Tag: 3BL

CINCINNATI, December 9, 2024 /3BL/ – Cintas Corporation (Nasdaq: CTAS) published its Fiscal Year 2024 Community Impact Report, which includes information and data about the company’s philanthropic initiatives that it supported during the last fiscal year through Cintas Cares.

The FY’24 Community Impact Report covers the company’s fiscal year from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024.

>> FY’24 Cintas Community Impact Report

Cintas Cares is the umbrella under which Cintas engages with its local communities in addition to charitable and philanthropic organizations. It provides a broader platform for the company’s employee-partners to make an impact in the communities it serves.

“At Cintas, our philanthropic initiatives are at the heart of who we are. They reflect our dedication to making a positive impact in the communities we serve,” said Todd Schneider, Cintas President and CEO. “The Community Impact Report is not just a document; it’s a testament to our commitment to a Shared Drive for Better and working together as partners for a better tomorrow.”

Each year, Cintas employee-partners throughout North America participate in enterprise-wide programs and fundraisers and offer additional support to local organizations doing good in their local communities. This includes monetary donations, in-kind donations, and active fundraising for key charitable and not-for-profit organizations.

Highlights outlined in the report include:

Over four million articles of clothing have been donated by Cintas employee-partners during our 20-year partnership with Matthew 25: Ministries.Cintas employee-partners helped raise $111,208 to directly support families of fallen firefighters through the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb events.Cintas employee-partners raised $106,000 for the American Cancer Society in FY’24, a 28% increase over the past year.Since 2016, Cintas has certified more than 1 million people in the American Heart Association’s lifesaving first aid and CPR programs, including a free-to-the-public program with the Cincinnati Bengals, in which 500 participants were trained in life-saving skills.The Cintas Partner Assistance Fund awarded more than $233,000 in assistance to employee-partners impacted by natural disasters and personal hardships.

For more information about Cintas’ Philanthropic activities, visit cintas.com/community-impact.

About Cintas Corporation

Cintas Corporation helps more than one million businesses of all types and sizes get Ready™ to open their doors with confidence every day by providing products and services that help keep their customers’ facilities and employees clean, safe, and looking their best. With offerings including uniforms, mats, mops, towels, restroom supplies, workplace water services, first aid and safety products, eye-wash stations, safety training, fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems and alarm service, Cintas helps customers get Ready for the Workday®. Headquartered in Cincinnati, Cintas is a publicly held Fortune 500 company traded over the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol CTAS and is a component of both the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Nasdaq-100 Index.

On this episode of Healthy Outcomes, Baker Tilly’s host Mark Ross interviews Dr. Kate Goodrich, Chief Medical Officer at Humana. Together, they discuss the transformative potential of value-based care, specifically senior-focused healthcare innovation, and more.

Topics of discussion include:

The differences between senior-focused value-based care and the traditional fee-for-service modelHow senior-focused primary care improves patient outcomes and provider satisfactionThe ways that specific brands are leading senior-focused primary care innovation innovative chargeEncouraging results from Humana’s partnership with Harvard University in studying senior-focused primary care modelsHow investing more in primary care leads to cost savingsThe benefits to a team-based care approach focused on seniors, and how this approach can mitigate physician burnout

Connect with a Baker Tilly specialist to hear more about the healthcare team.

Covia proudly recognizes National Miners Day. On this occasion, Covia pays tribute to current and former miners, whose work is the first step in creating critical materials and everyday products that the world relies on. We acknowledge their invaluable skills, unwavering dedication, and relentless efforts, and honor their steadfast commitment to safety and well-being. on this day, please join me in recognizing your fellow team member with a simple “thank you”.

It’s said, “If it can’t be grown, it must be mined.” Many people are unaware of what it takes to mine and process the raw minerals that are essential in the products they use. It’s hard work, and today we celebrate and thank the Covia team members who are experts in responsible and safe mining practices. Their work is the starting point for innovation in materials science—and in the manufacture of countless valuable products. Please join us in recognizing their contributions!

Victoria’s Secret & Co. recently received a Silver Award in the Sustainability, Environment, & Climate Category for the Fourth Annual Anthem Awards thanks to a unique collaboration with four Alabama cotton family farms. In addition, VS&Co also received a Bronze Award for the launch of its 2023 Adaptive Collection in the category of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honors the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, they’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities.

