Tag: 3BL

Originally published by GoDaddy’s Venture Forward Research Initiative

University of Missouri’s extension program leaders Dr. Natalia Filimonova and Alan Spell have created an interactive dashboard to visualize GoDaddy Venture Forward’s geographical data, empowering staff at the university’s Small Business Development Center to counsel microbusinesses and educate local residents.

The team, which provides classes to local residents, typically adults who are interested in learning new information or skills, began utilizing Venture Forward’s geographical data during the pandemic – a time when it became critical for entrepreneurs to understand how to get their online microbusinesses to succeed.

In response, Filimonova and Spell leveraged Venture Forward data to create a dashboard to track microbusiness activity index, a score developed by economists at the UCLA Anderson Forecast in partnership with Venture Forward that tracks dozens of factors that impact the success of online microbusinesses, and microbusiness density over time.

Launch Dashboard

With MU Extension staff directly counselling microbusinesses, the tool allows them to visual Venture Forward’s microbusiness data and help educate local residents by, for example, comparing local metro versus non-metro areas or differences by economic type in a particular state.

Q: Can you tell us a little about MU Extension, and how you’re using Venture Forward data?

Alan: We’re part of the University of Missouri Extension system. Of course, every state has an extension, but not every state has a focus on economic development at a similar scale to ours in Missouri. Economic development is our goal, providing information to extension folks, and, of course, the public on economic topics. We noticed Venture Forward’s online business data around the pandemic time when a lot of this information was gaining importance. Our Extension runs most Small Business Development Centers in Missouri, so we have a lot of counselors who advise small businesses on entrepreneurship issues and how to grow their operations. When the pandemic struck, we were looking for any kind of data that we could use to understand what might be happening with online commerce. The Venture Forward data was a new set of information that we’d never had before and it was at county-level, which is critical because many folks want to know what’s happening in their area. We started by just doing briefs using information like Venture Forward’s Microbusiness Activity Index and Microbusiness Density. 

We thought it was important enough to put it into a data visualization that could look at things over time. Importantly, Venture Forward already normalize the data by dividing it by population. Big cities are going to have more than small towns, but when you control for that, do metros generally do better than non-metros? Because, in Extension, we are often interested in rural development challenges as smaller communities can lack timely business data. So, when we talked about what we were going to visualize, we made that non-metro/metro distinction so that we could compare places and see if there were differences. 

That was the reason we developed the dashboard: to take Venture Forward data, which is already easy to understand, and put it on a dashboard so we can look at it over time. 

Natalia: We collected the data and we decided to divide it up by metro versus non-metro areas. We also wanted to divide these counties by economic development type, like agriculture and manufacturing, to see how it could impact density. 

Alan: That’s the project that we just completed. We combined USDA economic type information, which includes six categories, with the Venture Forward density data. We didn’t know what to expect, but it seemed interesting because we see population trends that are impacted by economic types.

Q: When you say “population trends,” do you mean migration patterns?

Alan: Yes. In July we came out with a brief on 2020-2023 population trends in Missouri, but there’re parallels in the U.S. For example, our city cores, like St Louis City and Jackson County, which is Kansas City, had out migration but suburban and adjacent non-metro counties gained population. It reflects the hybrid work reality, of the cheaper housing options on the outskirts of metros and not having to be at the office five days a week. We saw what was happening nationally also occur here. 

The other trend that was interesting was looking at county economic types, such as recreation. Many states, whether it’s the beaches along South Carolina or lakes in Missouri, had recreational places that lit up in terms of population gains, even though they’re far away from bigger metros. Their broadband is fine and often they’re retirement meccas. For example in Missouri, people from Kansas City and St. Louis often vacation at the Lake of the Ozarks. If they have remote work options, they can say ‘I’m going to live there year-round’, so recreation-based economies are capturing this population shift. 
To complement the dashboard, we also developed a Microbusiness density research brief, published this month, that describes how Missouri counties compare to similar U.S. places.

Q: We’ve seen in our survey results that the number of people who are saying getting online is a challenge has gone down in the last couple years. To your point, the pandemic really served as a catalyst for people getting more comfortable getting online or pivoting online. What’s interesting is that we still see that they struggle with just marketing, knowing what to do, and access to capital. Are you seeing the same?

