Month: July 2023

Radnor, PA-based Avantor recently achieved a Bronze Medal from EcoVadis, placing it in the top 50% of companies assessed by EcoVadis.

“Receiving a Bronze Medal from EcoVadis sends a strong message to our customers and suppliers that Avantor takes sustainability seriously,” said Rachel Kaufman, Senior Director of Global Sustainability at Avantor. “Our team has worked hard to reach this milestone, and we’ll continue to deliver on important environmental, social, and governance measures through our ‘Science for Goodness’ sustainability platform.”

In the first half of 2023, Avantor launched its Responsible Supplier Program, became a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, and committed to setting near-term emissions reduction targets in line with climate science in support of the Science Based Targets initiative.

Avantor’s ‘Science for Goodness’ sustainability platform serves as a lever to help bring the company’s mission – to set science in motion to create a better world – to life. It is based on four pillars: People & Culture, Innovation & Environment, Community Engagement, and Governance & Integrity. These focus areas provide the framework for creating long-term value for all of Avantor’s stakeholders, from associates, to customers, to suppliers, to shareholders, and to the communities where we operate and live.

EcoVadis is the global standard for business sustainability ratings, with an assessment that evaluates 21 sustainability criteria across four core themes: Environment, Labor & Human Rights, Ethics, and Sustainable Procurement. More than 85,000 companies globally have been rated by EcoVadis.

Read more about how Avantor’s everyday actions positively impact the environment and society.

About Avantor

Avantor®, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. Our portfolio is used in virtually every stage of the most important research, development and production activities in the industries we serve. Our global footprint enables us to serve more than 300,000 customer locations and gives us extensive access to research laboratories and scientists in more than 180 countries. We set science in motion to create a better world. For more information, visit avantorsciences.com and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Check out Avantor’s 2023 Sustainability Report.

NEW ORLEANS, July 27, 2023 /3BL/ – For the first two quarters of 2023, Entergy has awarded $6.4 million in shareholder contributions to 467 nonprofit organizations across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. With support from local community partners, these grants helped strengthen communities by supporting education and workforce development, poverty solutions and environmental programs.

“Giving back is central to Entergy’s mission. Our shareholders exemplify this commitment through their generous contributions,” said Patty Riddlebarger, vice president of corporate social responsibility for Entergy. “With the support of our partners, we continue to make significant strides in creating sustainable value that leaves a lasting impact throughout our communities.”

For more than 100 years, Entergy has powered life in our communities through strategic philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. These shareholder investments showcase the power of collective impact across sectors and Entergy’s role as an industry-wide model for how thoughtful partnerships can help create and sustain thriving communities.

Select year-to-date grants include:

$1.2 million in utility bill payment assistance to nonprofit partners who administer Entergy’s The Power to Care program. The Power to Care is an Entergy program that helps older adults and people with disabilities keep their lights on when they are facing a financial difficulty. Entergy collects the funds through shareholder, customer and employee donations, and partners with local nonprofits who then distribute the funds to qualifying customers.$874,000 in employee-matching contributions to United Way organizations located in communities served by Entergy. United Way works to create strong, equitable communities where everyone can achieve their full potential. That’s why they are one of our most important community partners.$250,000 to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Entergy’s contribution is earmarked to provide relief for communities that may be impacted by storms and other disasters during the 2023 storm season. Since 2015, Entergy shareholders have committed more than $2.2 million to our communities through grants to local chapters of the American Red Cross and through the company’s support of its Disaster Responder Program.$250,000 to Jobs for America’s Graduates. JAG provides underserved students in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi with wraparound supportive services to help ensure they graduate from high school on time and are equipped with the necessary skills to be successful in college or their career. This support is part of Entergy’s school-to-career readiness workforce development initiative, which supports programs that focus on increasing high school graduation rates and ensuring students are career or college ready when they graduate.

All funding is provided by shareholder contributions and does not impact customer bills.

For more information about the Entergy Charitable Foundation grants, including application, deadline and eligibility details, visit entergy.com/csr/giving.

About Entergy

Entergy (NYSE: ETR) is a Fortune 500 company that powers life for 3 million customers through our operating companies in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. We’re investing in the reliability and resilience of the energy system while helping our region transition to cleaner, more efficient energy solutions. With roots in our communities for more than 100 years, Entergy is a nationally recognized leader in sustainability and corporate citizenship. Since 2018, we have delivered more than $100 million in economic benefits each year to local communities through philanthropy, volunteerism and advocacy. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has approximately 12,000 employees. Learn more at entergy.com and follow @Entergy on social media. #WePowerLife

Smallholder farmers around the world face layers upon layers of obstacles in selling their harvests: they tend to lack savings, have few options for financing, maintain inadequate farming tools and infrastructure, and can’t access reliable and fairly priced markets, which often favor large-scale or industrial farms. While the definition of smallholder farmers includes those with access to up to 24 acres, Whole Planet Foundation mostly funds those farming on less than five.

Acceso’s ‘farmer first’ model is removing these obstacles by linking small-scale farmers to high value domestic and international markets. By providing farmers with crop market analyses, financial advice, weather data, training in good agricultural practices, and farming inputs, farmers improve their productivity and profits. In fact, results from a 2021 Acceso study found that many of their smallholder farmers’ incomes increase by more than 250%.

Their pioneering ‘seed to market’ approach builds the whole supply chain between smallholder farmers and formal markets, helping members to build the operational infrastructure needed to get their produce to market, and then selling it for them. Thus, Acceso provides smallholders with a ‘one-stop-shop’ to remove production and sales barriers. At the same time, Acceso’s services benefit large buyers like Subway and major grocery stores, who buy from Acceso to ensure a single, transparent, and reliable system to source high quality produce from smallholders at scale.

Acceso’s partnership with Whole Planet Foundation and Kasperick Foundation finances farmers taking loans to produce one or several of over 50 crops including tomatoes, beans, onions, and more. Loan recipients receive a combination of seed, seedlings, fertilizer, micro-tunnels, or compost on credit.

Whole Planet Foundation met several clients taking their first loans with Acceso, when we visited in May 2023.

Carlos began selling tomatoes when his brother lent him his greenhouse when he emigrated from El Salvador. He didn’t have any experience with this variety but has been able to pick it up quickly with the guidance of an Acceso Technician, who provides technical assistance and supports Carlos while he pays back his loan, by selling his harvest to Acceso.

Gloribel, 21 years old, took her first ever loan, for $360. She learned about Acceso from her uncle, who’d taught her basic farming techniques as a teenager, when she worked on his small farm. She and her family do not have much land but with her Acceso greenhouse and seeds, she is able to generate more income.

In the years to come, Acceso anticipates working with thousands more like Carlos and Gloribel. In fact, in May 2022, Acceso signed a $15 million agreement with USAID to expand across El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Whole Planet Foundation and Kasperick Foundation are proud to be early supporters of Acceso, which is revolutionizing smallholder access to formal markets.

Learn more at wholeplanetfoundation.org.

With more than 17,000 enrolled members across nearly a million acres of land, the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of North Dakota offers a wide range of services to its people—from finance to child care, from housing to health care, from employment training to cybersecurity to Veterans affairs.

The MHA Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, also operates an energy division that includes oil production and processing.

Today, we laid the groundwork for a business partnership with the MHA Nation that will enhance economic opportunity on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Enbridge and the MHA Nation have announced that Thunder Butte Petroleum Services Inc., a wholly owned MHA Nation subsidiary, will purchase the Plaza/Wabek Pipeline from Enbridge for $5 million.

The agreement will begin the process of connecting the nation’s operations with the Enbridge network—opening the door for MHA Nation to become the first Tribal shipper on the Enbridge system.

“It’s another major step and positive investment that will further support development of our energy trust assets for the MHA Nation and its membership,” says Mark N. Fox, Chairman of the MHA Nation. “This will also be a significant catalyst for enhancing economic development in our region of influence.”

The Plaza/Wabek Pipeline is a six-inch-diameter oil pipeline traveling 31 miles from a gathering system in the Plaza/Wabek fields to Enbridge’s Stanley Terminal in Stanley, ND. The line has a transport capacity of 15,000 barrels per day.

Representatives of the MHA Nation, Thunder Butte Petroleum and Enbridge gathered today at the nation’s headquarters in New Town, ND to announce the news.

“The Enbridge purchase is a positive step to providing Thunder Butte Petroleum Services an asset that will lead to economic self-sufficiency, and a future revenue source for the MHA Nation,” says Bernie Fox, CEO of Thunder Butte Petroleum. “We also look forward to a positive relationship with our new partner Enbridge.”

Royalties from oil and gas development on the Fort Berthold Reservation are managed and dispersed for the benefit of the people of the MHA Nation under the direction of its Tribal Business Council.

Enbridge is committed to early engagement and meaningful dialogue with Indigenous peoples along our pipeline rights-of-way, based on respect, trust and appreciation for their deep connection to the natural world. As part of our Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan (IRAP), we’re also actively involved in creating and stimulating Tribal economic inclusion and partnerships in the regions where we do business.

Our September 2022 agreement with Athabasca Indigenous Investments (Aii) saw 23 First Nation and Métis acquire an 11.57% interest in seven Enbridge-operated pipelines in northern Alberta—the largest energy-related Indigenous economic partnership transaction in North America to date.

“We’re excited about today’s announcement because MHA Nation is quickly moving towards becoming the first Tribal shipper on our system. This is a major step towards connecting MHA Nation to new markets and industry partnerships,” says Mike Koby, Enbridge’s Vice President of U.S. Liquids Pipelines Operations.

Enbridge operates the world’s longest and most complex liquids transportation system, with about 17,800 miles of active pipe across North America, and delivers more than 3 million barrels a day via our Mainline and Express networks.