In 2023, VS&Co embarked on a first-of-its-kind initiative to purchase cotton directly from four Alabama family farms – one Black-owned, and three women-owned. This marks a significant departure from traditional supply chain models in the fashion industry, which typically relies on intermediaries to ship, process, and sell in bulk. Rather, this direct and transparent relationship with cotton partners eliminates intermediaries, so farmers receive all of the proceeds from their crops which in turn supports their land, livelihoods, families, and communities for future generations.

In October 2023, VS&Co announced the launch of VS & PINK Adaptive, our first-ever collection of intimates for women with disabilities. We’re incredibly honored to have launched the Adaptive Collection by closely partnering with industry experts and changemakers, including the Runway of Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works toward a future of inclusion.

“This is a really proud moment for our company,” said Melinda “Mel” McAfee, Chief Human Resources and Legal Officer, VS&Co. “These initiatives give us the opportunity to support women in meaningful ways through innovative programs that are making a positive impact in the world.”

The Fourth Annual Anthem Awards was the most competitive season yet with more than 2,300 entries submitted from 34 countries worldwide. Anthem winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences judges.

For more information and to see all the winners, visit anthemawards.com. To learn more about these projects, review our 2024 Women’s Impact Report here.

Southwire Company, LLC is pleased to announce an investment in BoxPower Inc., a turnkey microgrid platform provider.

BoxPower, based in Grass Valley, Calif., designs, installs and manages microgrids for utilities, EV charging and Commercial and Industrial Applications. With modular hardware, advanced software services, and a team of subject matter experts, BoxPower delivers an end-to-end microgrid platform that enables organizations to deploy microgrids at scale, anywhere.

“We are excited to partner with BoxPower as a part of Southwire’s commitment to fostering sustainable energy solutions. This investment allows us to both deepen our understanding of microgrids and promote our core values of Growing Green and Giving Back through BoxPower’s efforts in wildfire mitigation, emissions reduction and bringing power to rural communities. This investment reflects our shared vision of a cleaner, more resilient energy future.” – Richard Oglesby, senior vice president of Industrial at Southwire

“We are excited to partner with BoxPower on providing microgrid solutions for our customers. We believe that BoxPower’s offering will help utilities meet the challenges of sustainability and resiliency that are increasingly important in the 21st century. We look forward to working with BoxPower as part of our core mission of responsible power delivery.” – Charles Hume, managing director of Southwire Technology Ventures

As a part of this investment, Southwire will be a preferred partner to BoxPower for future utility projects. The partnership will strengthen Southwire’s presence in the expanding microgrid market and provide valuable insights into emerging opportunities.

“Southwire has been a leader in the energy and utility industry for over 70 years, and we are excited to collaborate with them to expand BoxPower’s reach and capabilities. Together, we can more effectively offer utility and commercial customers resilient microgrid solutions in a new world of rapidly growing energy demands, increasing natural disasters and aging infrastructure.” – Anderson Barkow, co-founder and chief financial officer at BoxPower

BoxPower joins a portfolio of investments managed by the Southwire Technology Ventures team. This team collaborates with pioneering startups to build the future of smart power. To learn more, visit the Southwire Technology Ventures team webpage.

For more news from Southwire, visit southwire.com/newsroom.

Albertsons Companies’ Portland Division associates teamed up with Sunshine Division to pack thousands of turkey meal bags for their inaugural Thanksgiving Meal Delivery. Each bag contains a frozen turkey and traditional sides like mashed potatoes and stuffing. Albertsons Companies associates joined hundreds of dedicated volunteers to prep the meal bags, which will be delivered to 2,000 households.

Albertsons Companies is grateful to our associates making a meaningful difference in the lives of many families during this special time of year.

See original post on LinkedIn and read more about Albertsons Companies and our Recipe for Change on our website.

Nonprofits are the superheroes of our world, providing a lifeline for those in need. This Giving Tuesday, we celebrate the dedication of nonprofits committed to tackling tough social issues facing local communities.

Whether they are lending a hand during crises, fueling growth for small businesses, accelerating climate solutions, or addressing local needs, the nonprofits we support show up for their communities every day.