Alan: Yeah. Access to capital is nothing new, but there are questions of “how do you do this?” At least doing something that’s less capital intensive to start, such as a microbusiness, let’s them learn the basics of marketing and running a business.

Q: For small businesses, as you’re saying, digital presence is an essential component. Do you see more businesses being online only?

Alan: We don’t have solid numbers to really tell us at this time, but I think that’s got to be the case. Heck, two of my kids already sell stuff online. I think the younger generation is definitely more digitally savvy, and just more comfortable in that space. When thinking about rural areas, there are generally fewer younger folks relative to other places, and maybe less industry diversity. Helping existing rural businesses that aren’t online with technology can be a challenge, especially with older entrepreneurs. I think it’s going to get better, obviously, year after year with more learning, but it’s just not there yet. I think a lot of places are still missing out.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to highlight about the dashboard and how you hope people use it?

Natalia: I think it’s interesting to use because you find different trends. You can compare different counties by metro and non-metro and it’s useful to make decisions like how to develop microbusiness activity. Using this dashboard, we can compare different years and different states. It can help explain why microbusiness open their activity in certain states and why do they prefer it there?

Dr. Natalia Filimonova

Natalia is a visiting scholar at the University of Missouri who collaborates on projects with the MU Extension Exceed program. Her research interests include the development of small business strategies, the evaluation of startup support programs and innovative approaches to regional development. Natalia is actively engaged in creating interactive dashboards that enhance the understanding of regional economic processes using Power BI. 

Natalia holds a Doctor of Economics degree from Saint Petersburg State University and a Candidate of Economic Sciences degree from Vladimir State University. She also serves as a visiting professor at BINUS University in Jakarta, Indonesia. Natalia has received grants from Tel Aviv University, the Fulbright Program and various Russian scientific foundations and has published 45+ peer-reviewed journal articles in leading journals and presented at international conferences.

Alan Spell

Alan Spell is an Assistant Extension Professor within the MU Division of Applied Social Sciences. He specializes in economic and industry research for MU Extension’s Exceed program. Spell’s work includes publishing the monthly Missouri Economy Indicator briefs, conducting broadband and industry economic impact analyses, and providing data training. 

Prior to 2020, Spell led the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), the state’s labor market information and economic development office, where his staff provided analysis to policymakers and the public. Spell is a certified Economic Research Professional and holds degrees in economics and landscape architecture. He has worked in economic development research for over 25 years.

For more than 100 years, University of Missouri Extension and Engagement has worked with partners across our campus and state to share knowledge and resources that improve the lives of all Missourians, especially in these areas of greatest need.

About 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. While these microbusinesses may be small, their impact on economies is outsized even though they are often too informal or too new to show up in traditional government statistics.

Since 2018, Venture Forward surveyed more than 30,000 small business owners with a digital presence, making it the source for microbusiness data and insights.

Originally published by GoDaddy’s Venture Forward Research Initiative

University of Missouri’s extension program leaders Dr. Natalia Filimonova and Alan Spell have created an interactive dashboard to visualize GoDaddy Venture Forward’s geographical data, empowering staff at the university’s Small Business Development Center to counsel microbusinesses and educate local residents.

The team, which provides classes to local residents, typically adults who are interested in learning new information or skills, began utilizing Venture Forward’s geographical data during the pandemic – a time when it became critical for entrepreneurs to understand how to get their online microbusinesses to succeed.

In response, Filimonova and Spell leveraged Venture Forward data to create a dashboard to track microbusiness activity index, a score developed by economists at the UCLA Anderson Forecast in partnership with Venture Forward that tracks dozens of factors that impact the success of online microbusinesses, and microbusiness density over time.

Launch Dashboard

With MU Extension staff directly counselling microbusinesses, the tool allows them to visual Venture Forward’s microbusiness data and help educate local residents by, for example, comparing local metro versus non-metro areas or differences by economic type in a particular state.

Q: Can you tell us a little about MU Extension, and how you’re using Venture Forward data?

