Month: July 2024

Originally published on GoDaddy Resource Library

The fifth season of GoDaddy’s documentary series Made in America pays a visit to Ohio, a vibrant, diverse state where extraordinary entrepreneurs exemplify the essence of American hard work and ingenuity. 

Today, there are over 490,000 microbusinesses in Ohio, according to GoDaddy Venture Forward research. A microbusiness is defined as those having 10 or fewer employees, a domain and an active website.

From industrial Cleveland to rural Appalachia, we learn how strong community partnerships nurture growth in a region climbing out of the economic decline from waning U.S. manufacturing since the 1950s. 

We’ll also witness results driven by the Economic & Community Development Institute (ECDI), a local, long-term partner in our global signature social impact program, Empower by GoDaddy. 

Launched in 2017, Empower by GoDaddy provides training, digital tools, mentorship and peer networks to entrepreneurs in underserved communities. 

“Being around my parents and their friends, I saw how everybody wanted to have something of their own — to start their own business, to own their own home,” said Inna Kinney, founder and CEO of ECDI who comes from an entrepreneurial family. “And unfortunately, there was nothing out there to help these individuals.”​

Since 2004, ECDI — the leading Small Business Administration microlender in the country by number of loans distributed for the past three years — has supported the local creation and retention of more than 43,000 jobs and distributed some $180 million in loans to emerging businesses in Ohio.

Made in America was created to share inspiration through true stories of entrepreneurs.The series uses an unfiltered documentary approach to highlight real-life entrepreneurial journeys and acknowledge the scarcity of opportunities and resources for underserved entrepreneurs. 

The series advocates for an inclusive experience and the support of small businesses in all communities, with previous seasons shot in Baltimore, Phoenix, Atlanta and Memphis.

Let’s meet our Ohio entrepreneurs: the owners of Carter’s BBQ and Gray Brush Vintage Market​.

Carter’s BBQ

When husband-and-wife team Darren and Theresa Carter aren’t devoting their energy to fostering children and raising their recently adopted son, they’re working on their business Carter’s BBQ. 

The series follows their family after Darren quits his long-time job at a steel mill to pursue his passion for barbecue. In a summer of big make-it-or-break-it events, the family came together to build Carter’s BBQ from the ground up.

And, now, they’re cooking up good stuff. 

In 2023, the Carters were recognized by the Kingsford “Preserve the Pit” program, which spotlights people and stories in the Black community who have shaped the barbecue tradition.

Darren hosts the podcast The Unknowns Black Pitmasters — available on Spotify, Amazon and Apple — which focuses on Black barbecue enthusiasts and pitmasters across the country. The podcast features modern-day grill masters — from backyard cooks, to TV personalities, and everyone in between.

Gray Brush Vintage Market​

Located in Portsmouth, Ohio, a quaint town of 17,000 situated on a bank of the Ohio River, Gray Brush Vintage Market​ was born of a passion for yesteryears’ beauty and the comforting charm of small-town living.

Co-owners Lisa Brickey and Vonda Rogers​ started the business in 2021, turning their shared love for vintage treasures into a shop that operates both online and as a brick-and-mortar establishment. Gray Brush retails vintage and new items, curates collections and rents merchandise for display or scenery.

The pair have been friends since childhood, supporting each other through life, from raising families to embracing grandparenthood. Lisa and Vonda are both wives, mothers and grandmothers with deep roots in the community.

The series follows them as they attempt to grow their business, enduring funding challenges, formidable competition and a big pivot in their business model — all while honoring the legacies of their families.

Watch the series

Catch a sneak peek of the series in our new trailer, here.

Watch past seasons of Made in America and the new season premiering Thursday, July 25, here.

July 16, 2024 /3BL/ – The Consumer Goods Forum’s Sustainable Supply Chain Initiative (SSCI) proudly participated in the Living Wage & Living Income Summit, held on 26-27 June 2024 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. This summit organised in partnership by IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, GIZ and the UN Global Compact, gathered over 400 public and private sector decision-makers from producing and consuming countries to address living wage and living income gaps within global value chains.

The summit saw significant strides towards closing living wage and income gaps through collaborative actions between the public and private sectors, producers and buyers, and social dialogue. Participants engaged in knowledge transfer, shared tools, and case examples, which underscored the possibilities and opportunities for further collaboration in this critical area. International organisations and due diligence regulations are increasingly recognising and embracing the importance of living wages and incomes.

Representing the SSCI was Luiza Reguse, who participated actively in the summit’s discussions. The first day featured a comprehensive program, including international developments presented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), networking opportunities, and interactive breakout sessions.

