Month: May 2023

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

U.S. Bank announced it is teaming up with Meta Prosper, Meta’s Asian Pacific Islander community support program, to provide financial literacy resources and programming to support Asian small businesses during Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month and Small Business Month.

“U.S. Bank is excited to partner with Meta Prosper to offer additional financial resources to support Asian-owned small businesses,” said Carl Jordan, executive vice president, California small business and branch banking for U.S. Bank. “We know that many small businesses face prominent gaps, including access to information, connections, and capital. We are focused on providing our tools and resources to help these Asian small business owners so they can grow and thrive.”

U.S. Bank is also a member of the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation (USPAACC), which works to open doors and connect businesses to contract, professional and educational opportunities to Asian Americans and their partners in corporations, government, nonprofit organizations and the small minority and diverse-owned business community. USPAACC is an active partner with Meta Prosper.

“Today’s announcement of the partnership between U.S. Bank and Meta Prosper to provide financial resources that will help Asian American-owned businesses grow and succeed is fantastic news, especially as we celebrate Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Small Business Month,” said USPAACC National President and CEO Susan Au Allen. “Asian American-owned businesses were among the hardest hit during the pandemic, so ensuring that they have expanded access to capital and connections is critical for their future success. USPAACC applauds this collaboration, and we are proud to have U.S. Bank and Meta as our members.”

This summer, look for U.S. Bank at 626 Night Market in Arcadia (July 7-9) and Pleasanton (July 29-30). At these events, U.S. Bank will highlight small businesses in the area, have small business bankers on-hand to answer questions and provide fun giveaways. Additionally, U.S. Bank will also be working with social influencers and content creators to deliver financial education content and resources via the Meta Platform to Asian small business owners.

For more information, visit usbank.com/aapiheritage.

To learn more about Meta Prosper, visit www.facebook.com/prosperwithus.

Contact:

Susan Beatty, U.S. Bank Public Affairs and Communications 
susan.beatty@usbank.com

About U.S. Bancorp:

U.S. Bancorp, with approximately 77,000 employees and $682 billion in assets as of March 31, 2023, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association. The Minneapolis-based company serves millions of customers locally, nationally and globally through a diversified mix of businesses: Consumer and Business Banking; Payment Services; Corporate & Commercial Banking; and Wealth Management and Investment Services. Union Bank, consisting primarily of retail banking branches on the West Coast, joined U.S. Bancorp in 2022. U.S. Bancorp has been recognized for its approach to digital innovation, social responsibility, and customer service, including being named one of the 2023 World’s Most Ethical Companies. Learn more at usbank.com/about.

About Meta Prosper:

Meta Prosper is Meta’s Asian Pacific Islander community support program, dedicated to driving visibility for diverse API voices, building economic opportunity, and creating social equity for the API community. Meta Prosper provides in-language training content, workshops, year-round events and advocacy to support and amplify API small businesses, creators and nonprofits. Follow Meta Prosper on Instagram and Facebook, and visit our website for trainings, news and updates.

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

At Key, diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t just cornerstones of our culture – they are business accelerators. Advancing DE&I efforts involves a collaborative partnership between our DE&I team, Human Resources team, lines of business, and other support teams.

Each line of business is required to develop an annual DE&I action plan, which is approved by its respective Executive Leadership team leader and managed by one of the appointed DE&I champions across the organization. DE&I champions help to align line of business DE&I action plans with Key’s overall strategy. Progress against these plans is monitored monthly.

For the past year, we focused on three areas to deliver strategic and meaningful DE&I initiatives and solutions:

To be the employer of choice for diverse professionals 
 Define concrete and uniform actions across the enterprise to drive meaningful progress toward our strategic framework 
 Focus on disciplined execution

We recognize this journey is not about reaching an end destination, but delivering continuous improvement, proactively raising our own bar, and addressing areas of opportunity head on. We believe each and every one of us has a role to play – in our company and in our communities.

Our DEI Strategic Framework

Workforce: Attract, engage, and develop a talented and diverse team to better reflect the communities we serve.

Workplace: For all Key employees to bring their full, authentic selves to do their best work.

Marketplace: Advance equity and inclusion in our communities by building mutually beneficial relationships with diverse clients and partners.

To learn more about Key’s DEI efforts, read the 2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance Report here.

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century and has only become more prevalent in recent years. A key component of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s sustainability strategy is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations, aiming for a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2020. To achieve this goal, the company focuses on four areas:

New Construction & CapEx SustainabilityProcess Emissions (emissions from industrial processes)Renewable EnergyEDISON – Energy Efficiency

Launched in 2009, the EDISON program focuses on reducing energy consumption within our operations through investment in energy efficiency and onsite renewables. In 2022, the program expanded to focus on both energy and water efficiency, and a central pool of funding was allocated to support site projects.

What are Scope 1 and Scope 2 Emissions?

Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions (otherwise known as direct emissions) are emissions released on-site – for example from the combustion of natural gas in our boilers, and the loss of refrigerants from our HVAC systems.

Scope 2 emissions occur off-site, but as the end consumer of these utilities, we are responsible for the emissions. For Life Science, these emissions are mainly caused by electricity consumption.

How does EDISON work?

EDISON brings together our various high-impact energy and water reduction activities under one roof. This fosters the sharing of best practices across sites, operating regions, and business sectors worldwide, helping drive a continuous improvement culture. EDISON focuses on investment in more energy (and water) efficient equipment and controls while simultaneously pursuing onsite renewable energy opportunities.

To ensure we are allocating funding to projects that yield the highest sustainability impact, we developed a scoring framework we call the “EDISON Score” which evaluates projects across four impact dimensions.

Energy SavingsWater SavingsCO2 SavingsSimple Payback

EDISON in Action

In 2022, the first year of our EDISON re-launch, Life Science invested €4.6 million in CapEx towards projects that reduce energy and water consumption at our sites. See below for two project highlights from our sites around the world.

Heat Pump Installation – Wuxi, China

Description: Installation of a heat pump to replace steam heating in HVAC unitResult:298 metric tons of CO2 reduced annually1,617 MWh of energy savings

Onsite Solar Installation – Bangalore (Jigani), India

Description: 100 KW solar panel installation on the rooftop of our manufacturing facilityResult:131 tons of CO2 reduced annually175 MWh of energy savings

What’s in store for 2023?

The EDISON program has hit the ground running in 2023. The initiative will bring more than 40 high-impact projects into action this year, estimated to save 24,000 MWh of electricity and 73,000 cubic meters of water annually.

Learn more about the sustainable operations efforts of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany by visiting its sustainability and social business innovation webpage.