Alan: We’re part of the University of Missouri Extension system. Of course, every state has an extension, but not every state has a focus on economic development at a similar scale to ours in Missouri. Economic development is our goal, providing information to extension folks, and, of course, the public on economic topics. We noticed Venture Forward’s online business data around the pandemic time when a lot of this information was gaining importance. Our Extension runs most Small Business Development Centers in Missouri, so we have a lot of counselors who advise small businesses on entrepreneurship issues and how to grow their operations. When the pandemic struck, we were looking for any kind of data that we could use to understand what might be happening with online commerce. The Venture Forward data was a new set of information that we’d never had before and it was at county-level, which is critical because many folks want to know what’s happening in their area. We started by just doing briefs using information like Venture Forward’s Microbusiness Activity Index and Microbusiness Density. 

We thought it was important enough to put it into a data visualization that could look at things over time. Importantly, Venture Forward already normalize the data by dividing it by population. Big cities are going to have more than small towns, but when you control for that, do metros generally do better than non-metros? Because, in Extension, we are often interested in rural development challenges as smaller communities can lack timely business data. So, when we talked about what we were going to visualize, we made that non-metro/metro distinction so that we could compare places and see if there were differences. 

That was the reason we developed the dashboard: to take Venture Forward data, which is already easy to understand, and put it on a dashboard so we can look at it over time. 

Natalia: We collected the data and we decided to divide it up by metro versus non-metro areas. We also wanted to divide these counties by economic development type, like agriculture and manufacturing, to see how it could impact density. 

Alan: That’s the project that we just completed. We combined USDA economic type information, which includes six categories, with the Venture Forward density data. We didn’t know what to expect, but it seemed interesting because we see population trends that are impacted by economic types.

Q: When you say “population trends,” do you mean migration patterns?

Alan: Yes. In July we came out with a brief on 2020-2023 population trends in Missouri, but there’re parallels in the U.S. For example, our city cores, like St Louis City and Jackson County, which is Kansas City, had out migration but suburban and adjacent non-metro counties gained population. It reflects the hybrid work reality, of the cheaper housing options on the outskirts of metros and not having to be at the office five days a week. We saw what was happening nationally also occur here. 

The other trend that was interesting was looking at county economic types, such as recreation. Many states, whether it’s the beaches along South Carolina or lakes in Missouri, had recreational places that lit up in terms of population gains, even though they’re far away from bigger metros. Their broadband is fine and often they’re retirement meccas. For example in Missouri, people from Kansas City and St. Louis often vacation at the Lake of the Ozarks. If they have remote work options, they can say ‘I’m going to live there year-round’, so recreation-based economies are capturing this population shift. 
To complement the dashboard, we also developed a Microbusiness density research brief, published this month, that describes how Missouri counties compare to similar U.S. places.

Q: We’ve seen in our survey results that the number of people who are saying getting online is a challenge has gone down in the last couple years. To your point, the pandemic really served as a catalyst for people getting more comfortable getting online or pivoting online. What’s interesting is that we still see that they struggle with just marketing, knowing what to do, and access to capital. Are you seeing the same?

Alan: Yeah. Access to capital is nothing new, but there are questions of “how do you do this?” At least doing something that’s less capital intensive to start, such as a microbusiness, let’s them learn the basics of marketing and running a business.

Q: For small businesses, as you’re saying, digital presence is an essential component. Do you see more businesses being online only?

Alan: We don’t have solid numbers to really tell us at this time, but I think that’s got to be the case. Heck, two of my kids already sell stuff online. I think the younger generation is definitely more digitally savvy, and just more comfortable in that space. When thinking about rural areas, there are generally fewer younger folks relative to other places, and maybe less industry diversity. Helping existing rural businesses that aren’t online with technology can be a challenge, especially with older entrepreneurs. I think it’s going to get better, obviously, year after year with more learning, but it’s just not there yet. I think a lot of places are still missing out.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to highlight about the dashboard and how you hope people use it?

Natalia: I think it’s interesting to use because you find different trends. You can compare different counties by metro and non-metro and it’s useful to make decisions like how to develop microbusiness activity. Using this dashboard, we can compare different years and different states. It can help explain why microbusiness open their activity in certain states and why do they prefer it there?

Dr. Natalia Filimonova

Natalia is a visiting scholar at the University of Missouri who collaborates on projects with the MU Extension Exceed program. Her research interests include the development of small business strategies, the evaluation of startup support programs and innovative approaches to regional development. Natalia is actively engaged in creating interactive dashboards that enhance the understanding of regional economic processes using Power BI. 

