Tag: 3BL

By Shawna Ryan, T-Mobile Stories

Not sure where to begin to reclaim your power of the purse? It’s not as hard as you may think, thanks in part to some digital tools you can access right from your phone.

“A big piece of our job as a money coach is celebrating the small steps that lead to the bigger changes and milestones,” says Chad Wolfe, a money coach and student loan specialist at the My Secure Advantage program.

The financial gurus at MSA have been helping T-Mobile employees through the company’s wellbeing website LiveMagenta, which offers everything from physical and mental health services, as well as MSA’s financial wellness coaching. The experts at MSA know their numbers and we’d let them balance our checkbook any day.

Chad says he works on financial fundamentals, like budgeting, debt and credit with clients, but that making use of today’s digital finance tools is a great way to automate and incorporate financial literacy into your everyday life.

“I love that technology has allowed us to be able to pull up our budgeting app in a grocery store or at the mall to see how that potential purchase fits into your plan,” he says. “And we have more information readily available so we can do better or feel more in control of our money rather than having our money controlling us.”

He has some tips on how to begin the process of getting your finances in fighting shape, and even what digital tools you can access right from your mobile device on your path to financial zen.

Demolish Debt

“Money can be a very difficult subject for some people,” says Chad. “That can be especially true when it comes to debt.”

But there are ways you can start the work towards alleviating the strain it causes. Experts like Chad encourage manageable exercises like finding a small debt that doesn’t seem too daunting to tackle and to build up your confidence by eliminating that first within a projected timeline. He says you can also download apps like Qoins, which are designed to help you eradicate specific debts as quick as possible by saving small amounts every day and using those savings to make extra monthly payments. The app asks users to connect checking accounts and to choose their preferred savings method – things like rounding up their credit card purchases and putting aside the change and transferring those savings to your connected debt account for payment.

“I’ve worked with a lot of people who feel tracking is a big piece of building a budget,” says Chad, “especially if they’re new to it or not that comfortable so it helps to hold those dollars accountable towards their goal or helps them to make different decisions to stay on track.”

Ballin’ on a Budget

Now that you’re on the way to being debt free, it’s time to scale for the future with a budget to get you there. But not everything feels like it’s within our control when it comes to financial planning.

“Given our current economic climate and the fact interest rates have been going up, we’ve noticed it’s prompted some phone calls to our organization,” says Chad. “So be sure when it comes to your budget, name it and claim it to set yourself up for success.”

Even if you begin by carving out a small emergency savings to start, make sure you’re looking at the total income, other responsibilities or needs, and trying to pepper in some wants. Then consider setting that up through a payroll deduction to prioritize that savings.

A big piece of our job is celebrating the small steps that lead to the bigger changes and milestones. I think my favorite part of being a money coach, and I’ve been doing this now almost 15 years, is we get to know them and get to celebrate these big things in their life — whether it’s getting debt free or hitting a certain amount of savings, or sometimes that’s even transitioning to retirement or buying a house and seeing their kids get married. -Chad Wolfe, MSA Money Coach

One way to do this easily is digitally. Chad says many people have become familiar with apps like Mint and Simplifi (from Quicken) because they let you to connect your bank accounts and credit cards, putting your transactions on its dashboard and organizing them into budget categories. You can input a savings goal and these apps will show you how much you need to contribute and how often. You can also tell it how much of your budget you want to contribute to a certain category like grocery shopping and it will alert you when you’re getting close to or overshooting that budget Some apps, like Rocket Money, even help you locate wasteful spending by identifying all of your subscriptions, including those you may not even realize you’re still signed up for.

Chad says don’t forget to review your existing bills and accounts and make sure they align with your new budget. If it’s something that detracts you from your goals, it’s worth considering an alternative. And in the spirit of giving customers choices, T-Mobile’s new Go5G Plus Plan packs over $270 in added value for families – with things like Apple TV+ and Netflix included in the plan. There’s also free in-flight Wi-Fi where available and free high-speed data abroad in 215+ destinations (meaning people can stay connected in the air and the minute they’re off the plane). Finding a wireless plan that includes perks most people already pay for out of pocket is another way to save money in the long run when reconsidering how to create and make good on a new budget.

