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As hospital beds across the U.S. remain occupied by largely unvaccinated patients infected with the delta COVID-19 variant, governments and employers alike are reconsidering their approach to encouraging vaccinations. The days of flashing a vaccination card for token incentives like free beer, lottery tickets or donuts may soon be coming to an end. Instead, governments and private companies are complementing (or swapping out entirely) their incentives with punishment. Meanwhile, families and businesses are facing the prospect of more venues closing just when schools are ready to reopen.

Offering carrots to reach herd immunity and stop COVID-19

The messaging of encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations has evolved quite a bit since the first doses were administered back in December 2020. Early adopters were offered little in the way of financial incentives, but rather given assurance that they were protecting themselves and others from the virus that’s taken the lives of more than 600,000 people in the U.S. As the number of vaccine doses available outpaced the number of people willing to get the shots, state governments began rolling out creative programs to entice people who were on the fence. Campaigns like Ohio’s Vax-a-Million and Washington’s Shot of a Lifetime offered million-dollar grand prizes as well as smaller prizes like tickets to sporting events or game consoles. Businesses joined the party too, offering incentives ranging from grocery store gift cards to complimentary packages at Hustler Clubs valued at $5,000.

The latest messaging is the most severe to date. U.S. President Joe Biden announced in late July that the roughly 4 million workers in the federal government would be required to sign forms proving they’ve been vaccinated. Unvaccinated federal workers would be subject to stricter COVID-19 compliance rules, including mask mandates and weekly testing. New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, issued a similar mandate for all city or contracted workers, though he upped the ante for New Yorkers. By August 16, those wishing to attend a performance, eat indoors or work out at a gym must provide proof of at least one dose of the vaccine.

The government’s latest announcement could serve as a model for private businesses, though the government has said it will foot the bill for the weekly COVID-19 tests, a potentially costly investment for businesses.

(Tina Casey has brilliantly covered COVID-19 vaccine responses: Read her latest work on corporate leaders losing patience and the healthcare industry’s influence on upping vaccination rates.)

More companies are wielding a stick

Some companies are going a step further, like CNN and the National Football League, which have each terminated unvaccinated employees. CNN fired three of its unvaccinated workers after they came into the office. The companies’ president, Jeff Zucker, issued a memo which stated the vaccine is required for those reporting in the field, working with fellow employees or going into the office.

The Minnesota Vikings made headlines after firing an offensive coach for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, complying with new NFL guidelines requiring Tier 1 staff including front-office executives, trainers, scouts and coaches to receive the vaccine. Perhaps more worrisome for NFL fans and franchises, a game that needs to be rescheduled due to a COVID-19 outbreak caused by an unvaccinated player or staff member will be forfeited by the infected team. This is a considerable punishment and break from the puzzle piecing that went into rescheduling the 15-plus games delayed during the 2020 season due to COVID-19.

Notably, Tyson Foods joined the growing list of employers requiring its staff to receive the vaccine, representing one of the first frontline companies to announce such a policy for its workers. Fewer than half of the 120,000 workers employed by Tyson Foods are vaccinated, and the union representing Tyson employees has rebuked the company for instituting such a mandate despite the vaccines having only emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

There hasn’t been a universal shift away from incentives. Vanguard announced a $1,000 payment for proof of vaccination. Aviation giants Delta, United and American Airlines are all offering additional paid leave for vaccinated employees. (United is now requiring all of its employees to be vaccinated, and Delta is not hiring unvaccinated candidates.) Paid time off to get the vaccine has become an increasingly popular (and smart) approach, as companies like Walmart hope to negate the tough choice hourly workers have to make between getting the vaccine or receiving more hours at work.

So what works, the carrot or the stick?

In the next five years, the number of case studies to be published about the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine campaigns is likely to exceed the shelf space currently available in all of the U.S. public libraries. Most of what works and what doesn’t is speculative and will need to be contextualized. An incentive-based program in Arkansas may yield different results than the same program run in Oregon.

The last few months have shown intriguing initial responses of incentives for the unvaccinated population, but they lack the momentum to sustain any scalable success. Ohio’s Vax-a-Million campaign, for example, did correspond with an uptick in vaccination rates, but at a rate on par with other states not offering lottery programs.

Including lucrative incentives may also be setting companies and state governments up for a difficult not-so-distant future response. As it’s become increasingly understood that the vaccines are likely not one-offs, those who responded well to the incentives may expect the same rewards when the time for a booster shot arrives. If the states and companies refuse similarly competitive incentives, how will iffy vaxxers react?