Natalia holds a Doctor of Economics degree from Saint Petersburg State University and a Candidate of Economic Sciences degree from Vladimir State University. She also serves as a visiting professor at BINUS University in Jakarta, Indonesia. Natalia has received grants from Tel Aviv University, the Fulbright Program and various Russian scientific foundations and has published 45+ peer-reviewed journal articles in leading journals and presented at international conferences.

Alan Spell

Alan Spell is an Assistant Extension Professor within the MU Division of Applied Social Sciences. He specializes in economic and industry research for MU Extension’s Exceed program. Spell’s work includes publishing the monthly Missouri Economy Indicator briefs, conducting broadband and industry economic impact analyses, and providing data training. 

Prior to 2020, Spell led the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center (MERIC), the state’s labor market information and economic development office, where his staff provided analysis to policymakers and the public. Spell is a certified Economic Research Professional and holds degrees in economics and landscape architecture. He has worked in economic development research for over 25 years.

For more than 100 years, University of Missouri Extension and Engagement has worked with partners across our campus and state to share knowledge and resources that improve the lives of all Missourians, especially in these areas of greatest need.

About 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. While these microbusinesses may be small, their impact on economies is outsized even though they are often too informal or too new to show up in traditional government statistics.

Since 2018, Venture Forward surveyed more than 30,000 small business owners with a digital presence, making it the source for microbusiness data and insights.

Across North America, women at Saint-Gobain take the lead in Making The World A Better Home. They are manufacturers, innovators, scientists, engineers, and executives, all playing a vital role in shaping our industry.

For Kelly Pabon, every day on the manufacturing floor can be different. As a manufacturing engineer working on Resin Bond Grinding Wheels at Norton Super Abrasives, her role includes troubleshooting challenges with our super abrasives lines and brainstorming how we can improve our products. The best days are extremely gratifying when a solution is found to a complex problem. Other days can be frustrating when an issue proves difficult to solve. No matter what the challenge, Kelly is up for the task and loves the hands-on aspect of her job.

In this video, let’s meet Kelly Pabon, Manufacturing Engineer I, Norton Abrasives, as she explains what makes her feel empowHERed to work at Saint-Gobain.

Saint-Gobain is an industry leader with thousands of talented team members who are dedicated to one unified purpose: Making the World a Better Home. With more than 145 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada, there are so many robust and fulfilling career opportunities available. You’ll have the opportunity to work with colleagues from a wide range of businesses, cultures, and experiences.

Discover your career at Saint-Gobain North America here

Watch the Saint-Gobain video series empowHERed 

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.

€47.9 billion in sales in 2023 
160,000 employees, locations in 76 countries 
Committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050

Across North America, women at Saint-Gobain take the lead in Making The World A Better Home. They are manufacturers, innovators, scientists, engineers, and executives, all playing a vital role in shaping our industry.

For Kelly Pabon, every day on the manufacturing floor can be different. As a manufacturing engineer working on Resin Bond Grinding Wheels at Norton Super Abrasives, her role includes troubleshooting challenges with our super abrasives lines and brainstorming how we can improve our products. The best days are extremely gratifying when a solution is found to a complex problem. Other days can be frustrating when an issue proves difficult to solve. No matter what the challenge, Kelly is up for the task and loves the hands-on aspect of her job.

In this video, let’s meet Kelly Pabon, Manufacturing Engineer I, Norton Abrasives, as she explains what makes her feel empowHERed to work at Saint-Gobain.

Saint-Gobain is an industry leader with thousands of talented team members who are dedicated to one unified purpose: Making the World a Better Home. With more than 145 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada, there are so many robust and fulfilling career opportunities available. You’ll have the opportunity to work with colleagues from a wide range of businesses, cultures, and experiences.

Discover your career at Saint-Gobain North America here

Watch the Saint-Gobain video series empowHERed 

About Saint-Gobain

Worldwide leader in light and sustainable construction, Saint-Gobain designs, manufactures and distributes materials and services for the construction and industrial markets. Its integrated solutions for the renovation of public and private buildings, light construction and the decarbonization of construction and industry are developed through a continuous innovation process and provide sustainability and performance. The Group’s commitment is guided by its purpose, “MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER HOME”.

€47.9 billion in sales in 2023 
160,000 employees, locations in 76 countries 
Committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050

Viatris is continuously looking for ways to reduce the volume and types of materials being used in packaging while safeguarding access to high-quality medicines and maintaining compliance with various regulatory and quality requirements around the world.

In 2023, teams across the organization worked together on various projects including:

Reducing the use of paper by 90 metric tons at our oral-solid dose manufacturing sitesReducing 2 metric tons of plastic and 5 metric tons of wood through bulk packaging optimizationReplacing approximately 88 metric tons of plastic with polythene bagsOptimizing shrink bundle film to reduce use of plastics by 18 metric tonsProgressing work to replace leaflets on ARV bottle packs with QR codes, with a pilot study planned for 2024Working to replace the existing polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE) based unit dose in accordance with proposed PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) directive issued by the European Chemical Agency

We are continuing work harmonizing bottle packaging artwork across different markets by using common packaging across multiple countries in multiple languages, including quadrilingual packs, when feasible. This means a single pack can have one label and leaflet (in pad form) that holds information in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, for example, reducing the need to produce individual bottles for each language. This advances our previous work with trilingual packs that we implemented in 2022.

We are implementing a similar shared pack concept in Europe, which makes our packaging much leaner and gives us more flexibility in our supply chain to supply medicines where they are most needed. We remain committed to continue to work on this concept across more markets in Europe.

Looking ahead, we are exploring adopting e-labeling across other markets, implementing PCTFE mitigation in blister packaging across geographies, carton-less initiatives for technology transfer projects, and reducing paper layers used in shipping boxes.

At our facility in Cairo, Egypt, we started using empty supply carton boxes instead of buying new ones for use in the destruction process for returned expired products. The change has saved the facility four tons of carton boxes annually.

View the full 2023 Sustainability Report.

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

While U.S. Bank has goals coaches who serve clients at all stages in life, some coaches focus on helping students at colleges and universities across the country. With the new school year getting into swing, here are tips from those coaches on dealing with the topics students raise with them the most.

Setting goals

When setting goals, it’s good to start by evaluating where you currently are in life and, from there, set personal, professional and financial goals along with dates to achieve those goals, said goals coach Holly Kierstead.

“For example, if you’re a freshman in college, your goals could be to learn what study habits work for me, actively meet new people and start a budget,” she said. “A graduating senior’s goals could be to discover myself, prepare my resume and cover letter, and grow my money.”

It’s important to make the goals well-defined, said goals coach Barry Saeger.

“By setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound, you can be more intentional with your future plans,” Saeger said.

Utilizing resources

To help achieve the goals you set, it’s helpful to use the tools at your disposal, Saeger said.

“Your academic counselors, financial aid advisors, even a goals coach are wanting you to succeed in achieving your academic goals,” he said. “Use these resources as your accountability partners in accomplishing what you need to get done and take ownership of your future.”

Some students may be hesitant to ask for help, and they need to put that hesitation aside, Kierstead said.

“Don’t be afraid to ask or reach out for help and be honest,” she said. “Whether it is related to class content you are not understanding, your finances or something personal that is weighing on you, speak up and reach out to someone for help.”

Time management

Many things can compete for a college student’s time and attention, and managing time effectively is crucial in balancing academic, social and personal responsibilities, goals coach Haitham Suleiman said.

“We start with having the client list all their tasks and deadlines, then have them prioritize them based on importance and urgency, focusing on the most critical tasks first to complete,” he said. “Then they work on creating a schedule by using either a planner or digital calendar so they can map out their day, week and month to allocate specific time needed for each task.”

Goals coach Timothy Klecker said that, like many people, he struggled to manage time efficiently in his early adult years.

“Recognizing that you may have issues with time management is often a symptom of a larger issues, such as procrastination, excessive distractions and possibly lack of future vision for the direction one wants their life to go,” Klecker said. “Each of us has the same 24 hours in a day and what matters is what you do with that time to focus most productively toward a centralized goal.”

Managing finances

Suleiman said he often works with college students to create a budget plan.

“They will list all income and expenses for a month to get a clear picture of where their money is going,” he said. “Once they have a baseline, they should work on categorizing their spending into needs, like rent, grocery and utilities, and wants, like dining out, entertainment and shopping. After that, they can start allocating specific amounts of money to each category and start building a savings plan for a rainy day.”

Learning to manage credit effectively is very important, Klecker said.

“As you enter the early stages of adulthood, take the time to learn the ins and outs of debt management,” he said. “The temptation to buy now and pay later may feel like a relief, but over time and without the proper frame of mind, it can become all too easy to find yourself underwater just when your lives are really beginning to take off.”

Saeger said it’s especially important to be mindful of social spending such as eating out, having food delivered or doing activities with friends.

“Consider giving yourself a weekly allowance that can be used for experiences you enjoy, but still fits within your budget,” he said. “By establishing a planned amount of dollars for entertainment, you can still have fun while not placing additional stress on your bank account.”

The right mindset

Setting goals and making a plan aren’t the only ingredients in achieving them, said goals coach Tamra Clark Champion.

“The single most important gift you can give yourself – past, present, and future – is a positive mindset,” she said.

“For the past, consider the lessons you have gleaned from your mistakes or failures,” Clark Champion said. “In the present, appreciate where you are, what you have, and all you are becoming. When you think about the future, focus more on who you want to be rather than what you want to achieve. Your life is what you make it in every moment.”

Eaton AbleEdge smart breakers will add intelligent load management to Lunar Energy’s solar battery system Compatibility with Lunar Energy’s mobile application will make it easier and faster for customers to integrate and manage distributed energy resources at home

PITTSBURGH, October 9, 2024 /3BL/ – Intelligent power management company Eaton today announces a collaboration with Lunar Energy to simplify the installation and maximize the functionality of home energy storage and solar systems. The integration of Eaton’s new AbleEdgeTM smart breakers with the Lunar System will make it easier for installers and homeowners to deploy solar and storage, manage loads, optimize costs and extend the life of the solar battery system. The joint solutions are expected to be available in early 2025, with Eaton as Lunar Energy’s preferred supplier for load management.

Eaton’s AbleEdge smart breakers will add load management functionality to the Lunar System in new construction and retrofit projects. The Eaton smart breakers can be added to the Lunar Bridge, any Eaton BR loadcenter or meter breaker. Homeowners and installers will be able to use Lunar’s application to install, commission and control both companies’ technologies—simplifying installation and ongoing home energy management.

“Every home has unique energy demands and infrastructure, so we created a home energy management ecosystem that’s modular and scalable for retrofits and new homes,” said Paul Ryan, general manager, Connected Solutions and EV Charging at Eaton. “We’re opening the door for more resilient, sustainable and electrified homes with technologies that work out of the box with any solar and storage provider. Our collaboration with Lunar Energy will streamline solar and energy storage deployments to help homeowners keep their power on despite grid outages and reduce their carbon footprint.”

The collaboration aligns with Eaton’s Home as a Grid strategy that helps homeowners put the energy transition to work. By creating flexible power systems that manage energy consumption in an integrated way, Eaton’s work with leading energy storage providers such as Lunar Energy is transforming what is possible for the home as an energy source.

“When we started Lunar Energy, we set out to deliver a simple and elegant clean energy solution for customers. For us, ‘brilliantly-designed’ means exactly that — designing a solar and battery system that is custom for every home and an experience that is intuitive for every family member inside,” Lunar Energy Founder and CEO Kunal Girotra said. “Our modular battery system achieves this by adapting to homes of all sizes. With the addition of Eaton’s AbleEdge smart breakers, we will offer an outstanding solution that makes the transition to clean energy both simple and exceptional.”

Eaton’s components are backed by the company’s secure-by-design philosophy that ensures its products meet rigorous cybersecurity and safety design standards.

Learn more about Eaton’s home energy management system and Home as a Grid approach.

Eaton is an intelligent power management company dedicated to protecting the environment and improving the quality of life for people everywhere. We make products for the data center, utility, industrial, commercial, machine building, residential, aerospace and mobility markets. We are guided by our commitment to do business right, to operate sustainably and to help our customers manage power ─ today and well into the future. By capitalizing on the global growth trends of electrification and digitalization, we’re accelerating the planet’s transition to renewable energy sources, helping to solve the world’s most urgent power management challenges, and building a more sustainable society for people today and generations to come.