Invest In You

You may be too young to actually imagine the day you retire, but many financial professionals suggest you keep it in mind as early as possible. Some suggest contributing from 10 to 20 percent of your salary each year to it. No surprise that there’s a plethora of apps to help you invest in you by investing in the market! Betterment and Acorns are just a few examples of popular mobile apps out there today that help people invest with ease. Each has its own niche for creating customizable investment plans, often by linking to your spending accounts and automatically taking funds through round ups on your purchases or deposits on a specified weekly or monthly basis so you can set it and forget it.

Try to align programs you’re signed up for so they work together. “I get to play a fun part in helping to delegate some of the benefit integration with things like retirement plan options,” he says.

As Chad pointed out already, interest rates have been rising, which is costing borrowers more but the positive side of that is interest rates on a lot of the high yield savings accounts are going up too. Says Chad: “There’s an opportunity to do a little bit more and have that money work harder for you.”

Chad’s top tips for getting financially fit!

Build an emergency fund: Experts recommend having three to six months of living expenses saved in an emergency fund to help you weather unexpected financial emergencies, such as a job loss or a major medical expense.

Pay down debt: If you have high-interest debt, such as credit card debt or a personal loan, try to make paying it down a priority, no matter how small of steps you take. This can help you save money in interest charges and free up more money in your monthly budget.

Fund an IRA: Contributing to an IRA can help you save for retirement and may also provide a tax deduction for traditional IRA contributions. For 2023 the contribution limit for traditional and Roth IRAs was $6,000, or $7,000 if you are 50 or older.

Fund an HSA: If you have a high-deductible health plan, you may be eligible to contribute to an HSA. HSAs offer tax benefits, including tax-deductible contributions and tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses. For 2022, the contribution limit for individuals was $3,650, or $4,650 if you are 55 or older.

Invest in yourself: Whether it’s taking a class or workshop to develop new skills or pursuing a hobby that you have always wanted to try, investing in yourself can provide personal and professional growth, which can pay off in the long run.

Check out MSA

Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) is leading a $30 million Series B funding round into Oshi Health, the virtual specialty care company transforming gastrointestinal (GI) health outcomes and economics.

BY THE NUMBERS:

In a clinical trial conducted by a national health plan in a large commercially insured population, 92% of Oshi Health patients reported symptom improvement, with 98% satisfaction.In just six months, Oshi helped save $10,292 per patient in all-cause medical costs.The company says these results have driven more payers and employers to reimburse access to Oshi Health as a covered benefit, and this funding will help sustain that momentum in the market.Currently available to more than 20 million people as a preferred in-network virtual GI clinic for national and regional insurers, Oshi has partnerships with community GI practices and a recent collaboration with Aetna, a CVS Health company.

WHY KOCH INVESTED: “We’ve seen the impact of Oshi Health’s unique care model, and we want to be part of helping health plans and employers understand the significant potential of its virtual multidisciplinary digestive care,” says David Mauney, managing director of Koch Disruptive Technologies. “We are excited to help scale access to Oshi’s best-in-class virtual clinic and proven outcomes, which have given them the clear market lead.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Unmanaged digestive symptoms are the top cause of emergency department treat-and-release visits, according to Oshi. Digestive disorders affect 1 in 4 Americans and drive $135 million in annual costs in the U.S. – a more significant impact than diabetes and mental health.

“We’ve paved the way for broad access to proven treatments that our traditional healthcare system is not structured or incentivized to provide, while building value for patients, employers, health plans and provider groups,” says Oshi Health CEO Sam Holliday. “Our investors are collectively funding the change-makers in the most crucial categories of healthcare. They see the transformation opportunity and urgency in digestive care as clearly as we do, and we’re proud to have them back our mission to free millions of Americans from their struggle with digestive symptoms and conditions.”In addition to KDT, others funding the round include existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Flare Capital Partners, Frist Cressey Ventures, CVS Health Ventures and Takeda Digital Ventures.

Learn more about the investment here.

Originally published in GoDaddy’s 2022 Sustainability Report

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

By valuing individuality, we grow together.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) are core to who we are. Authentically serving a diverse customer base starts with cultivating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workforce. We know that diverse teams build better products and customer experiences — period. And we want to foster a human-centered community that empowers our employees and their families, too. We believe that prioritizing the integration of DEIB principles into the core of how we work every day is the best way to serve our mission of making opportunity more inclusive for all.

