Tag: 3BL

Whirlpool Corp. announced two partnerships supporting students at Florida A&M University as they pursue their education journey. The company announced a partnership with Florida A&M University / Florida State University’s Educating Engineering Students Innovatively (EESI pronounced “Easy”) program, where students will be supported through scholarships and mentorship.

Whirlpool Corp. has also partnered with the Southern Scholarship Foundation to sponsor the housing of 51 Florida A&M University students studying diverse majors across three houses on the school’s campus. The Southern Scholarship Foundation provides rent-free housing and cooperative living opportunities for students to help them attend their dream university, and Whirlpool Corp. is pleased to play a part in this program to help these students achieve their ambitions.

“We couldn’t be more excited to officially establish this relationship,” said Doug Haaland, vice president of global talent management at Whirlpool Corp. “The future of innovation lives in places like the classrooms at Florida A&M University, and we are excited to play a role in the education for these aspiring students.”

The EESI program, led by Dr. Charmane Caldwell, is designed to inspire and motivate undergraduate engineering students — allowing students to practice engineering, while exploring one of four different tracks: industry, entrepreneurship and innovation, community engagement, and research.

Whirlpool Corp.’s work with the Southern Scholarship Foundation will help alleviate part of the annual cost of higher education for students of diverse backgrounds and academic disciplines.

Both partnerships align with Whirlpool Corp.’s multi-year racial equality and fairness pledge announced in 2020, creating opportunities to employ interns and graduates of diverse backgrounds.

Whirlpool Corp. was recently named to Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, CNBC and Just Capital’s list of America’s most JUST companies, and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index. The company is also regularly recognized for its strong culture of volunteerism and corporate social responsibility, with awards such as America’s Most Responsible Companies from Newsweek, and for its commitment to House+Home with multiple charitable organizations, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, United Way, and a 23-year relationship with Habitat for Humanity International.

View original content here.

DAVIDSON, N.C., March 21, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Trane® – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – and the City of Alton, Illinois have entered into an agreement for a comprehensive energy and infrastructure upgrade on all five City facilities.

Trane collaborated with a City of Alton project team to identify opportunities that support the City’s sustainability focus and energy reduction goals. Planned upgrades include replacing the outdated HVAC systems in the City Hall, public works building, police station, and both fire stations with new energy-efficient HVAC infrastructure along with a web-based integrated building automation controls platform. As a result, the city anticipates realizing approximately $40,000 in energy savings annually.

Half of the annual energy savings will come from a new sustainable thermal energy storage system which will be installed outside the police station. These systems help buildings be more energy- and cost- efficient by storing energy created during off-peak times and discharging it when grid demand is high.

“Our City mission is deeply rooted in accountability, and we are proud that these infrastructure improvements will support our ability to be responsible stewards of public resources for years to come,” said Mayor David Goins. “Working with Trane, we were not only able to upgrade our existing infrastructure and improve our energy efficiency, we were also able to work together to find alternative sources of funding for the project, creating substantial savings for taxpayers.”

City administration and Trane collaborated to fund the more than $7 million project. Identified early on as a candidate for the American Rescue Plan Act, the City worked with OMNIA Partners, Public Sector, the premier purchasing organization for state and local government, K-12 education, colleges and universities, to procure the funding. The City benefited from Trane’s pre-payment discount, which saved taxpayers $238,000, as well as more than $200,000 in federal and local utility incentives. They also expect to save a minimum of $50,000 in annual operational and maintenance costs thanks to the new systems.

The contract also solicited engagement from minority- and women-owned union subcontractors located in Madison County. The response greatly exceeded the City goals for the project, supporting both Trane Technologies’ and the City’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

“The City of Alton has entrusted us to help them achieve their energy efficiency goals and decrease their energy consumption,” said Jennifer Geen, senior account manager, Energy Services and Solutions, Trane. “We look forward to working closely with the City of Alton to help save energy, reduce carbon emissions and implement facility upgrades that create more resilient, sustainable, healthy spaces for the community.”