On the second day, the focus shifted to developing the “Roadmap on Living Wage: Shaping its Next Phase Together.” The SSCI participated in the stakeholder committee, discussing the future of responsible sourcing and exploring the integration of living wage considerations into the SSCI Benchmark. Although our current social sustainability benchmark does not cover living wages, our involvement in these discussions marks a significant step forward. We are committed to understanding the landscape and studying the potential inclusion of living wage criteria, guided by emerging ILO standards and industry expectations.

The SSCI plays a crucial role in the sustainability landscape by setting the bar for industry expectations, recognising best practices, and offering a benchmark for third-party audit and certification standards. Our engagement in the Living Wage & Living Income Summit highlights how we work with industry in driving positive change and ensuring credible and trustworthy sustainability practices in global supply chains.

Living wages and incomes are essential to achieving sustainable economic development. As we continue to engage in global conversations and collaborate with various stakeholders, we invite you to join us in making strides towards fairer and more sustainable value chains.

As the SSCI remains dedicated to being a cornerstone of sustainability standards, driving continuous improvement and fostering global collaboration, we encourage you to learn more about our efforts.

To find out more about the SSCI and work with us, visit our website and sign up to receive news and updates.

PRINCETON, N.J., July 18, 2024 /3BL/ Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) today announced validation for its near-term and net-zero science-based targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), as part of a mid-year update on its environmental initiatives, highlighting progress in reducing emissions across its operations and supply chain. SBTi validation is considered the gold-standard for corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target setting and reduction strategies.

BMS is committed to reaching net-zero GHG emissions across its value chain by 2050 from a 2022 baseline year. In addition, BMS has committed to reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions and Scope 3 GHG emissions (from fuel and energy related activities) by 54.6%1 by 2033 and engage 75% of its suppliers, by emissions, in their development of science-based targets by 2028.2

“Validation of our near-term and long-term targets by the SBTi is an important milestone on our journey to achieving net-zero emissions,” said Karin Shanahan, executive vice president of Global Product Development & Supply, Bristol Myers Squibb. “Through cross-collaboration, industry partnerships, and supplier engagement we are taking decisive action and embedding changes into our operations that will help create a more sustainable and healthier planet for generations to come.”

Ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship

BMS’ SBTi validation reinforces the company’s commitment to advancing its long-term strategy to minimize its environmental footprint. Pivotal activities contributing to BMS’ progress include:

Reducing emissions from company-controlled operations (Scope 1). BMS has been implementing projects aimed at reducing energy use and GHG emissions within its operations. The Company’s leadership in energy management was recognized by ENERGY STAR with the 2024 Partner of the Year: Sustained Excellence award. Further, BMS was awarded the “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)” certification’s highest Platinum rating by the U.S. Green Buildings Council for its state-of-the-art research facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts – joining the company’s 16 other LEED Gold or Silver-rated facilities. 
 Transitioning to renewable energy (Scope 2): In 2022, BMS executed a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) for 60 megawatts (MW) at the 240-MW Cattlemen Solar Park in Texas. In 2023, a second 15-year VPPA with National Grid Renewables for 145 MW of solar at the Texas-based Blevins Solar Projects was announced. These actions propel BMS another step closer to realizing its 2030 goal to source 100% purchased electricity from renewable sources. 
 Addressing emissions across the value chain (Scope 3). BMS has continued to strengthen its end-to-end data program, using GHG Protocol as a guiding principle. The Company has expanded tracking, management, and reporting of its Scope 3 emissions to 10 categories, with limited assurance. Further, through its supplier engagement program, BMS has determined that approximately 30% of suppliers in scope for its Scope 3 supplier engagement target already have approved science-based targets with an additional 20% of suppliers ‘committed’.

For more information on BMS’ environmental commitments and strategy, visit BMS 2023 ESG Report.

About Bristol Myers Squibb Company 
Bristol Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop, and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information about Bristol Myers Squibb, visit us at BMS.com or follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding, among other things, the Company’s goals, strategies, and performance in accordance with its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that affect Bristol Myers Squibb’s business and market, particularly those identified in the cautionary statement and risk factors discussion in Bristol Myers Squibb’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as updated by our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this document are made only as of the date of this document and except as otherwise required by applicable law, Bristol Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise.

1The target boundary includes biogenic land-related emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks; the Scope 3 target is from fuel and energy related activities (FERA).

2The target is limited to suppliers by emissions covering purchased goods and services, capital goods, and upstream transportation and distribution.