OUR VICE PRESIDENT OF DIVERSITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING 
In 2022, GoDaddy hired its dedicated Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, who is responsible for developing and implementing holistic, integrated and equitable programs that enable GoDaddy employees and customers to feel empowered and supported.

An Integrated DEIB Strategy

At GoDaddy, our DEIB principles aren’t standalone priorities. They are inextricably tied together with everything we do — and with each other. We recognize that diversity helps fuel inclusion. Inclusion, in turn, helps power equity and diversity, and inclusion and equity enable belonging.

Our DEIB strategy focuses on influencing inclusive behaviors and refining systems and processes through a lens of equity. In 2022, we defined our objectives to further integrate, engage on and expand DEIB principles throughout the organization, and we developed a multiyear strategic roadmap to continually implement these goals.

Through our work to integrate DEIB concepts and messaging into our internal and external communications, we further engaged our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) on our DEIB priorities and expanded best practices in areas like recruitment, employee listening and data analysis.

DEIB Performance

GoDaddy was among the first companies to announce and publish our pay parity results, and we’re proud to achieve gender pay parity (global) for the eighth year in a row and ethnicity (in the U.S.) pay parity for the sixth year in a row.1Additional information on our diversity results can be found in the Appendix of this document, as well as with additional context in the 2022 Diversity and Pay Parity Annual Report.

Global Gender 

Female: 29.7% Male: 67.7% Nonbinary: 0.3%

U.S. Race and Ethnicity 

Native American: 0.7% Asian: 15.3% Black: 5.2% Hispanic or Latino /a/x: 10.8% Pacific Islander: 0.4% Multiracial 4.5% Not Declared: 4.6% White: 58.5%

Inclusive Recruitment and Employee Experience

We made a deliberate effort to recognize and reduce unconscious bias in our recruitment and employee practices and systems, including performance reviews and promotions. We began this journey in partnership with Stanford University’s VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab (formerly known as the Clayman Institute for Gender Research), and we continue to refine these processes in line with feedback, research and best practices. We employ several strategies to promote inclusive and equitable candidate and employee experiences, including:

Expanding candidate eligibility to include those with nonlinear or nontraditional backgrounds in early career talent positions
 Conducting additional efforts to directly source talent from different backgrounds and experiences to augment the standard application process
 Reviewing job descriptions with an artificial intelligence algorithm to reduce gendered language bias
 Posting all nonconfidential jobs on internal job boards to encourage mobility within 
the organization
 Providing an opportunity for applicants to choose their pronouns and specify name pronunciation at the time of scheduling an interview
 Offering unconscious bias training for interviewer certification
 Running company-wide performance management processes to reduce variance in performance assessment standards among gender and racial groups
 Employing promotion flagging processes that proactively identify potential eligible employees who could be reviewed for promotion consideration, rather than relying on subjective criteria and identification

Awards and Honors

Mogul: Top 100 Companies with the Best DEIB InitiativesHuman Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) 2022: Best Places to Work for LGBTQ + EqualityBloomberg: Gender-Equality Index 2022

Partnerships 

We use partnerships that help us fill our recruiting pipeline with top talent. 

Our partnerships include AfroTech, AnitaB.org and its annual Grace Hopper Celebration, Fairygodboss, ColorStack, Rewriting the Code, Ada Developers Academy and Code2040.

Employee Resource Groups

Our global workforce collaborates across several different time zones and functions, but we still believe in the importance of cultivating a meaningful and inclusive community. Even when they’re physically apart, we aim to bring together our employees working across different areas of the business and from different backgrounds.

Employee resource groups (ERGs) play a critical part of what fosters our culture of inclusivity. They’re employee-led groups formed around common missions, identities, affinities or interests, including those who are allies and champions. ERGs provide a space for employees to develop relationships, support professional development (both for themselves and others), engage in corporate projects and programs, learn from each other and participate in fun activities. In addition to the personal benefits, these communities help empower many of GoDaddy’s business priorities and goals across talent development, learning development, business development and community development.

We currently have 11 global, employee-led ERGs:

GD Abilities in TechGD Asians in TechGD Black in TechGD Entrepreneurs in TechGD Fitness in TechGD GreenGD LatinX in TechGD New GraduatesGD United (LGBTQIA+)GD Veterans in TechGD Women in Tech

GoDaddy plans to continue to enhance employee engagement within ERGs and to broaden 
their impact on both our internal and external communities. To better support our ERGs, GoDaddy is:

Reworking our ERG framework and structure to globalize, standardize and align with 
best practices
 Developing new and refining existing procedures, processes and roles to further empower our ERGs and their leaders
 Better integrating our ERGs and their members into our corporate priorities and projects related to DEIB, employee experience and other areas

1We define achievement of pay parity as pay that is equal to, or a few cents on either side of, a dollar. Please read our 2022 Diversity and Pay Parity Annual Report for more information.