# # #

About City of Alton, Illinois 
Founded in 1837, Alton is a community rich in history and character with a lot to offer. Located on the Mississippi River 25 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri, the City boasts beautiful parks, a wonderful school district, tourist attractions, and community events to interest everyone. Alton’s charm and diverse resources make it a great place to live, work, and play. The City’s 28,000 residents benefit from a cost of living below the national average and the protection of the Alton Police and Fire Departments.

About Trane 
Trane – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – creates comfortable, energy efficient indoor environments for commercial and residential applications. For more information, please visit www.trane.com or www.tranetechnologies.com.

About Trane Technologies 
Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane® and Thermo King®, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes and transportation. Visit tranetechnologies.com.

FORT WORTH, Texas, March 20, 2023 /3BL Media/ – American Airlines hired the first female graduates from the American Airlines Cadet Academy to join the mainline flight deck as first officers at the 2023 Women in Aviation International Conference. In addition to this special milestone, American extended 52 pilot job offers at the conference — the only mainline airline carrier to do so.

The American Airlines Cadet Academy, which celebrates its five-year anniversary in July, provides a structured platform to eliminate the financial barriers prospective pilots face. The Cadet Academy supports the growth of American’s pilot population while creating greater diversity amongst the future and current pilot ranks — with more than 30% of enrolled cadets being female. The Cadet Academy helps close the gap between dreams and an attainable future in aviation for those who didn’t know it was possible.

American’s commitment to encouraging a positive, inclusive and equitable culture for all team members is unwavering, and American is focused on diversifying the flight deck with the most qualified aviators while investing in the future.

About American Airlines Group
To Care for People on Life’s Journey®. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL and the company’s stock is included in the S&P 500. Learn more about what’s happening at American by visiting news.aa.com and connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.

March 20, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Ceres applauds President Joe Biden’s decision to veto a House resolution that would have struck down a new U.S. Department of Labor rule that allows retirement plan fiduciaries to consider all financially relevant factors in investment decisions.

The rule is a return to neutrality under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and neither specifically promotes nor discourages consideration of factors such as climate change or governance.

The resolution introduced by Representative Andy Barr would have left retirement plans subject to rules established by the previous administration that prohibit retirement fiduciaries from considering certain financial risks and created problematic legal uncertainty for retirement plans. For the more than 140 million Americans whose lifesavings are invested in 401(k)s or other ERISA-governed retirement plans, the DOL’s rule ensures that plan fiduciaries can consider all financially relevant risk-and-return factors when making investment decisions.

“Investors in the U. S. and globally recognize the necessity of considering all financially relevant factors, which include the financial risks posed by climate change,” said Steven M. Rothstein, managing director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets at Ceres. “The DOL rule reinforces the fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty by clarifying that plan sponsors can take these significant risks into account.”

When the DOL rule was proposed, nearly 900 separate comments were filed, and more than 22,000 individuals signed petitions. Of those commenters, 97% expressed support for the reversal of the Trump-era rules and the clarification of the use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in the proposed rule. Commenters emphasized that the rules of the previous administration introduced new and confusing terminology and did not represent the views of the industry. Most asset managers already consider the financial risks of climate change and other sustainability threats in the same way they consider all material risk-return factors.

“To require retirement plan professionals to ignore significant financial risks strips away the market’s freedom to make best investment decisions and endangers the security of the lifesavings of working Americans,” Rothstein added. “With climate-related disasters increasingly result in hundreds of billions of dollars in annual losses in the U.S., retirement savers must be able to trust that their plan fiduciaries can effectively evaluate and safeguard against these concerns.”

“President Biden’s use of the veto today represents the prioritization of America’s workers. This new rule could result in greater retirement savings and protection from climate risks.”