Eaton was founded in 1911 and has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange for more than a century. We reported revenues of $23.2 billion in 2023 and serve customers in more than 160 countries. For more information, visit Eaton.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

Contact:

Kristin Somers
+1.919.345.3714
Kristincsomers@eaton.com

Regina Parundik
Cobblestone Communications
+1.412.559.1614
Regina@cobblecreative.com

NORTHAMPTON, Mass., October 10, 2024 /3BL/ – 3BL announced today the annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking, recognizing outstanding environmental, social and governance (ESG) transparency and performance among the 1,000 largest public companies in the United States.

HP Inc. has earned the top ranking this year, with Hewlett Packard Enterprise,Johnson & Johnson, Owens Corning, and Ingersoll Rand completing the top five.

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens ranking evaluates Russell 1,000 companies based on 223 ESG factors across seven pillars including climate change, employee relations, environment, governance, human rights, and stakeholders and society. The 2024 methodology developed by 3BL and ISS ESG introduced new factors to measure progress on key issues such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water use, and workforce diversity to reflect modern best practices for performance and disclosure.

View the 100 Best Corporate Citizens of 2024 ranking here.

If the 2024 100 Best Corporate Citizens were a financial index, it would have beat the market average over the past two years, according to the first backtesting study of the ranking, conducted by 3BL. The companies in the top 100 had a cumulative return of 29.97% from January 2022 to September 2024, compared to 25.75% for the S&P 500.

But do corporate sustainability messages make their way from report pages, spreadsheets and board rooms to leave an impression on the public? 3BL’s latest research reveals that companies are leaving revenue on the table if they rely on reporting and disclosures alone to share information about their sustainability progress.

Download 3BL’s whitepaper for the full findings and insights now. 

Unlike other rankings, the 100 Best Corporate Citizens relies solely on publicly available data and information, eliminating the need for questionnaires or company submissions, and there is no fee for companies to be considered. To ensure accuracy, companies can verify the data collected for the ranking at no cost. The data and information used for the 2024 ranking were published between August 2023 and August 2024.

Additionally, 3BL has partnered with InfluenceMap to assess the intensity and orientation of a company’s lobbying efforts and whether this lobbying is supportive or oppositional to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. A “red flag” penalty is assessed if a company’s lobbying is deemed oppositional to Paris-aligned policies, and a “green flag” bonus is awarded to recognize firms using their political influence and spending in support of the agreement. In 2024, VF Corp. is the only company to receive the “green flag” bonus.

In this year’s rankings, the competition has intensified, with the gap in overall weighted scores between No. 1 and No. 100 narrowing by nearly 4% compared to 2023. Just five companies — HP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Johnson & Johnson, Owens Corning, and PepsiCo — managed to maintain their spots in the top 10, making room for newcomers Ingersoll Rand, VF Corp., Trane Technologies, Citigroup, and Ford Motor Co. In the tech and hardware arena, HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are leading the pack, with just three other industry peers in the top 100. Meanwhile, the Capital Goods, Food and Beverage, and Materials sectors collectively represent 30% of the top scorers.

About the 100 Best Corporate Citizens Ranking 
The 100 Best Corporate Citizens debuted in 1999 in Business Ethics Magazine and appeared annually in Corporate Responsibility Magazine for many years. 3BL has managed the ranking since 2018. To compile the ranking, each company in the Russell 1000 Index is ranked according to its transparency and performance on 184 environmental, social and governance factors.

About 3BL 
3BL is the leading sustainability and social impact communications partner, connecting organizations’ stories of purpose and progress with the audiences who matter most. We partner with over 1,500 companies — from global corporations and mid-sized enterprises to NGOs and nonprofits — to elevate their reputations as players in the world of responsible business. We do this through unrivaled news and content distribution, bespoke storytelling support, and our digital media division, TriplePundit. Learn more here.

3BL CONTACT 
100Best@3bl.com

KeyBank’s Key4Women Capital Region Chapter held its annual forum on Wednesday October 18th at the Marriott Albany. Ginger Zee, Chief Meteorologist for ABC News, author and mental health advocate shared her inspiring story about how she overcame difficult mental health challenges to become the first female chief meteorologist at a network, building a remarkable career and family.