About This Report 
Unless otherwise noted, the GoDaddy 2022 Sustainability Report outlines our environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, activities, progress, metrics and performance for the fiscal year that ended on December 31, 2022. This report references the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and includes select Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards metrics for the Internet Media and Services sector.

GoDaddy is committed to regular, transparent communication about our sustainability progress, and to that end, we will share updates on an ongoing basis through our website and will continue to publish an annual Sustainability Report.

To learn more, please read our 2022 Sustainability Report.

RESTON, Va., June 8, 2023 /3BL Media/ – CACI International Inc (NYSE: CACI) praised POWs for their service, sacrifice, and unbreakable spirit at the unveiling of a CACI-sponsored exhibit at the Coronado Historical Association Museum on March 28 in California.

CACI has a long history of national security partnership with the Armed Forces through its many veterans, reservists, National Guard members, and military spouses who work at CACI and its more than 60 years of work with the Department of Defense.

The exhibit titled, “Open Doors: Vietnam POWs 50 Years of Freedom,” celebrates the courage and resolve of Prisoners of War (POWs) through photos and interviews. CACI acquired the exhibit in 2006 and displayed it at the company’s former Arlington headquarters for more than 15 years. This year, CACI donated the exhibit back to the museum to mark the 50th anniversary of the homecoming of Vietnam POWs.

“The images, stories, and perspectives of these heroes have touched and inspired us at CACI for many years. We are pleased that so many others will now have an opportunity to experience this exhibit,” said John Mengucci, CACI President and Chief Executive Officer. “We know they, too, will draw inspiration from their patriotism, their unyielding strength, and their triumph over adversity.”

Guests at the opening included families of POWs who have passed away and former POWs like Cmdr. Everett Alvarez, U.S. Navy (ret.), and Capt. John “Jack” Ensch, U.S. Navy (ret.), both of whom are featured in “Open Doors.”

The exhibit was sponsored through CACI’s philanthropy program, CACI Cares, which works to support and honor our military members and their families, including our veterans. To learn more about CACI Cares, visit https://www.caci.com/caci-cares.

ABOUT CACI

CACI’s approximately 22,000 talented employees are ever vigilant in providing the unique expertise and distinctive technology that address our customers’ greatest enterprise and mission challenges. Our culture of good character, innovation, and excellence drives our success and earns us recognition as a Fortune World’s Most Admired Company. As a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies, the Russell 1000 Index, and the S&P MidCap 400 Index, we consistently deliver strong shareholder value. Visit us at www.caci.com.

June 8, 2023 /3BL Media/ – AEG, the world’s leading sports and live entertainment company, has announced its latest AEG Community Foundation grant recipients – 21 non-profit organizations across the United States that will receive in total $320,000 to further their missions. Every year, the AEG Community Foundation provides grants to children and youth focused programs that support K-12 education, the arts and health and wellness initiatives in the communities where AEG operates.

“Each organization that received a grant from the AEG Community Foundation is doing exceptional work, building vibrant and healthy communities now and for the future. We are proud to support their tireless efforts in bringing more resources to young people,” said Martha Saucedo, Chief External Affairs Officer.

The recipients of the AEG Community Foundation 2022–2023 Grant Cycle include:

K-12 Education: All Peoples Community Center (Los Angeles), California Science Center Foundation (Los Angeles), Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) of California (Los Angeles), ESP Education & Leadership Institute, Inc. (Long Beach), Read to a Child Inc. (Los Angeles), YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles (Hollywood), California Hospital Medical Center Foundation (Los Angeles), Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) (Los Angeles), Little Tokyo Service Center Community Development Corporation (Los Angeles), Shared Housing Center Inc. (Dallas), The Salvation Army a California Corporation (Pico-Union)

Arts: Angelica Center for Arts and Music (Pico-Union), Girls Write Nashville (Nashville), Groundswell Community Mural Project Inc. (Brooklyn), Living Arts (Detroit), The Troy Andrews Foundation (New Orleans), Upbeat Academy Foundation (New Orleans), Youth Radio (Oakland)

Health and Wellness: Alianza Coachella Valley (Coachella), Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade – Black United Fund, Inc. (Los Angeles), Wellnest Emotional Health & Wellness (Los Angeles)

Championing employee volunteerism is an important aspect of our corporate culture at Keysight. Volunteering brings people together, helps individuals connect to causes larger than themselves, and creates communities bound by hope. Studies have also observed physical and mental health benefits of volunteering, including lowering blood pressure and stress levels, and increasing levels of satisfaction.