About Ceres 

Ceres is a nonprofit organization working with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. The Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets is a center of excellence within Ceres that aims to transform the practices and policies that govern capital markets to reduce the worst financial impacts of the climate crisis. It spurs action on climate change as a systemic financial risk—driving the large-scale behavior and systems change needed to achieve a net zero emissions economy through key financial actors including investors, banks, and insurers. The Ceres Accelerator also works with corporate boards of directors on improving governance of climate change and other sustainability issues. For more information, visit: ceres.org and ceres.org/accelerator and follow: @CeresNews.

Media Contact: Helen Booth-Tobin

Earlier in March, Tapestry hosted 20+ students from New York City’s High School of Arts and Technology at the Hudson Yards offices for Career Discovery Week. Career Discovery Week is an initiative of the Partnership for New York City and the New York City Department of Education, designed to provide tenth-grade public school students with meaningful exposure to the diverse career opportunities that are available to them in the city. Participation in Career Discovery Week allows students to build a bridge from the classroom to the world of work.

The day started with department presentations from Legal, Digital – Testing and Innovation, Global Procurement – Packaging, and Finance. The teams gave insight into a “Day in the life” across different roles, helping students understand more about the various job functions at Tapestry and increase their knowledge of career opportunities for the future.

Students then worked in groups with our Tapestry volunteers for a “design challenge” where each group was tasked with creating a new product of their choice for any of our brands. In honor of International Women’s Day, and guided by our Tapestry Foundation mission, the design challenge focused on two key concepts – designing a product with sustainability in mind and a focus on women’s empowerment into the design concept, marketing, or other aspects of their new product.

Students presented their final products to our panel of judges including:

Nicole Fields, SVP, Global Merchandising, Outlet, CoachAsa Jerald, Sr. Director HR Business Partner, TapestrySharon Kantor, Sr. Director, Communication and Content, Stuart WeitzmanLissette Siesholtz, Sr. Director of Technical Design, kate spade new York

Checkout the winning product above.

Thank you to all of our department presenters, volunteers, and panel of judges for your time and support in making Career Discovery Week a huge success!

A former child immigrant in Salt Lake City is helping make a difference in the lives of underserved children as a dental school student.Juan Arbizu is part of efforts by the Roseman University of Health Sciences to provide free dental care to hundreds of children and teens this year.A $50,000 grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s Salt Lake City refinery is making this outreach possible.

When Juan Arbizu reflects on coming to Salt Lake City 25 years ago as an 11-year-old immigrant from El Salvador, he remembers medical and dental care as luxuries.

“We didn’t have a primary care provider or a regular dentist,” Arbizu said. “It was really tough for my parents because they literally came with nothing. They were busy enough trying to put a roof over our heads.”

Seeing yourself in others

Today, as a third-year student in the Roseman University of Health Sciences College of Dental Medicine, Arbizu is helping local families in similar circumstances. A $50,000 grant from Marathon Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) Salt Lake City refinery is allowing the school to provide free dental screenings and cleanings twice this year for children and teens 18 and younger from qualifying low-income households. It is the second consecutive year MPC has supported Roseman’s outreach through the American Dental Association Foundation’s Give Kids a Smile® program.

“It’s humbling because I see a lot of those kids going through what I went through,” Arbizu said. “When you talk to their parents, you realize what it means to those families and see they are so grateful for this access.”

Patients also receive vouchers they can use at the school’s clinical practice, Roseman Dental, for free comprehensive exams, x-rays, sealants and as much as $100 in additional care and services. During the first event in February, Roseman students served 514 children and teens. The second event is scheduled for Aug. 4.

Finding your calling

Arbizu came to dentistry after almost ten years in the financial sector, including time as a bank manager. He was drawn to his new profession by the potential to have an immediate impact in people’s lives.

“I found dentistry really called to me because of how quickly you can make a difference by giving somebody a new smile. It’s huge,” Arbizu said.

The father of three suggested that having a family of his own reinforces his appreciation of the importance of Roseman’s services to people in need.