We also extend our heartfelt gratitude to our employees who give their time, energy, and support to help make the communities where they live and work brighter. Together, we’re delivering hope for a better future.

Click here to learn about FedEx Cares, our global community engagement program.

On our Idaho timberlands, nothing beckons the awakening of the forest to spring like the sudden bustle of tree planting season. In six to eight weeks, roughly 6 million seedlings are planted across 15,000 acres of forestland. Planting is the culmination of an 18-month process that involves planning, preparation, and the growing of seedlings in the nursery. The climate and steep terrain in Idaho force this uniquely compressed tree planting window. To ensure high planting survival, seedlings must be planted into moist, warming soils with adequate time to grow new roots and become established on the site before the inevitable summer dry-down comes. The logistics are challenging, yet our foresters, contractors, and support staff do an excellent job ensuring the planting crews are just behind the snow as it recedes up the mountains in the spring.

Seedlings for spring planting are grown at several different nurseries located throughout the Pacific Northwest and southern British Columbia. Over 90% of our seedlings are from first-generation tree improvement programs and more than 70% of the seed is sourced at PotlatchDeltic’s own Cherrylane Seed Orchard. Seedlings must be thawed and then shipped to our cold storage buildings. Thirty to forty deliveries are planned and executed to keep seedlings on hand for the planting crews while minimizing the time between thawing and planting to improve seedling out-planting success. Planting inspectors are on site at every planting unit to make sure the operations plan is followed and to sample planting quality. At the peak of planting season in early May, over 200 people are actively involved in the planting program with more than 280,000 seedlings per day being planted-over one square mile planted in each day!

We recently undertook initiatives to decrease seedling stock size to lower growing, transportation, and planting costs and to reduce the inputs per seedling, including water, energy, soil, fertilizer, and packaging. We plant up to 6 different conifer species. Every tree species has evolved to fill an ecological niche in the forest, and we match those attributes to the conditions of the planting site. Each planting site is reviewed by our foresters and the appropriate species are selected with multiple species often planted in one planting unit. This process bolsters the diversity and resiliency of our timberlands, minimizing risks from climate and disturbance. Idaho’s steep and variable terrain limits planting operations to manual hand planting. Planters use either a shovel or hoedads to open a hole to mineral soil in which the seedling is planted. Planters carry the seedlings in tree bags they wear via a belt and suspenders with seedling holding compartments located on either hip. Each planter carries between 220 and 300 seedlings at a time – approximately 35 pounds.

High-quality, detailed planting is critical to the growth and survival of the seedlings – a seedling planted with minor error such as a crooked root or one planted too shallow with the root plug exposed will not survive. The critical job of planting the seedlings is done by contractors that rely on H-2B temporary labor visas to staff their crews. Companies must go through a heavily regulated process to get approval for the capped number of visas available. This includes the demonstration that the jobs are posted and available to American citizens but cannot be filled domestically. If contractors cannot secure sufficient H2-B visas, the seedlings grown the previous year may be wasted, and reforestation that is critical for regulatory, certification, environmental management, and wildlife may be delayed. Planting crews consist of one foreperson and typically 14 planters. A tree planter averages 1,700 seedlings planted per day – that is one seedling every 3.5 seconds for 8 hours. The work is hard, but you will not find a more pleasant group of people to work with than those reforesting our timberlands. We’ve built long-standing relationships with many of the planting companies, with some working with us for more than a quarter century. Many of the tree planters return for many seasons to plant seedlings on PotlatchDeltic timberlands and it’s great to see familiar faces and build relationships year after year.

Tree planting is one of the most important investments a timberland company undertakes, setting the stage for the future and ensuring all the benefits that forests provide are perpetuated.

Originally published on GoDaddy 

TEMPE, Ariz., December 6, 2024 /3BL/ — For many microbusiness owners, closing one venture is not the end—it’s the beginning of something new.

According to GoDaddy’s 2024 Annual Venture Forward report, 75% of microbusiness owners who close a business don’t give up, even if their efforts didn’t yield a profit. Instead, they persist, launching new ventures. Of these, 39% become the main income for their households.

Resilience Powers Microbusinesses

Microbusiness owners are placing greater confidence in themselves. They are less swayed by uncertainty in the economy. Only 39% say they are confident in the national economy. But 74% are optimistic about their business prospects in the next six months. Even among those pessimistic about the economy, one in four plans to hire within a year. Entrepreneurs are making decisions based on business needs rather than on the economy.

