive and productive employee culture.

“Diversity is about fostering that culture, not training that culture,” Congdon explained. “We create immersive learning opportunities where people can learn from participation.”

Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture — “by employees, for employees”

The company held its first virtual DEI Employee Town Hall in November 2020 to introduce a new global diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy and announce a newly formed DEI global council. Since then, subsequent DEI-focused town halls have informed employees where to access the latest information around the company’s global and local DEI initiatives. A recent town hall, for example, focused on the company’s employee networks and employee-led regional councils, sharing their progress and what being part of Herbalife Nutrition’s DEI journey means to them.

“Herbalife Nutrition employees are extremely engaged in our DEI programs,” Congdon said. “Our core DEI teams around the world provide the structure and support, but the programs are by employees, for employees.”

Herbalife Nutrition’s DEI efforts incorporate a “top-down” approach of senior staff reaching out to engage employees and a “grassroots” approach of empowering their workforce, Congdon said. Employee network groups within the company now include Black Life, Millennial Life, Multicultural Life, Proud Life, Vet (Veteran) Life, Women in Leadership, Women in Technology, and Working Parents Life. Each is supported by an executive sponsor and led by a steering committee consisting of network members.

These employee network groups are more than just sounding boards about various employee concerns. They also influence company policies, such as Working Parents Life group raising the need for improvements in policies on parental leave which have subsequently been put in place.

Employee networks and regional councils have also brought in speakers, hosted podcasts, held watch parties, and convened other engaging, educational and celebratory events, Congdon said. In addition, the internal “I Belong-We Belong” campaign — in which employees discuss the broader dimensions of DEI in monthly meetings — started organically in a manufacturing facility in Winston-Salem North Carolina and has spread throughout the company, she said.

Recognizing employee leadership to drive engagement and positive change


Herbalife Nutrition also empowers its workforce by providing a platform, “Simply the Best,” for peer-to-peer recognition.

“The platform is designed to empower all Herbalife Nutrition team members to recognize each other for contributions that matter, and to shine a spotlight on the actions, efforts and results that exemplify our values: ‘We Always Do What's Right, We Work Together, and We Build it Better,’” Congdon said.

There are two types of peer-to-peer recognition on the platform: social recognition and points-based recognition. Every time someone is recognized through Simply the Best, employees can send that person a customized, online postcard with an image or video of their choice to thank them for their contributions. There is also a rewards catalog with thousands of items, as well as gift cards, to choose from.

“We know that engagement is about employees being satisfied, being productive and staying with the company,” Congdon told us. “There's a very close connection between how people feel about the opportunities they have within the company, the fairness of the company, as well as their ability to move forward, and their level of engagement and the success of the company.”

Since Herbalife Nutrition started measuring employee engagement and continues to emphasize its employee networks and outreach, its representation goals and its engagement scores “correlate positively,” she said.

Building more opportunities for employees to succeed

Herbalife Nutrition employees are also empowered through access to educational platforms for self-improvement, including LinkedIn Learning and the company's in-house learning management system, Herbalife Nutrition University. A global program, Leading with Empathy, offers guidance on building and maintaining trust.

In 2017, the company launched Greenhouse, a crowdsourcing platform through which employees can contribute ideas and “help build the company better together,” Congdon said. Since the platform’s launch, the company has implemented more than 300 ideas and suggestions generated through Greenhouse, she told us.

“We believe that people deserve the opportunity to try and reach new and better levels of personal achievement, and we welcome anyone that has the willingness to try,” Congdon concluded. “Very simply, we want people helping people. I just think it’s baked into who we are.”

This article series is sponsored by Herbalife Nutrition and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Image credit: Mapbox/Unsplash

Tweet me:Working to enhance diversity, equity and inclusion (#DEI) is not just “the right thing to do” for @Herbalife — it is a business imperative, said Kim Congdon, the company’s global VP of Human Resources and Talent Management. https://bit.ly/3V0jggs via @TriplePundit

KEYWORDS: triplepundit, Herbalife, DEI