“Looking back at my experience, I can only imagine how my parents felt,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be able to do this.”

CHALLENGE

Mechanical recycling is a firm commitment expressed by many industries. But it comes with challenges. One of the challenges is related to the step where the plastic waste is washed before it goes into the recycling process. The optimization of this process can be challenging, especially the removal of contaminants, the proper material separation as well as foam control during the required washing steps.

Watch the video above to know more…

SOLUTION

Fortunately – thanks to the power of materials science – there are solutions too. We developed an innovative washing technology called EVOWASH™. It supports high-quality mechanical recycling for the production of exceptional post-consumer-recycled (PCR) plastic resins that meet the expectations of customers – mainly those in the packaging industry – while minimizing the commercial risk and investment of resources to develop a robust mechanical recycling infrastructure.

EVOWASH™ allows to advance the quality of recycled plastic by working in four dimensions:

Surface Cleaning: up to twice as much adhesive removal compared to other technologies.Optical Quality: Improving their physical appearance in terms of colors, neutral tones, and luminosity: further closing the gap between recycled and virgin packaging.Foam Management: up to three times less dosage, which reduces product usage and thus cost efficiency.Odor Control: Reducing undesired odors.

EVOWASH™ helps accelerate the global transition to a circular economy for plastics

The innovation includes two fully formulated, ready-to-use process aids, enabling the reduction of surface contaminants, such as adhesives, up to 2X higher compared to industry standard. This enables a higher purity in the final resin, while optimizing foam dosage and costs.

This innovative solution is challenging the status quo in mechanical recycling washing technology to improve the quality of recycled plastic for various industries. It reinforces our commitment to develop technologies that enable the evolution and transformation of the plastics industry throughout the product life cycle, from our production process all the way through recycling and reuse.

Learn more about EVOWASH™ mechanical recycling auxiliaries

Last month, Alkermes’ Mosaic employee resource group hosted a conversation with Dr. Kevin M. Simon, a double-board certified psychiatrist who specializes in mental health and addiction. Dr. Simon serves as the City of Boston’s first-ever Chief Behavioral Health Officer and is an attending psychiatrist at Boston Children’s Hospital, as well as a current instructor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Health Policy at Harvard University.

Dr. Simon shared insights related to implicit bias and cultural stigma surrounding mental health in minority communities, how allies can support efforts related to diversity, inclusion and belonging and discussed the less-publicized mental health challenges that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. faced throughout his life.

We thank Dr. Simon for this timely and important discussion as we continue to work to help end the persistent stigma surrounding mental health.

About Alkermes

Alkermes plc is a fully-integrated, global biopharmaceutical company developing innovative medicines in the fields of neuroscience and oncology. The company has a portfolio of proprietary commercial products focused on alcohol dependence, opioid dependence, schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder, and a pipeline of product candidates in development for neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Alkermes plc has an R&D center in Waltham, Massachusetts; a research and manufacturing facility in Athlone, Ireland; and a manufacturing facility in Wilmington, Ohio. For more information, please visit Alkermes’ website at www.alkermes.com.

NEW YORK, March 20, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Comcast NBCUniversal and NBCUniversal Local, a division of NBCUniversal that includes NBC/Telemundo owned stations, announced it will award $2.475 million in grants – which for the first time will be unrestricted funds — providing more flexibility and support to eligible nonprofits located in and servicing 11 regions.

The program has also been  rebranded from “Project Innovation” to “NBCUniversal Local Impact Grants,” reflecting its local grassroots focus. Grant categories include Next Generation Storytellers, Youth Education & Empowerment, and  Community Engagement.

Grant applications can be submitted online at www.localimpactgrants.com between March 14 and April 21. Applications are also available in Spanish at www.becasdeimpactolocal.com. Winners will be announced by the respective  NBC & Telemundo owned stations, later this year. 