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For more information, contact: 

Media: 
media@bms.com

Investors: 
investor.relations@bms.com

In 2021, Cisco published a blog post on Simprints’ touchless, facial biometric ID technology. See how Simprints is now working to open-source this solution and assemble inclusive and ethical AI training datasets with support from Cisco’s Global Impact Grant program.

The case for biometric identification

Safe, reliable, and portable forms of ID are necessary to access critical services like healthcare and humanitarian aid. But an estimated 850 million people globally lack formal ID, making it challenging for governments, international development organizations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to ensure essential services and resources reach their target populations. To address this problem, nonprofit Simprints has developed a new kind of technology for good: biometric ID, with privacy at its core. Simprints’ biometric solutions give people a safe digital identity and ensure every vaccine, every dollar, and every public good not only reaches those who need them most, but does so accurately, efficiently, and equitably. Research shows a digital biometric registry is 12.5 percent more accurate and can be searched three times faster than paper records. And, biometrically tracking reliable health data over time can play a vital role in assessing the success of campaigns like immunization series.

Cisco began supporting Simprints in 2018 as part of our One Billion Lives goal—an ambitious mission to change one billion individual lives through social impact investments. That year Simprints started testing mobile phone camera-based facial biometrics as an alternative to their existing fingerprint biometric solution, making identification all the more accessible. Operating facial biometrics on Android phones (used commonly in low-resource and last-mile humanitarian contexts) removes the need to produce and distribute separate hardware, thereby cutting costs and increasing scalability. Now, our latest Global Impact Grant is helping Simprints advance their ethical, inclusive face recognition AI and make it open source.

Ethical inclusive AI for face recognition

Face recognition is already widely incorporated into everyday technology, seen in cell phones, security cameras, and even used to tag friends in social media posts. But a 2019 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that many commercial face recognition solutions exhibit bias; mis-identifying African and Asian faces up to 100 times more than Caucasian faces. This bias, rather than an issue with the technology itself, is a byproduct of training AI matching algorithms with datasets that are predominantly male and Caucasian.

Simprints aims to reduce bias in their face recognition models through rigorous training and testing on diverse data sets. They are also exploring the application of training datasets with synthetically-generated face images, an innovative approach that enables countless variations on characteristics like skin color, hair style, facial features, and facial expressions. In using a synthetic dataset, there is no need to capture and retain personally identifiable information (PII) from real individuals, helping to further maintain data privacy. To foster trust and confidence among their partners and users, Simprints strictly adheres to policies such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and continuously explores and researches state-of-the-art methods in biometric template protection to ensure subjects are shielded from potential harm or misuse of their biometric data.

Impact across geographies

Simprints’ solutions have been used by humanitarian organizations working in Nigeria, Somalia and Kenya to prevent fraud and ensure that cash and aid distribution programs reach the intended recipients. Simprints has also partnered with various international Ministries of Health including Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana, Bangladesh, and Rajasthan, and continues to explore expansion into new geographies. In Ethiopia, they are engaged in the ground-breaking roll-out of the electronic community health information system (eCHIS), through which patients are registered and identified by Simprints’ fingerprint scanners. In rural Uganda, Simprints is expanding the capacity of frontline community health workers to effectively deliver vaccines that fight infectious diseases such as COVID-19, HPV, hepatitis B, and tetanus. In Ghana, their ground-breaking technology is already improving access to critical maternal and vaccine services in 30 health centers, with a plan to scale reach across 500,000 children by 2025.

Why open source?

Some technology is so valuable, it’s worth gifting to humanity for the greater good. This is why with support from more than 30 organizations, including governments, researchers, and privacy experts, Simprints has embarked on a journey to make their biometric solutions fully open source. With a mission to transform the way the world fights poverty, Simprints is making their code available to the world and inviting developers, partners, advocates, and all those passionate about addressing global challenges to join their collaborative community. By going open source, and integrating with the leading data collection platforms that serve nearly 50% of the world’s population, Simprints envisions to increase their impact tenfold and empower teams to reach 20 million people with healthcare and humanitarian aid.

“We value the ongoing support of Cisco enormously as we continue our journey to becoming a digital public good. 

The latest Global Impact Grant is game-changing for us. This new funding enables our team to accelerate the integration of ethical AI into our platforms and supports our move to open source. Together with Cisco, we’re amplifying the impact of our biometric tools, helping ensure thousands more people across the world can access life-saving health and aid.” —Toby Norman, Simprints CEO

For more information:

To learn more about Simprints, visit their website.See how Cisco’s One Billion Lives campaign has supported other NGOs and reached its goal over two years early.

View original content here.