Month: June 2023

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

The U.S. Bank Good Truck is on a West Coast tour this summer, delivering treats from small businesses to communities in California, Oregon and Washington.

There will be three separate Good Trucks making stops where the bank has branch locations, delivering complimentary day-brighteners like ice cream, flowers and other delights. The tour is one of the ways U.S. Bank is celebrating the conversion of hundreds of Union Bank branches to U.S. Bank earlier this year.

“The Good Truck is here to welcome our new U.S. Bank customers and give them a chance to learn more about the ways we can help power potential,” said Carl Jordan, executive vice president, branch and small business banking for California. “The addition of Union Bank allows our West Coast customers to enjoy greater convenience, improved technology and a continued focus on building strong and vibrant communities.”

The U.S. Bank Good Truck will be showing up at community events and U.S. Bank branches in California all summer long.  Check out the California branch stop schedules below and stop by to say hello!

Southern CaliforniaCentral CaliforniaNorthern California

 

Originally published on Essity News Center

Hygiene and health company Essity has once again been awarded a Platinum medal by the sustainability rating company EcoVadis. The result places Essity among the top 1 percent of all companies assessed by EcoVadis for their sustainability performance.

Essity received 78 points out of a maximum of 100 points in this year’s rating, which means that the company is among the 99th percentile of companies assessed. This is the third rating since 2020 that Essity has received a Platinum medal from EcoVadis.

This year’s index is based on the sustainability performance data derived from more than 62,000 companies assessed by EcoVadis between 2018 and 2022 across four themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement.

“As a global hygiene and health company providing products and solutions to more than a billion people every day, Essity is committed to responsible business practices throughout our value chain. We are proud to receive the Platinum EcoVadis medal once again since it recognizes this commitment,” says Magnus Groth, President and CEO of Essity.

EcoVadis is a well-renowned sustainability rating index and Essity frequently shares the results and insights with customers globally. EcoVadis’ sustainability scorecards provide detailed insight into the environment as well as social and ethical risks in companies across more than 200 industries and 175 countries.

Essity recognized as a sustainability leader 
 

Gen Blog | Community

By Kimberly Bishop | Corporate Responsibility

According to studies, 59% of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online. The need to empower youth to protect themselves online is growing as technology becomes even more embedded in teen lives. That’s why Norton, one of Gen’s trusted Cyber Safety brands, remains committed to a year-round partnership with the National Consumers League’s (NCL) LifeSmarts program. 

For 30 years, LifeSmarts has provided free education and resources to middle and high school students on core consumer topics. This includes consumer rights and responsibilities, the environment, health and safety, personal finance, technology and workforce preparation. Norton is proud to have supported LifeSmarts as a 2023 Champion Level Sponsor for the second year in a row, granting NCL $125,000 for the program year. In addition to supporting the annual LifeSmarts Championship, we covered travel and expenses for students that would otherwise not have been able to attend the event. With Norton’s support, training in online safety, identity theft and online fraud are also now included in the year-long program.

LifeSmarts Championship 

Recently, the 2023 National LifeSmarts Championship took place in Cincinnati, Ohio. The annual event brings together top-performing student teams from across the country to compete for scholarships and prizes.

The Championship, which aims to create consumer-savvy young people who will be well-equipped for today’s complex marketplace, is free to participants, relying on corporate and private donations to make sure student teams are able to attend.

This year, 42 teams competed, representing 30 states and the District of Columbia. Nine of these teams were from Title-1 schools (schools in which the majority of families live below the poverty line and under-resourced community organizations. Norton supported these nine Wild Card teams by funding the LifeSmarts Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative. Our funding covered all travel expenses, including air fare, hotel stays and meals. For many of these teams, this was their first time out of the state or traveling on an airplane and many let us know that without our contribution, it would have been impossible to attend.

“The students who attend our rural Minnesota school have not had an easy road and tend to struggle to see that they have what it takes to be successful in both school and in life. As we have progressed this year through the LifeSmarts program, it is so fun to see them light up when they get a question correct and it’s exciting to see their growth. This has only drawn them in more to this competition, as this type of success is not something that is familiar to many of them. Many of our families cannot afford to take trips within Minnesota, much less to other states. The opportunity for these kids to fly on an airplane, stay in a hotel and meet other students is not something that comes along for them. Without this generous Norton Wild Card team, our school could not afford to send our kids to a national competition. They will look back on this experience as one of the best experiences within their high school career, if not their lives. They also come back knowing that they have been seen and that they do have what it takes to truly succeed in life.” – Norton Wild Card team coach

We’re excited to add that a student from one of our Wild Card teams, Gabe Laster, was awarded ‘Student of the Year’ and two of our Wild Card teams tied for fifth place at the event.

In addition to providing direct support to make the competition accessible for more students, our support underwrote the LifeSmarts Identity Theft Essay Contest. Thirty-two students investigated identity theft and wrote essays, and we awarded five winners with $1,000 scholarships at the event. We also provided Norton 360 Deluxe product licenses to each student, coach, alumni and coordinator who attended the Championship – 350 licenses in total.

Year-round Support 

Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, Norton has provided lessons focusing on online safety and identify theft for LifeSmarts to incorporate into its curriculum. Our joint goal is to provide teens with valuable digital safety resources as they prepare to enter higher education and the workforce.

After completing our lessons this year, on average, 85% of the students could easily identify online fraud and take steps to protect themselves online. Test scores for our programs have also improved more than 15% across the board from the beginning to the end of the program year. 

The LifeSmarts program continues to improve the lives of many students across the country, and we’re proud to play a role in supporting their success. To learn more about LifeSmarts, visit their website here. 

Gen™ is a global company dedicated to powering Digital Freedom with a family of trusted consumer brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner.