Month: August 2023

August 25, 2023 /3BL/ – Commercial fleet operators are urging governors across the country to accelerate and support the shift to zero-emission vehicles by adopting the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) rules in their respective states.

In a letter to governors in nine states, members of the Ceres Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance—a coalition of 31 companies representing more than $1.2 trillion in annual revenue and that collectively own, lease or operate more than 2.7 million fleet vehicles in the U.S.— wrote that “by adopting policies like ACT and ACC II, state policymakers can help fleets access the volume and variety of zero-emission vehicle models they need to unlock significant economic, health, and climate benefits.”

Together, the two rules require increasing rates of sales for zero-emission light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles over the coming years. The ACT rule will require significant growth in the production and sale of zero-emission trucks, vans, and other large commercial vehicles by 2035, while the ACC II rule will ultimately require 100% of new light-duty vehicles sold to be zero-emission models by 2035. The letter comes after multiple states last month moved to adopt one or both regulations.

“The Advanced Clean Trucks and Advanced Clean Cars rules will accelerate and guide the clean vehicle transition, helping to satisfy the strong market demand for zero-emission trucks and vans while sending a clear market signal to companies and utilities to invest in building the charging infrastructure necessary to support them,” said Abby Campbell Singer, Senior Director and Head of Climate and Infrastructure Policy at Siemens USA, a member of the Alliance. “We encourage governors across the country to adopt these key policies and capitalize on the surge in private and public investment available for the clean vehicle transition, benefiting their residents, businesses, and communities.”

Alliance members operate more than 830,000 light-duty vehicles across the U.S. and are looking to procure nearly 270,000 zero-emission sedans, SUVs, and pickup trucks by 2026. Members also operate more than 300,000 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles across the U.S. and plan to procure more than 60,000 zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles by 2026. While members are committed to electrifying their fleets, and new federal incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 have helped make the vehicles more affordable, they face a shared challenge of accessing zero-emission vehicle models that meet the unique needs of their businesses at scale. In their letter, Alliance members emphasized that further adoption of both ACT and ACC II would enable major companies to plan more effectively for regional and nationwide rollouts of clean vehicles.

“Leading companies are prepared and excited to put zero-emission fleets on the road to reduce operating costs and meet their climate goals. But to succeed, they need the support of market-enabling policies that expand access to zero-emission models that meet their diverse needs,” said Sara Forni, director of clean vehicles and head of the Alliance at Ceres. “Members of the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance encourage the widespread adoption of the ACT and ACC II rules because they know that these policies will help accelerate the economies of scale that drive down upfront costs and enable the successful electrification of commercial vehicles. The sooner fleet owners and operators can access zero-emission models that meet their needs, the sooner their customers, communities, and state economies will benefit from them.”

Eight states have already adopted the ACT rule, including California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Maryland, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, and New Mexico are all in the process of adopting the rule. States that have finalized adoption of the ACC II rule include California, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. Colorado and Maryland are expected to finalize their adoption of the ACC II rule this fall, while Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Rhode Island are all working to complete the process before the end of 2023.

The transportation sector remains the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and a top priority sector for the Ceres Ambition 2030 initiative, which aims to decarbonize the six highest emitting sectors in the U.S. economy. By advocating for the expansion of zero-emission vehicles throughout the U.S., Ceres and the Alliance aim to spearhead a positive transformation within the transportation sector.

About Ceres

Ceres is a nonprofit organization working with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. Through our powerful networks and global collaborations of investors, companies and nonprofits, we drive action and inspire equitable market-based and policy solutions throughout the economy to build a just and sustainable future. For more information, visit ceres.org and follow @CeresNews.

Media Contact: Helen Booth-Tobin, booth-tobin@ceres.org, 617-247-0700 ext. 214

BOISE, Idaho, August 25, 2023 /3BL/ — KeyBank has awarded a $200,000 grant to Trailhead, a non-profit organization offering mentoring and support services to Idaho student entrepreneurs. The grant will allow Trailhead to expand its You Lead Idaho program and empower more students through education, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, innovation and technology.

“Programs like You Lead Idaho equip students with the confidence and skills needed to build businesses and offer sustainable employment for Idaho citizens,” said Scott Schlange, president of KeyBank Idaho. “I look forward to seeing the results of our students’ entrepreneurial skills and pioneering ideas.”

You Lead Idaho utilizes an approved entrepreneurial curriculum delivered remotely to rural students. The program’s goal is to increase the college go-on rates of rural students through a program that fosters learning, technology, and mentorship. The program culminates with an online pitch competition where scholarship dollars will be awarded, based on student team presentations to Idaho-based judges.

“Small town kids don’t always have opportunities that kids in a bigger city do,” said Shelli Shroeder, Counselor at Shoshone High School. “By asking them to grow and making them a little bit uncomfortable, it creates the opportunity for them to say, ‘I did this, now I can go to college’ and have confidence in that.”

The grant will also allow Trailhead to grow the program by providing additional scholarship dollars and monetary awards to winning schools and teachers, as well as award dual-enrollment college credits and increase the mentorship hours available to student teams.

About You Lead Idaho

You Lead Idaho empowers rural high school students in Idaho through education in entrepreneurship, financial literacy, innovation, and technology. It offers mentorship, scholarships, and dual college credit to expand educational opportunities. Collaboratively developed by Trailhead, KeyBank, and IDLA, the program uses an approved entrepreneurial curriculum delivered remotely. Idaho’s low college go-on rates, as reported by Idaho Education News, have stagnated at 45-46% since 2015. You Lead Idaho aims to increase these rates by fostering learning, e-learning, technology, and mentorship in rural areas. Participation in the program equips students with valuable skills and broadens their post-graduation choices, positively impacting their educational and career pathways in rural Idaho communities.

After a comprehensive 8 unit academic module, the program will culminate in an online pitch competition, where high school teams will present their ideas to judges located in Boise and other locations throughout Idaho. Each team will present online from their respective schools to the panel of judges. The judges determine 1st and 2nd place winners, who then receive scholarships.

After conclusion of the program, students will also have the opportunity to travel to Boise for a 2-day immersion experience, leading up to another pitch competition where they will compete against urban schools (Boise State University’s “Idaho High School Entrepreneurial Challenge”) for more cash prizes.

To date, You Lead Idaho has achieved the following impacts on rural high school students:

132 students have participated and completed the program22 rural schools in Idaho have participated, representing 9 rural school districts.$10,000 have been awarded directly to the schools of the 1st place teams$10,000 have been awarded directly in stipends to the teachers who participate in the program$40,000 have been awarded in scholarships to rural high school studentsOver 320 hours of mentorship and coaching have been delivered to students315 dual enrollment credits for college and universities have been earned by students

About Trailhead

Trailhead is an innovation and start-up hub located in downtown Boise, the capital of Idaho. We are a 501 c3 non-profit and were founded through a public and private partnership initiative in 2015. Our vision is to democratize access to entrepreneurship. We do so by relentlessly pursuing our mission to help entrepreneurs succeed (regardless of age, background, socio-economic status, gender, ethnicity etc.), so they can start and grow companies in our City and State. Entrepreneurs drive innovation, and, in turn, innovation drives our economic development. With intentional and targeted entrepreneurial support, an entire start-up ecosystem can be cultivated in a community, which will in turn drive economic growth and increase prosperity for people from all walks of life. At Trailhead, we nurture the entrepreneurial spirit and strive to promote diversity and inclusion. We provide early stage entrepreneurs with a collaborative and inclusive coworking space, mentorship, educational programming and experiential learning, all while nurturing and developing the entrepreneurial community.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp’s roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $195 billion at June 30, 2023. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.

CONTACT: 
Trailhead 
Tiam Rastegar 
208-546-8426 
tiam@trailheadboise.org 

KeyBank: 
Jennifer Shermer 
303-902-9419 
jennifer@keetonpr.com

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

Among the college students participating in the U.S. Bank summer internship program this year are three women who bring expertise they gained through Girls Who Code, which provides coding instruction and experience to thousands of girls every year.

Kelsey Kim first joined a Girls Who Code (GWC) summer immersion program near her home in Atlanta when she was in high school. The seven-week program taught Kim how to use multiple computer languages, including Java, HTML/CSS, Python and C++. It also helped Kim develop a passion for coding and technology.

Kim, a rising senior at the University of Georgia majoring in computer science, along with Tamara Kunter, a rising senior at Georgia Tech majoring in computer science with a minor in Middle Eastern and North African studies, and Israa Mohammed, a rising junior at the University of Minnesota majoring in computer science, are all among more than 220 interns spending the summer at U.S. Bank.

“It was such a great experience at GWC. I got to build connections, create projects and receive guidance from amazing mentors,” Kim said. “After the program ended, we were all part of the alumni network, and that’s how I found out about the internship with U.S. Bank. Seeing that U.S. Bank was a Girls Who Code partner really incentivized me to apply because I’ve had great experiences with both their immersion and mentorship programs.” 

U.S. Bank is entering its sixth year supporting GWC and over time has invested more than $1 million in the programs for students and alumni.

According to GWC, the organization has served 580,000 young women and non-binary students over its 10-year history. In 2022, GWC supported more than 71,000 K-12 students and connected more than 2,400 GWC students with internships and job opportunities in tech through its virtual hiring summits.

“In the 2022/23 program year, our U.S. Bank team shifted our focus slightly to provide career readiness training and opportunities,” said Jason Teal, program manager for Tech Services at U.S. Bank.

“We sponsored GWC’s Hiring Summit, Technical Interview Prep program and overall Pipeline programming, which supports female and nonbinary students at all points from third grade through college, and beyond,” Teal said. “Through our support in these programs, we participated in resume review events, speed networking events, and more. Each gave an opportunity for participants to get feedback on their resumes and/or practice interviewing. I am so excited that we were able to offer internships to GWC alumni and thrilled that we had Kelsey, Tamara and Israa here with us this summer.”

Kim is currently working as a full stack developer intern with the U.S. Bank talech group, a cloud-based software team, focusing her internship on business customer point-of-sale (POS) systems, which she said hits close to home for her.

“It been amazing to learn about new technologies and experience working in a professional environment,” Kim said.

“It’s so interesting to work with everyone involved in the front-end visual elements that users interact with, to the back-end services that power those interactions. I was also really excited about the product since my parents own a restaurant only a couple minutes away from the office, and POS software is something that is an integral part of how the business runs,” she said. “Now, many businesses are transitioning toward digitalization and self-service models, and the demand for efficient POS software is increasing. The relevance of the work and product is something I really appreciate.”

On the other side of Atlanta, Kunter has been embedded into the U.S. Bank Elavon payments team focused on quality assurance. And in Minneapolis, Mohammed has been working with the engineering team.

“I work on the Quality Assurance team for Electronic Transfer System,” Kunter said. “Specifically, I have been tasked with automating test cases for a hosted payment page. The purpose of this is to make it easier, faster and more reliable while ensuring that the functionality of the website was not disrupted after changes/updates to the website.”

Each of the young women said they aspire to use their technical and coding skills in their future careers. They said the early days working with GWC and all the connections it has afforded them helped pave the path.

Learn more about Girls Who Code here.