Microbusinesses, Macro Impact

Microbusinesses are a cornerstone of the U.S. economy. Many start small, with 34% beginning as side hustles, and over 70% leveraging an online presence to fuel growth.

GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research highlights that, at the county level, each entrepreneur creates an average of seven jobs – up from just two in 2020. Also, 58% of say their work helps their local community.

Progress in Equity and Representation

The face of microbusiness ownership is evolving. Women now own 51% of microbusinesses, up from 41% in 2019. Today, nearly a third of women owners serve as household breadwinners. Black-owned businesses are also on the rise, with women driving much of the growth. Older entrepreneurs are joining the wave as well, with 19% of owners now aged 55 and older. This diversity of age, gender, and race reflects a vibrant and evolving entrepreneurial landscape.

“Setbacks often lead to fresh starts and new opportunities,” said Alexandra Rosen, Global Head of GoDaddy Venture Forward. “These entrepreneurs are showing how perseverance can translate into profit and impact, not just for their households but for their communities.

“Microbusinesses remain essential to local economies and are the heartbeat of neighbourhoods,” Rosen added. “At GoDaddy, we’re proud to share these data-driven insights and to provide the tools and support that help these businesses succeed. Microbusinesses might be small, but they’re mighty.”

About GoDaddy Venture Forward

GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research initiative analyzes more than 20 million online businesses with a digital presence (measured by a unique domain and an active website). Most of these businesses employ fewer than ten people, categorizing each as a microbusiness. Since 2018, Venture Forward has surveyed more than 50,000 entrepreneurs with a digital presence, making it the source for microbusiness data and insights. To find out more about GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research, visit www.godaddy.com/ventureforward.

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy helps millions of entrepreneurs globally start and scale their businesses. People come to GoDaddy to name their idea, build a website and logo, sell their products and services, and accept payments. GoDaddy Airo™, the company’s AI-powered experience, makes growing a small business faster and easier by helping them to get their idea online in minutes, drive traffic and boost sales. GoDaddy’s expert guides are available 24/7 to provide assistance. To learn more about the company, visit www.GoDaddy.com.

*66% of microbusiness owners agree with the statement “life is better as an entrepreneur.”

Source: GoDaddy Inc.

At Meta, we work to design, build and operate some of the most innovative and sustainable data centers in the world. They provide the technology that billions of people use every day to connect and build community. Ensuring these world-class data centers are supported by clean and renewable energy is foundational to our approach. We recognize that adding new energy to the grid is important, not only because of our scale and scope as a company, but because we want to play a positive role in the communities in which we operate.

Since 2020, we have matched 100% of our annual electricity use with new renewable energy and have a long history of partnering with utilities and renewable developers to bring new wind and solar energy projects to grids where we operate. As a voluntary buyer of renewable energy, we prioritize supporting high quality, innovative clean and renewable energy projects around the globe, which is key to maintaining net zero emissions for our operations.

A fundamental tenet of our approach to renewable energy is the concept of additionality – partnering with utilities and renewable energy developers to add new projects to the grid. Over the last decade, we’ve contracted for over 12 GW of new renewable energy across the globe, making us one of the world’s largest corporate buyers of renewable energy.

Partnering with utilities to benefit everyone

Key to our utility partnerships is finding ways to grow the grid to benefit everyone, while ensuring we are able to power our operations and contract for enough renewable energy. This includes working closely with our utility partners to support new infrastructure like transmission lines and substations as they modernize their grids.

For more than a decade, we have partnered with local utilities to develop green tariffs to bring new renewable energy sources to the utilities’ systems to support our data center operations. Green tariffs enable approximately 50% of our renewable energy portfolio, and also provide a way for other energy customers to voluntarily add renewable energy to the grid. For example, we worked with the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to add 775 MW of new renewable energy and 100 MW of battery storage in the state. We collaborated with Rocky Mountain Power and Pacific Power to add over 1,700 MW of new renewable energy to the Utah grid.