During National Volunteers Week at headquarters in Santa Rosa, California, we organized a Keysight Gives Back Day and encouraged employees to utilize their four hours per month employee volunteer time off benefit to support the local community. During the April event, more than 125 Keysighters participated by joining their choice of seven different teams that volunteered for a half-day with community organizations in the local area. Before beginning their volunteer shift, each team met with a leader in the community organization to learn about the mission of the group and how Keysight’s volunteer efforts would support their work. The opportunity to learn more about how individuals and groups can make a difference in the lives of others proved a powerful aspect of the day.

For April’s Keysight Gives Back event, the teams supported various causes with their service, spanning:

Volunteering with Council on Aging to socialize and dine with lonely seniors;Bringing hands-on engineering kits to the local Boys and Girls Club;Preparing a community garden for spring planting;Supporting a food bank;Refreshing the décor at a teen club; andMaking handwritten cards for military and first responders.

Reflecting on Keysight Gives Back Day, what employees shared reaffirmed the reasons corporate volunteerism is powerful. Many relayed their gratitude for the opportunity to give back. Folks shared that they were happy to meet other people in the company who also cared about the community. One of the event leads, who managed a team of 20 volunteers at a community garden described the experience as “breathtaking and rewarding”, sharing that the team worked hard, outperformed expectations, and were happy to dedicate their time to the community. The sentiment relayed by multiple volunteers was, “When can we do this again?”

There are many reasons people volunteer their time. Some believe in service for service’s sake. Others feel called to volunteer for a particular cause. Some people volunteer as a tribute to someone they have lost. Others volunteer to connect with those around them. When people volunteer with colleagues, they further their connections with each other. Uniting colleagues behind a community cause helps to build stronger teams and strengthen morale. Volunteer events like Keysight Gives Back are a part of Keysight’s culture that makes employees proud to work for this company.

Our community engagement efforts help build community prosperity and connect the company to causes that are meaningful to our employees. Volunteering as a team also helps build bridges between people, places, and organizations, which is at the root of our corporate social responsibility vision to build a better planet.

Learn more about Keysight’s Corporate Social Responsibility program.

June 8, 2023 /3BL Media/ – More than a dozen companies with headquarters or operations in New Jersey released a letter today to Gov. Phil Murphy and state lawmakers, urging them to support legislation committing New Jersey to 100% clean energy by 2035

The letter — signed by Avocado Green Brands, Ben & Jerry’s, Danone, DSM-Firmenich, ECOS, Eileen Fisher, IKEA, Mars, Miller/Howard Investments, Nestlé, Sealed, Unilever, and Uplight — demonstrates the sector-spanning corporate support for ambitious clean energy policy in New Jersey. It comes as the state legislature considers a 100% clean energy standard that positions the state to take advantage of its ample offshore wind resources and maximize the economic benefits provided by federal clean energy incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act. The proposal would also align with and codify the clean energy target set earlier this year by the Murphy administration.

“We understand firsthand how New Jersey’s energy policies impact the cost of doing business and our state’s economic competitiveness. A robust 100% clean energy standard and ambitious investment in the offshore wind industry will create policy certainty, ensuring New Jersey continues to be a competitive place to do business,” the letter reads.

The letter emphasized that a 100% clean energy standard would help New Jersey achieve the deepest possible emissions reductions as the state seeks to accelerate the shift to electric vehicles and home heating. The companies underscored that the policy would help them achieve their own climate goals, slash energy costs by reducing reliance on volatile fossil fuels, support the growing green workforce, and improve public health by cutting air pollution from power plants.