The now-popular strategy of balancing incentives and punitive measures is likely to yield the best results. People innately respond differently to rewards and punishments, so why choose one or the other? At this unprecedented time, companies and governments find themselves authors of their own rulebook. And credit must be given to companies and governments for developing creative incentives or taking gutsy stands to try and increase vaccination rates among their employees or constituents.

Image credit: Mick Haupt/Unsplash

Louisiana is one of the most vulnerable states in the U.S. to climate impacts, but it has also been one of the least active in the clean power transition. That is about to change. The new 300-megawatt Ventress solar power project, shepherded by eBay and McDonald’s, is part of a wave of solar development sweeping into the state. In light of the dire conditions outlined in the new IPCC report, Louisiana could emerge as a powerful demonstration that swift, effective action on climate change is still within reach.

Louisiana is a clean power wallflower…

The Bayou State is an unlikely candidate for leadership on climate action. It currently ranks a lowly 48th among the U.S. states for clean power, with only 52 megawatts in combined utility-scale solar energy, wind energy and storage capacity.

Despite Louisiana’s vulnerability to rising sea levels and other climate impacts, politics in the deep red state have had some hand in blocking clean energy projects. However, other politically conservative states have been much more active in the transition to renewable energy. Indiana, for example, has less land but is ranked up at 16th for clean energy with 3,275 megawatts worth of wind, solar and storage, partly thanks to its location in the wind-rich Midwest.

To be fair, wind resources in Louisiana and the rest of the Southeast are less than optimal. However, the same cannot be said of the state’s solar resources.

As illustrated by maps generated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), solar resources in the U.S. Southeast are relatively strong. Nevertheless, the Solar Energy Industries Association counts a total of only 190 megawatts of installed solar capacity in Louisiana, including both small- and utility-scale solar arrays. Meanwhile, relatively tiny Northeast states with weaker solar resources beat Louisiana handily. Rhode Island, for example, currently has a total of 412 megawatts, and New Jersey has an impressive 3,653 megawatts.

…but not a clean power wallflower not for long.

The new Ventress project demonstrates how quickly Louisiana can turn its solar power profile around now that leading corporations like McDonald’s and eBay are on board. The two companies are supporting the Ventress project through a power purchase agreement, providing the financial foundation for development to proceed.

Further demonstrating the power of leading corporations to push the energy transition is the developer of the Ventress project, Lightsource BP.

The leading oil and gas company BP acquired a 50 percent stake in the solar power firm Lightsource back in December 2017, shortly after abandoning its ill-fated “Beyond Petroleum” public relations initiative. BP has quite a long way to go before it can claim to undo the damage done by decades of fossil energy extraction. However, in only a few years Lightsource BP has become a leading fixture on the utility-scale solar scene in the U.S.

Lightsource BP has also been among the first leading solar companies in the U.S. to  advocate for agrivoltaics, a field that combines solar arrays with soil preservation, pollinator habitats, and other elements that dovetail with the regenerative agriculture movement.

The Ventress solar power project will be the first solar farm in Pointe Coupee Parish, located in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area. The $300 million project will add 300 megawatts to Louisiana’s solar power profile all in one blow.

In addition to the Ventress project, last month reporter Kristen Mosbacher of Nola.com cited another seven previously unpublicized utility-scale solar power projects aimed at the southeastern region of Louisiana.

“Proposed $200 million projects in Thibodaux and Bogalusa would produce up to 200 megawatts of power each. So would a $145 million project proposed in Singer. The projects proposed in Vacherie would produce 120, 90 and 80 megawatts, with a 50-megawatt facility proposed for Franklinton,” Mosbacher reported.

One recent estimate of solar development in Louisiana puts the state at only 500 megawatts within the next five years. With Ventress and the additional seven projects, the southeastern portion of the state alone is already on track to more than double that estimate.

Putting the farm back in solar farms

Leasing out land for solar arrays has become a source of much-needed revenue for farmers and other landowners. However, introducing new industrial-scale developments into rural areas can easily spark land use conflicts with other residents and stakeholders, and that can pose an obstacle to the pace of clean power development in Louisiana and elsewhere.

Conflict is the last thing that leading corporations like eBay and McDonald’s want to have at their doorstep, and the Ventress solar farm could provide them with a model for easing local tensions while addressing both clean energy and sustainable agriculture.

In addition to abiding by buffer zones required by local ordinance, Lightsource BP cites studies showing that “solar projects can increase wildlife populations and overall biodiversity by allowing soil and habitat to regenerate, since once constructed solar farms remain untouched for decades.”