“Giving locally and with additional flexibility is key to the nonprofit sector,” said Jessica Clancy, Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at NBCUniversal.

We’re building upon the successes of previous years and providing unrestricted grants for the first time, allowing these organizations to create the most efficient solutions for the communities they serve.

JESSICA CLANCY

Senior Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at NBCUniversal

“With Comcast NBCUniversal, our NBC/Telemundo owned stations have invested more than $14 million in grant dollars in the past six years to help support the interests and needs of our diverse communities,” added Valari Staab, Chairman, NBCUniversal Local. “Our grant rebranding and funding scope change reflects our continued commitment to our communities to help us nurture the next generation of storytellers, STEM/STEAM entrepreneurs and community leaders. I am pleased for our stations to present their grant program with this renewed focus in 2023.”

Key grant eligibility requirements: 

501(c)(3) nonprofit’s headquarters and/or the program for which the organization is applying must be located in a participating market;Entity must service the market they operate from;Organization’s total expenses must be between $100,000 and $1,000,000; andNonprofit must help to resolve everyday community issues in any of the three grant categories.

NBCU Local Impact Grant categories include:

Next Generation Storytellers: Programs that promote access and develop pathways for emerging talent, diverse voices and underrepresented youth to explore careers in news, entertainment, sports and the arts.Youth Education & Empowerment: In-school and out-of-school programs that equip youth with the tools they need to succeed, including STEM/ STEAM education and youth entrepreneurship.Community Engagement: Programs that enable individuals to engage and volunteer in their communities.

Participating cities/regions and TV stations (in parentheses) include New York (WNBC, WNJU), Southern California (KNBC, KVEA), Chicago (WMAQ, WSNS), Philadelphia (WCAU, WWSI), Dallas-Fort Worth (KXAS, KXTX), Boston (WBTS, WNEU, NECN), Hartford, CT (WVIT, WRDM), Washington, D.C. (WRC-TV, WZDC), Miami-Fort Lauderdale (WTVJ, WSCV), San Francisco Bay Area (KNTV, KSTS), and San Diego (KNSD, KUAN).

For additional rules/eligibility requirements, please visit www.localimpactgrants.com. For information in Spanish, visit www.becasdeimpactolocal.com

Follow on social @NBCUFoundation and #LocalImpactGrants.

International Olympic Committee news

IOC President Thomas Bach welcomed the Chair, Dr Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, and the members of the Committee at Olympic House. “We are very pleased to host the IOC Advisory Committee for its first meeting. The Committee will be instrumental in helping us further take into account human rights considerations in our day-to-day activities,” he said.

The agenda for the one-and-a-half-day meeting covered the progress achieved on the implementation of the IOC’s strategic framework on human rights, and its key actions for 2023 by sphere of responsibility.

For the IOC’s first sphere of responsibility, the IOC as an organisation, the conversation focused on the upcoming update of the Olympic Charter. For the second, the IOC as owner of the Olympic Games, the members discussed the work undertaken with the Organising Committees for the forthcoming Olympic and Youth Olympic Games, with an intervention from the Paris 2024 and Dakar 2026 teams.

Lastly, for the third sphere of responsibility, the IOC as leader of the Olympic Movement, the IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights had the chance to hear from the UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights on her views regarding the situation of athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports in the context of the illegal war Russia is waging against Ukraine. The IOC also updated the Committee on safe sport. The IOC Advisory Committee also discussed the roles of NOCs and IFs in upholding human rights in their own spheres of responsibility, and specific challenges with regard to athletes’ rights in the Olympic Movement, including the situation in Iran and that in Afghanistan.

The meeting closed with a review of the role of the IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights, its next steps and the date of its next meeting.

Committee Chair Dr Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka concluded: “We are extremely pleased to formally start advising the IOC on human rights matters within the remit of the IOC. The task is large and the IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights, that I chair, will do its utmost to guide the IOC in the implementation of its strategic framework on human rights.”