“Unilever’s commitment to sustainability is showcased at our U.S. headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, which is powered entirely by renewable energy and which we built to support our target of reducing emissions from our operations by 100% by 2030,” said Stefani Grant, Senior Manager, External Affairs & Sustainability, Unilever. “We believe climate action is essential for future-proofing our business, and we highly value doing business in places that recognize the many financial and economic benefits of a clean electric grid. We are proud to support to efforts in our U.S. home to shift to 100% clean electricity by 2035 and call on New Jersey lawmakers to pass this legislation this year.”

“As a New Jersey-based company, Avocado Green Brands fully supports a 100% clean electricity standard that would fully decarbonize the state’s grid by 2035. The climate crisis is a threat to global and economic stability, and the best way to address it is by using clean electricity to power the economic activity that we all rely on,” said John Davies, Senior Director, Brand Editorial and Sustainability at Avocado Green Brands. “We are proud that our home state has been a leader in confronting climate change. We now call on lawmakers to keep it up by passing legislation that ensure energy consumers throughout New Jersey have access to affordable, reliable, and clean electricity.”

The companies are part of a growing group of supporters across New Jersey stepping up efforts to pass legislation that achieves 100% clean energy by 2035. A separate event scheduled today will feature advocates and lawmakers pushing for passage this year.

“Businesses in every industry know that achieving 100% clean energy by 2035 will bring massive benefits to New Jersey’s companies, communities, and economy. It is also necessary for the state to meet its ambitious climate goals and lead the transition to a clean energy economy,” said Alli Gold Roberts, senior director of state policy, Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit that organized the letter. “New Jersey lawmakers can count on the support of the forward-looking companies we work with as they advance a 100% clean energy standard this year.”

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, 617-247-0700 ext. 214, booth-tobin@ceres.org

BETHLEHEM, Pa., June 7, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Community Action Lehigh Valley has received a three-year, $150,000 grant from KeyBank Foundation to support The Seed Farm, a partner of Second Harvest Food Bank and program of Community Action Lehigh Valley, an anti-poverty nonprofit aiming to improve the quality of life by building economic opportunity. The Seed Farm provides new farmers with valuable, practical experience and skills on their training farm as well as the opportunity to launch sustainable farm businesses on site in Emmaus, PA.

The Seed Farm carries out a critical part of Second Harvest Food Bank’s mission through its agricultural incubator program, which provides new agricultural businesses with intensive training in production, marketing, business planning, and equipment operation, helping to remove barriers to economic opportunities that new farmers often face. With assistance from The Seed Farm, many viable and diverse farm businesses have been launched, which in turn, contribute to the production of nutritious, locally grown food distributed to under-resourced communities by Second Harvest Food Bank’s charitable food network.

“Our agricultural incubator provides access to land, equipment, education, and infrastructure to address the barriers of new farm entry, with an emphasis on access for Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and women,” said Katy Hunter, Program Administrator. “Our goal is to help new farmers create viable careers to address the concerning decline in farms across our region and the nation, and we are thrilled that KeyBank sees value in our work.”

Developed by Lehigh County and Penn State Extension to support the farmland preservation program, The Seed Farm was established to cultivate the next generation of farmers to take over preserved farmland. Since 1989, Lehigh County has preserved over 26,000 acres of farmland. In 2019, The Seed Farm merged with Community Action Lehigh Valley’s Second Harvest Food Bank. Through the merger, The Seed Farm continues its core mission of growing new farmers and strengthening the local agriculture system, while also taking on a more focused approach to utilizing the charitable food network for food distribution.

“As a community-minded bank, KeyBank’s mission is to help our clients and communities thrive,” said KeyBank Corporate Responsibility Officer & Community Relations Manager, Chiwuike Owunwanne. “The Seed Farm’s mission aligns closely with Key’s philanthropic focus areas such as job creation and workforce development, the removal of barriers to economic opportunities for diverse populations and addressing food insecurity for our most vulnerable citizens. We are proud to support their work.”

About Community Action Lehigh Valley

Community Action is an anti-poverty nonprofit that improves the quality of life by building a community in which all people have access to economic opportunity, the ability to pursue that opportunity, and a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. Community Action offers programs and services in: Advocacy, Business Start-Up and Development, Food Access and Nutrition, Housing, Neighborhood Revitalization, and Youth. To learn more, visit communityactionlv.org or @communityactionlv.

About The Seed Farm

The Seed Farm provides training opportunities, access to land and equipment, and business start-up assistance to emerging farmers on their 42-acre farm in Emmaus, PA. Through the Farm Business Incubator program, beginning farmers with business plans may launch their own farm on site. They produce and market their own products, while having access to land, equipment, and infrastructure at reduced rates and receive continued guidance from farm mentors and Seed Farm staff. To learn more, visit theseedfarm.org or @theseedfarm.

About KeyBank Foundation

KeyBank Foundation serves to fulfill KeyBank’s purpose to help clients and communities thrive, and its mission is to support organizations and programs that prepare people for thriving futures. The Foundation’s mission is advanced through three funding priorities – neighbors, education, and workforce – and through community service. To provide meaningful philanthropy that transforms lives, KeyBank Foundation listens carefully to understand the unique characteristics and needs of its communities and then backs solutions with targeted philanthropic investments. KeyBank Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation, funded by KeyCorp.

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 $198 billion as of March 31, 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 Member FDIC.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., June 8, 2023 /3BL Media/ – As part of the Joint Electric Scaling Initiative (JETSI) project, global critical infrastructure solutions leader Black & Veatch today announced the design-build completion of 16 high-power chargers in South El Monte, California, for Schneider National Inc. (NYSE: SNDR), a premier multimodal provider of transportation, intermodal and logistics services battery-electric trucking fleet. JETSI is the first battery-electric truck project jointly financed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC).

The charging station includes 16, 350-kilowatt, dual-corded dispensers, supplied by four 1.2-megawatt power cabinets from Power Electronics. With the dual-corded dispensers, 32 battery-electric trucks (BETs) can be charged simultaneously, reaching an 80% charge within 90 minutes, increasing efficiency of operations for Schneider.

“Black & Veatch’s involvement in this project combines our expertise in clean transportation and infrastructure development to unlock an alternative energy source for Schneider’s fleet,” said Dave Hallowell, president of the connectivity, commercial, and industrial sector for Black & Veatch. “Being involved in this project, and other JETSI initiatives, showcases our commitment to sustainable resources and makes clear the environmental priorities that many trucking companies, like Schneider, are shifting towards.”

Black & Veatch worked closely with local utility Southern California Edison (SCE) to ensure success of the project, including power supply for the charging dispensers.

“We are bringing a large scale zero emission operation to reality,” said Schneider President and CEO Mark Rourke. “We can now offer the – first of its kind- cleaner mode of freight transportation to valued customers, who share our goal of operating in ways that are environmentally responsible. That’s why we invested and collaborated with stakeholders along the supply chain to work together to lower carbon emissions. This would not be possible without our funding and grant agencies.” 

From a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to an increase in employment opportunities, the use of electric trucking fleets brings both environmental and economic benefits, key aspects of the ongoing growth of clean transportation.

“Companies switching from gas-powered fleets to battery-electric trucks will have a lasting impact on the surrounding communities they serve,” said Randal Kaufman, business development director for Black & Veatch.

Contact Black & Veatch for more information.

Editor’s Notes: 

Schneider’s eight-acre South El Monte site is centrally located within the metro Los Angeles area and adjacent to major highways with a high density of shippers within a 50-mile radius.Funding for 50 of Schneider’s BETs is part of the JETSI project — a landmark initiative to demonstrate strategies to successfully scale market penetration of zero-emission technologies. JETSI is the first battery-electric truck project jointly financed by California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC), which together awarded the project $27 million. To learn more, click the link here.For photos of the site, click here.

About Black & Veatch 
Black & Veatch is a 100-percent employee-owned global engineering, procurement, consulting and construction company with a more than 100-year track record of innovation in sustainable infrastructure. Since 1915, we have helped our clients improve the lives of people around the world by addressing the resilience and reliability of our most important infrastructure assets. Our revenues in 2022 were US$4.3 billion. Follow us on www.bv.com and on social media.

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This blog was co-authored by Sophia Filipe, Country Digitization Program Manager, within the Cisco Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program. This is the second in a series of blogs on CDA Sustainability Projects that go behind the scenes of the sustainability projects we are engaged in, and the impact we are having through Cisco’s CDA program.

Enel Group, a global Italian power utility, have constantly embraced new technologies to make energy more reliable, more affordable, and more sustainable, from the introduction of the first smart meter to becoming the world’s largest producer of renewable energy. Through a Cisco CDA investment, Cisco has partnered with Enel to co-innovate on digital solutions and support energy decarbonization, digitization and decentralization.

Innovation and sustainability are of great importance to both companies, and Enel and Cisco are eager to collaborate on digitizing critical infrastructure and support progress towards global net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions ambitions.

We sat down with members of Cisco’s Enel team, Giovanni Colombo, systems architect, and Federica Ingrao, account manager, to hear their perspective on sustainability and the outcomes this unique partnership can drive.

It is critical to address climate change now. Why is it important to Enel and to you?

Federica: My personal commitment to sustainability goes back to growing up in Sicily, Italy. The ecology and history of Sicily is strongly connected to sustainability. Its culture and economy have a deep connection to nature. For me, it is important to work for a company that values the environment. Sustainability is an integral part of Cisco´s purpose to Power an Inclusive Future for All, and this makes me feel that I’m contributing to these efforts as well.

Giovanni: I think every day about our ability to support a healthy planet for all. That is why we are striving to align Cisco and customer’s goals. With the co-innovation program we have in place with Enel, we are supporting this alignment. Enel is one of the world’s biggest power utilities in energy generation, distribution and supply, and number one in the world for installed capacity of renewable energy. Working together, we can contribute to protect natural resources, accelerate the renewable energy transition, and help reverse the impact of climate change.

How is Cisco co-innovating with Enel, and why does this matter?

Giovanni: While Cisco and Enel have worked together for many years, we expanded the relationship in 2017 by signing a co-innovation agreement.  Under that agreement, Cisco became Enel’s Global Technology Partner to develop innovative solutions for electricity grids, to promote and spread Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies, to enhance cybersecurity processes, and to scout for co-innovation solutions based on Open Innovation. Our companies are now working together to define, design, test and deploy digital architectures.

We have three pillars that guide our co-innovation:

First is digitizing and improving the operational efficiency of the grid. Cisco technology can enable the grid to have capabilities like real-time remote monitoring of consumption levels and grid function, and automated self-healing. These capabilities allow Enel to restore grid faults remotely and automatically reduce wasteful interruption, and support Enel’s overall emissions reduction in Operation and Maintenance (OM) activities — all of which can have positive impact for local communities.Second is a unified convergent IT/OT network designed with circularity in mind. Cisco and Enel designed Enel’s network to save power, space, and maintenance to reduce carbon emissions. The design includes digitized electrical infrastructure, interconnecting tens of thousands of substations and introducing an IoT distributed sensor system for real-time maintenance of the grid’s primary substations. This advanced network approach at Enel’s large scale significantly contributes to better use of limited natural resources.The third pillar is the ability to increase Enel’s renewable energy hosting capacity. Through projects co-designed with Cisco, Enel strives to deliver gigawatts of renewable energy hosting capacity. When we say renewable energy, we mean distributed solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy sources that need to be connected to the grid, supporting operational security and allowing voltage and power flow control in a smart grid architecture.

How can this partnership help Cisco Enel progress towards joint and individual sustainability goals?

Federica: One way we see Cisco supporting Enel is through sharing information, best practices and helping them achieve sustainability goals.

Giovanni: Another interesting point of the co-innovation agreement is skills exchange. We had several meetings and trainings where we gained vertical knowledge of the electrical grid from Enel, and we in turn shared our knowledge about the IT network for digital smartgrids. The co-education pillar has been one of the most successful outcomes.

Moving forward, how do Cisco Enel plan to leverage innovation for greater sustainability impact?

Federica: For the Cisco Enel team, innovation is a key part of supporting sustainability. If we look at companies such as Enel, they can support economic profit and sustainability in the countries in which they operate. Innovation and sustainability go hand-in-hand.

Giovanni: Enel launched, and now partially owns, a new company called Gridspertise. Gridspertise partners with Distribution System Operators (DSOs) around the world to upgrade their distribution systems by adding intelligence and preparing them for the future. Their mission is to deliver a new era of sustainable and reliable smart grids through innovative, flexible and customer-driven digital solutions that are circular by design. With support from its trusted partnership with Cisco, Gridspertise is making strides in advancing sustainability and novel solutions to the external power utility market

Grid operators like Enel need to move energy to turn the lights on for the world, and an ‘always on’ Industrial IoT network helps support that mission. We are eager to see Cisco and Enel’s co-innovation efforts grow and continue advancing digitization of the utilities market and sustainability.

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