Additional plans related to agrivoltaics have yet to be disclosed, but Lightsource BP has dropped a couple of hints. “A long-term environmental action plan is underway for Ventress Solar that aims to maximize local sustainability benefits through habitat creation and co-located agriculture to farm the land while also harnessing solar energy,” Lightsource announced jointly with McDonald’s and eBay.

The bottom-line benefits of clean power

Lightsource BP, McDonald’s and eBay also drew attention to the financial underpinnings of the solar power deal. By committing to the large-scale development, McDonald’s and eBay serve as a sort of anchor tenant, enabling smaller energy consumers to piggyback on the benefits of clean power.

“Customer aggregation deals such as this allow businesses of varying sizes and energy needs to come together and spur meaningful development of clean and affordable energy sources in the U.S. This collaborative agreement by McDonald’s and eBay is a model we hope others will replicate,” they explained.

Ratepayers are not the only ones to benefit. For the Ventress solar farm, Pointe Coupee Parish stands to realize $30 million in revenue for schools, libraries, health services and other civic infrastructure over the life of the project, providing an economic boost that could ripple into more business for McDonald’s and eBay.

McDonald’s already has a solar power model worth replicating. The company was barely on the clean power radar in the U.S. until 2019, and within two years it has vaulted itself into the lead.

In addition to the Ventress solar farm, last year McDonald’s announced three virtual power purchase agreements covering forthcoming solar power projects in North Carolina and Ohio for 1,130 megawatts combined.

As for eBay, the company has been active in the green data center field since at least 2012, and it has committed to 100 percent renewable energy at the data centers it controls by 2025.

Image credit: zmortero/Pixabay

President Joe Biden recently called leading auto industry stakeholders to the White House for a new announcement on vehicle emissions last week, and Tesla was conspicuous by its absence. The snub seemed to make no sense considering the Tesla’s lead position in the electric vehicle (EV) field. Some have suggested that Tesla was ghosted for its anti-union position, but other key factors may also be in play.

Unions and the new electric vehicle policy

President Biden swept into office on a promise to support unionized workers, as part of a broad focus on environmental and social justice issues.

Last week’s announcement was a case in point. The August 5 event at the White House was pitched as a new announcement on vehicle emissions policy, but it was clearly intended to draw attention to the role of union workers in the effort to compete against overseas automakers as the global economy shifts into electric vehicle technology and cleaner fuels. Of all the car manufacturers with factories in the U.S., only the CEOs of the unionized manufacturers Ford (Jim Farley) and GM (Mary Barra), along with the COO of Stellantis North America (Mark Stewart) were invited to attend the August 5 event in person, alongside United Auto Workers President Ray Curry.

The Biden Administration also issued a fact sheet for the August 5 event that included union workers from the very first paragraph. It also gave a lion’s share of quotable comments to Curry.

“Today, automakers, the United Autoworkers (UAW), and other leaders, released statements on the Biden Administration’s steps to strengthen American leadership on clean cars and trucks,” the fact sheet began.

After a brief 200-word statement shared jointly by Ford, GM and Stellantis, the fact sheet devoted more than 350 words exclusively to UAW’s Curry.

Curry lead off by advocating for a united front to compete against China and Europe. The White House also provided him with ample space to emphasize the key role of American union workers.

“The UAW focus is not on hard deadlines or percentages, but on preserving the wages and benefits that have been the heart and soul of the American middle class,” he said, echoing the campaign promises of President Biden.

“The members of the UAW, current and future, are ready to build these electric cars and trucks and the batteries that go in them,” he continued, calling UAW workers “America’s secret weapon” against overseas competition.

“Any auto industry transition to alternative fueled engines must be paired with passage of the Stabenow Amendment and passage or an agreement to adhere to the policies of the PRO Act to ensure these jobs of the future will protect UAW members, their families, and our American middle class,” he concluded.

U.S. automakers to unions: We’re not really friends

To be clear, the relationship between unions and the U.S. auto industry is not all hearts and flowers. That sentiment is reflected in the Ford-GM-Stellantis joint statement, which focused on decarbonization policy. The statement reserved a flitting, almost grudging nod to union workers near the end.

“With the UAW at our side in transforming the workforce and partnering with us on this journey, we believe we can strengthen continued American leadership in clean transportation technology,” the automakers said.

Of interest, the fact sheet also drew attention to the fact that Tesla was not the only automaker not present at the White House event. The fact sheet included a joint statement regarding California’s decarbonization policies shared by Ford along with several automakers with non-union factories in the U.S.: BMW, Honda, Volkswagen and Volvo.

As may be expected, that statement failed to mention union workers at all. It suggests that anti-union activity was not the only reason for Tesla’s absence from both the White House event and the fact sheet.

Why was Tesla snubbed at the big White House electric vehicle event?

The media radar perked up last week when a reporter questioned White House spokesperson Jen Psaki over why Tesla was not included.

Her reply hinted that Tesla’s history of troubles relating to unions was at the root of it, specifically the battle to organize workers at a Tesla factory in California.

However, other non-union shops had the opportunity to contribute to the fact sheet. Tesla conspicuously did not, indicating that President Biden may also have used the event to send a message about his expectations for public-private collaboration and intra-industry cooperation.

That is another area where Tesla falls short. During the initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdown last spring, Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk established a reputation for breaking ranks with leading manufacturers on worker safety measures. Aided by a Twitter barrage against the lockdown, Musk made a flamboyant point of re-opening the Tesla factory in Fremont, California days before the agreed-upon May 18 date to which other manufacturers had adhered.

Musk’s media record on COVID-19 prevention has also done him no favors. He used his powerful social media platform to downplay the dangers of the virus all throughout last year, echoing former President Trump’s efforts to minimize the danger in an election year.

In a September 2020 interview with tech reporter Kara Swisher, Musk also claimed that he would not take a COVID-19 vaccine when available. In April 2021, long after vaccines became widely available, he finally clarified that he did not mean to cast aspersions on the safety and efficiency of vaccines. However, as of this writing Musk has not publicly reversed his stand on getting vaccinated himself, and his worker safety policies continue to diverge from science-based CDC recommendations.

Other automakers snub Tesla, too

Another factor at play could be the lobbying group, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation.

AAI claims to represent almost 99 percent of the U.S. car and truck market, including both domestic and overseas manufacturers. It does not include Tesla in its membership, possibly because one of its focus areas is advocating for federal safety standards for automated driving systems. The technology is not unique to Tesla, but Musk has made it a centerpiece of the car’s appeal to auto enthusiasts, placing his company in a more vulnerable position should federal regulators clamp down.

Another element behind the exclusion could be the emerging industry consensus on hydrogen electric fuel cell vehicles. Musk has famously dismissed fuel cell mobility as “bulls***,” but diversified automakers and startups have begun to include fuel cells in their decarbonization plans. AAI includes at least two manufacturers pushing the envelope on fuel cell electric vehicles, Hyundai and Toyota.

It’s also worth noting that Toyota, Hyundai and other vehicle manufacturers are applying hydrogen fuel cell technology to electrify trucks, locomotives, and mobile construction equipment as well as passenger cars.

AAI was among those to win a spot in the August 5 fact sheet, and AAI President and CEO John Bozzella used the opportunity to emphasize that his members are “committed to a net-zero carbon transportation future” that includes fuel cells as well as plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technology, another area that Musk has dismissed.

“The U.S. needs to rapidly expand its charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure,” Bozzella concluded.

The fact sheet also included a statement from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who alluded to his state’s diversified approach to decarbonize its transportation sector. Rather than focusing exclusively on battery electric vehicles, Newsom broadly pledged to continue “California’s clean car leadership and deliver the investments needed to support the nationwide build-out of clean vehicle infrastructure.”

All in all, the message from the Biden administration is clear. To get a seat at the inner circle table, automakers in the U.S. need to respect the union movement, collaborate on decarbonization policy, and take a broad, diversified approach to the electric vehicle field.

Image credit: The White House/Facebook

If you’re a soccer fan, you might know Bimbo for its sponsorships of top tier Mexico-based teams like Chivas (C.D. Guadalajara) and Club América, as well as MSL’s Philadelphia Union. And if you’ve traveled across Latin America and some U.S. cities, you may recognize the brand for its distinctive, cheerful white delivery trucks emblazoned with the beloved Bimbo bear traipsing across local streets and highways.

What you might not know is that Grupo Bimbo (pronounced “beem-bo”) is a $15 billion food giant that owns several of the most recognized baked goodies here in the U.S. The company’s subsidiary, Bimbo Bakeries USA, owns brands like Boboli, Entenmann’s, Freihofer’s, Orowheat, Sara Lee and Thomas’ English Muffins.

And, as is the case with just about every food producer, Bimbo has plenty of long-term challenges that will confront the company in the future. Some are environmental, such as threats related to climate change, water scarcity and increased pressure on farmland. Others are more social in nature, as in consumers demanding natural ingredients and knowing where and how ingredients are sourced.