Supporting quality projects and adding new renewable energy to the grid

Today, electricity load in the US is growing faster than in the past few decades. As this growth occurs, a diverse portfolio of resources is needed to ensure that the grid remains reliable. Meta is committed to doing our part to spur progress in bringing innovative energy technologies to the grid. We recently announced an agreement with Sage Geosystems to support the first deployment of next-generation geothermal power at scale east of the Rocky Mountains. This project—which will deliver up to 150 MW of new geothermal baseload power—will help significantly expand the use of geothermal power in the US and allows us to further diversify our portfolio with this clean, firm and resilient power source. Our commitment to long-term electricity purchases from burgeoning technologies like geothermal provides financial certainty to projects like this, helping them come to the grid faster.

We also routinely partner with renewable energy providers on power purchase agreements (PPAs) to match our operations with renewable energy. We have long-standing experience bringing new renewable energy to the grid and supporting projects that would otherwise not have been built. Our role in the enablement of these projects is offtaker – when developers construct and operate new projects, we purchase the renewable energy that is produced. By 2025 these wind and solar projects will have supported more than $14.2 billion in capital investment throughout the US, in addition to bringing new tax revenue and supporting more than 74,000 jobs over 10 years through project construction.

Economic Impact

$14.2B total capital investment throughout the US by 2025

Jobs Created

74K jobs created over 10 years through renewable energy projects

Currently, 88 of the 117 projects in our portfolio are online and producing power. Long-term financial commitments like these, from companies like Meta, play a critical role in helping these projects get built. We often work to ensure new projects are connected to the same grid as our data centers and prioritize those that contribute the most to grid reliability (e.g., by giving energy to the grid when the grid most needs it), while optimizing for emission reductions. A few key projects include:

Partnership with Singapore government agencies to support a 100 MW floating solar project, which will be the largest in the country once completed.Partnership with Highfield Energy Services on one of the largest solar agreements in Ireland, supporting 190 MW of solar from two projects in Wexford and Meath, close to our Clonee Data Center.Partnership with PNM and NextEra Energy Resources on Sky Ranch Solar Energy Center, a 190 MW solar facility paired with a 50 MW 4-hour battery energy storage system, in New Mexico.

The role of renewable energy certificates

Like many companies with renewable energy goals, we receive renewable energy certificates (RECs) from the projects we enable. RECs are essential tracking mechanisms that allow us to maintain a ledger of what clean energy was actually produced each year from our renewable energy projects across different states and countries. In many of the states in which we buy renewable energy, we are not the only buyers  –  utilities, other corporations, public entities like cities, universities and school districts also utilize RECs to track the delivery of clean electricity. We use the ledger at the end of year to compare these RECs to how much electricity was consumed at all of our offices, data centers and other buildings, and align to the best practices for voluntary corporate renewable energy buyers. And, importantly, we also consult with third party auditors who review and confirm that our energy accounting is accurate.

While the majority of our renewable energy portfolio is contracted through long-term agreements like PPAs and green tariffs, in some markets (particularly outside the US) clean energy procurement options are more limited. In these instances we look for opportunities to structure long-term agreements in a way that supports deployment of new renewable energy projects, in accordance with guidance from industry organizations and standard-setting bodies like RE100 and Greenhouse Gas Protocol. For example, our tax equity transaction with Prospero Solar was a direct investment in a long-term project where we also purchased the RECs via long-term contract to help meet our renewable energy goals. We strive to support quality, long-term projects, and only a small percentage (less than 5% of our reported 2023 renewable energy purchases) of our renewable energy is from short-term unbundled RECs purchases.

Evolving our approach

The quest for reliable, affordable and carbon-free energy solutions is a global challenge that requires multi-faceted exploration and innovation. Since 2020, we have maintained net zero emissions in our global operations. To achieve this, we reduced our emissions by 94% from a 2017 baseline, primarily by matching 100% of the electricity use of our data centers and offices with renewable energy and addressing the remaining emissions with projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere. Our work to bring on new renewable energy projects to the electricity system also means we need new tools and improved greenhouse gas accounting frameworks to drive more targeted investments through an improved understanding of the emissions impacts of our facilities and the projects we support. We work to advance these efforts through partnerships like the Emissions First Partnership, which works to implement better data accounting to promote renewable energy projects in areas where they will have significant emissions impact.

We are continually looking at innovative ways to bring new energy to the grid to maximize the positive impact of the energy projects we support – and we’re committed to working with the industry to transform the grid.