Month: May 2023

Speed, Strategy, Sustainability, Opportunity… these words mark just a few of the first impressions from the Southwire team that recently attended the 2023 SABIC Berlin E-Prix, a race that marked Southwire’s first as the official wire and cable provider for the fastest growing motorsport on the planet.

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship brings dramatic racing to the heart of some of the world’s most iconic cities, providing an elite motorsport platform for the world’s leading automotive manufacturers to accelerate electric vehicle innovation. It is the only sport certified Net Zero Carbon since its inception.

The German race was a doubleheader, held in Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport Circuit at the historic Tempelhofer Feld. The two races – Round 7 and 8 of the series’ Season 9 – marked the halfway point in this year’s calendar while delivering some of the most intense and spectacular racing to date. During Saturday’s race, the 22 drivers delivered a record-breaking 190 overtakes within 43 laps, taking the total tally over the weekend to 362 overtakes across 83 laps. The weekend also marked the European race debut of the series’ all-new GEN3 car – the fastest, lightest, most powerful and efficient electric race car ever made.

Fittingly, the first day of racing was Earth Day, where the championship further reiterated its commitment to sustainability through initiatives around planting and biodiversity that included racing drivers and team personnel.

“Two of the most exciting moments at this event were seeing the Southwire logo on the trackside for the first time and knowing that we had a cable application being used in a Formula E setting for the first time,” said Stephan Hardt, Southwire’s director of vertical strategy and execution. “And, this is just our first race. There is so much more opportunity and excitement to come for future races, especially our title sponsorship of the Portland race in June.”

During the weekend, Southwire team members were able to tour the venue, see the pit lane and team garages and experience all aspects of the race events – helping the company learn more about Formula E and build connections with other companies who are associated or partnered with the sport.

“Southwire is in so many different markets, from renewables to utility to building wire and more. We really are in the center of the electrical industry,” said Yuhsin Hawig, Southwire’s vice president of applications engineering. “With our relationship with Formula E, we are connecting to other businesses with a sustainability mindset and also learning from them.

The Berlin race also marked the first time a Southwire cable was specified and used for a Formula E application.

“We work with a company called VoltServer that has invented a new kind of power transmission called digital electricity, which we’ve used in other applications like telecom and intelligent buildings,” said Charles Hume, Southwire’s director of emerging technologies. “When we began the relationship with Formula E, VoltServer came to us and asked for a specialized cable to use in the Formula E setting. I’ve been into electric vehicles for a long time, so to see our technology being deployed here is a really great feeling.”

As Southwire’s title-sponsored race in Portland approaches on June 24, the excitement around the opportunities for advancement in emerging technologies connected to the sport is evident. The Southwire team is emerging from this experience with more knowledge, ideas and expectations for how the company can play a major role in the electrification of the future when it comes to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship and beyond.

“As the world advances around electrification, we offer solutions today that can be used in this application, but there is also so much opportunity to innovate for the applications that are coming in the future,” said Bo Quick, Southwire’s vice president of Sustainability. “By connecting and learning alongside the other companies associated with Formula E, we can all innovate together.”

For more information on Southwire’s partnership with Formula E and the upcoming 2023 Southwire Portland E-Prix, visit the Southwire Newsroom.

Originally published on TriplePundit

Fans jump out of their seats and roar as their beloved Philadelphia Union soccer club nets a goal at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. As fervent fans bask in their team’s success, they can also take pride in knowing each goal scored contributes to a greater cause. The Philadelphia Union and marquee partner Subaru of America plant 25 trees for each goal scored through a partnership with nonprofit One Tree Planted.

The Union’s on-field success in 2022 kept volunteers and community members busy: 79 goals, including a Major League Soccer record-tying 49 goals scored at home, translated into 1,975 trees planted in the greater Philadelphia community and throughout Pennsylvania. And that’s only the start of how these partners work together on environmental sustainability and community growth. 

Subaru and the Philadelphia Union: A partnership for good

The tree planting project is just one of the many meaningful community initiatives born out of the partnership between Subaru and the Union. The automaker, based in Camden, New Jersey, and the Chester-based professional soccer team joined forces in 2020 to drive greater impact in the communities where they work.

“When we teamed up with the Philadelphia Union, our biggest priority was to engage with our shared communities in the greater Philadelphia area and support the causes that mean the most to them,” said Alan Bethke, senior vice president of marketing for Subaru of America. “Over three years of partnership, we’ve done just that.”

To maximize the partnership, the Union has embraced the Subaru Love Promise vision and poured energy into initiatives including sustainability, education, pediatric cancer awareness, pet adoption and more. Michelle Rosar, the Philadelphia Union’s vice president of partnership marketing, said success hinges on Subaru and the Union’s “open collaboration” and willingness to accept new challenges.

“There’s never been an idea that’s come across our desk that’s been too big or too small, especially when it comes to the community,” Rosar said.

Accomplishing lofty goals

It’s this mentality that inspired Subaru and the Union to transform Subaru Park into the first soccer-specific venue in the United States to achieve zero-landfill status. Since earning the trailblazing zero-waste status in October 2021, the stadium has diverted over 920,356 pounds of waste from landfills, Rosar said. 

On the grounds of Subaru Park, employees and volunteers also tend an organic garden that’s yielded more than 5,000 pounds of produce since its first harvest in 2020. In all, Subaru and the Union have donated more than 20,000 servings of fresh organic vegetables from the garden to churches, ministries, and better living centers in and around Philadelphia. 

Embracing all things pets, Subaru Park continues to serve as a home for pet adoption events, in which the automaker has helped unite over 300 dogs with loving homes.

Helping Philadelphia youth in the classroom and on the pitch

Elsewhere in the community, the two organizations continue to challenge themselves to do more. Last year, Subaru and the Union scratched plans to adopt a single elementary classroom and instead opted to adopt all 20 classrooms at nearby Stetser Elementary School. Subaru assembled school supply kits for each classroom, provided critical learning materials and sports equipment for more than 250 students, and hosted an engaging and fun back-to-school festival for the school.

The commitment to local youth extends beyond the classroom and onto the soccer field as well. The Gear for Good initiative donated and delivered more than 700 soccer gear items to children in Philadelphia last year. Subaru and the Union also unveiled a mini soccer pitch in Camden, offering local kids a safe space to enjoy the sport and hone their soccer skills.

Committed to the community

As the partnership continues to grow, the organizations are staying true to the communities they serve. “The heart of this partnership is the commitment to the local community,” Rosar said. “It’s in the DNA of both organizations to make a positive contribution to the communities we live in.”

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

Images courtesy of Subaru and the Philadelphia Union

Originally published in Key’s 2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance report

Through advocacy, connections, and empowerment, Key4Women supports the financial progress and empowerment of businesswomen, providing a wealth of resources to help them meet their personal and professional goals. Since its launch in 2005, our certified advisors have facilitated more than $12 billion in loans to women-owned businesses.

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 Strong support of national and local women organizations

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To learn more about Key’s commitments to empowering businesswomen, read the 2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance Report here.