Watch WTEN-TV’s coverage of the message Ginger Zee brought to the Key4Women Forum in Albany: https://www.news10.com/community/ginger-zee-discusses-mental-health-journey/

Deshanna Wiggins, CEO of the Albany Black Chamber of Commerce and Social Club, was also honored by Key as its 2024 Key4Women Achieve Award Winner. The award honors and recognizes the accomplishments of women business leaders and their contributions to the Capital Region community. It is open to clients of KeyBank and is given annually to a female leader in the region who has achieved a high level of success in her profession, is a community leader, and is a supporter of other women in the Capital Region.

Watch a video where Key4Women 2024 Achieve Award Winner Deshanna Wiggins talks about her work and how our entire community moves forward when we ensure everyone has the opportunity to thrive: https://youtu.be/sYD6M3ujVzQ

KeyBank also honored the Capital District Women’s Employment and Resource Center, or WERC, as its charitable partner. KeyBank donated $2,500 to WERC to support their work to advance women’s success in the workplace by building their economic and personal independence.

Key4Women is an avenue of growth and advice for many women business owners and leaders. As a relationship-based bank, Key partners in helping our clients use every tool possible, providing them with access to capital while knowing exactly what best fits their business and financial goals. Learn more and sign up by going to key.com/women.

In 2023, Gildan’s entire Australian office became certified in mental health first aid, becoming equipped to identify and support those in need around them.

This World Mental Health Day, we sat down with the individual driving this initiative, David Hillen, Sales Director at Gildan, to learn more about the project’s inception and how he rallied the senior management team and his co-workers to heighten employees’ awareness around this topic.

What made you want to get mental health first aid certified?

Almost five years ago, I encountered a colleague who didn’t seem to be doing very well, and after a few conversations, it came to my attention that the individual was facing mental health issues.

At the time, I did my best to help the colleague – I connected the individual with a professional and made sure to regularly check-in. Today, I’m happy to say that the colleague is doing quite well.

This experience made me realize the importance of normalizing conversations around mental health and having the right tools to help those who need support. Motivated by this, I pursued a course provided by Mental Health Foundation Australia (MHFA).

When you first acquired the certification, did you envision this step scaling the way it did?

Not at all! It was only after I got certified that I realized the potential of this course in benefiting my network. I especially realized how useful it might be in the context of the workplace where most people spend the majority of their time. Our teams in the Australian office work closely together, so it seemed like the natural next step to encourage my colleagues to get certified, deepen our collective understanding of mental health, and create an even more open work environment.

To facilitate this, I became a certified trainer of mental health first aid myself, making the course more accessible to my network.

How did you rally the support of your colleagues and eventually the entire office, to acquire the certification?

Once I became a certified trainer, I approached the senior management team at our office to gauge their interest in the course, and the team wholeheartedly embraced this idea. From there, it was a matter of promoting the training among employees.

We began offering it on an optional basis. Gradually, as people became certified and began noticing the positive effects of the training in both their professional and personal lives, more employees stepped forward to participate. Before we knew it, the entire office was certified!

Can you tell us more about your experience with the course?

I enjoyed the course and took away applicable concepts that have been valuable when helping those around me. The course covered four broad mental health topics, explaining theory and outlining concrete steps to be taken when responding to particular issues. More specifically, I learned how to recognize warning signs of mental health problems and how to intervene in a timely and effective way.

One of my key takeaways was learning how to speak about mental health. This has been extremely helpful in my endeavours to facilitate conversations around this topic.

What kind of changes did you notice at the office once this course had been completed by all employees?

When we initially decided to roll out the course among employees, we had two main objectives – the first was to normalize discussions of mental health in the workplace, and the second was to identify individuals around us potentially facing problems and provide timely, as well as the right kind of intervention. The training allowed us to achieve both objectives.

Now, more people at the office openly speak about mental health, fostering a safe space for everyone. I’ve also heard some great stories from co-workers about how the training has gone beyond the workplace to benefit people in their personal lives.

What advice do you have for anyone at Gildan and beyond looking to initiate a project or advocate for a cause that matters to them?

It only takes one person and one step to make a difference. What began as a gesture towards one of my colleagues, has now turned into an office-wide initiative. At a global organization such as Gildan, imagine the large impact the first step can have.

To anyone who is passionate about a cause, I’d encourage you to take that first step, lead by example, and spread awareness around the cause through education and conversation. 

To find out more about Gildan’s respect for its people, click here.