Add the surging interest in how food technology can help companies take on these challenges, and it has become clear that food companies need to make investments now if they will remain viable long into the future.

To that end, Bimbo has been on an investment tear as of late. The genesis of this strategy dates back to 2017, when the company launched what it bills as the Eleva Food Technology incubator.

The examples of new food technologies in which Bimbo has invested include Clara Foods, a startup that seeks to produce proteins similar to that of egg whites, only without chickens. Like its competitors, Clara Foods seeks to create sources of protein more consumers want, only without any links to animal cruelty or the massive environmental footprint that conventional food has on the planet. Considering egg whites are an ingredient needed in more than a few baked goods, that 2019 decision could prove to be a smart one in the long term.

As it is deeply vested in a business that makes foods that more consumers are avoiding due to how they feel about gluten or allergies, earlier this year the company bought a stake in Rule Breaker Snacks, which makes little nibbles such as cookies out of chickpeas.

Most recently, Bimbo also invested in in Protera, a startup that seeks to develop additional sources of protein by harnessing artificial intelligence. One of Protera's proteins is an ingredient that can extend the shelf life of foods without the need for any chemical-based preservatives.

Bimbo’s strategy, as well as other food giants that have invested in startups and smaller companies focused on alternative foods, is not all that different from the ones upon which beverage companies embarked a decade ago. As more consumers began to avoid carbonated soda drinks, the brands that had successfully marketed them for years realized the best path ahead was to invest in products such as bottled iced teas, organic juices or sugar-free alternatives such as seltzers. The big difference here, however, is that Bimbo appears to have its eyes on companies that offer potential to be part of its supply chain.

Meanwhile, the company has reported record profits, which are due to various factors such as the reputations of the brands it owns, a recovering foodservice sector and increased prices. The result is an economic climate that gives Bimbo the freedom it seeks to make bolder investments, but it’s also a boost for food technologies that have the ideas yet could make good use of some capital to ensure their innovations can go to market.

Image credit: Mike Mozart/Flickr

Before the internet opened up the world of travel, LGBTQ travelers had few options for exploring on their terms. Men would have to get their hands on the bulky Spartacus guide and hope any establishments listed were still in existence upon arrival. The Damron Women’s Traveller was among the options available for lesbians. (Just hide the book in a magazine and hope no one notices.) Since then, though, LGBTQ travel has become a far richer experience across the world.

Take Seoul, South Korea: As recently as the mid-1990s, gay venues were mostly clustered near the downtown municipal garbage dump in Chongno. Since then, Homo Hill in the city's Itaewon district has thrived for more than a quarter century. And no need to carry around those awkward guidebooks (which were heavy, and are largely out-of-print anyway): Whether you’re in Seoul, São Paulo or Sofia, it’s easy to figure out where to hang out by looking online — that is, if the apps haven’t contributed to that establishment’s decline.

So, while it’s easier to vet LGBTQ-friendly accommodations and venues now more than ever, that does not mean exploring many time zones away comes without any risks.

Take, for example, what occurred a few months ago at a boutique hotel in Sacramento, California. Two Black women who were being affectionate at a swimming pool were harassed by a group of white women who found such romantic moments “offensive.” Fortunately, their awful story had a more positive ending, as the rest of the crowd surrounding the pool were supportive of the couple; plus, the security team summoned to kick out the two women instead … escorted out the homophobic crew who had started the needless fuss in the first place.

The evidence suggests, however, that LGBTQ travel is not always smooth sailing. Research from one travel portal suggested more than half LGBTQ travelers said they had travel experiences that were uncomfortable or outright negative within a property at which they had stayed. Half of them also reported experiencing discrimination while traveling. That’s on top of the annoyances that can become microaggressions, such as couples being asked if they need to book separate rooms, pressure to change behavior or appearance, or getting those awkward stares in a hotel dining room or restaurant.

Bottom line: Vacations are too few and far between, and sometimes you just want to be around your own people. Or, you want your temporary hosts to be folks that get it and have learned to mind their own business.

To that end, since its founding in 2014, MisterB&B has emerged as a leading LGBTQ travel platform in recent years, and is well worth a visit or two — or more. At first, the site was a skeleton version of Airbnb, limited to accommodation, and with few safeguards. That could lead to uncomfortable conversations such as “can you just pay in cash when you arrive” and skeevy situations where would-be hosts end up hitting travelers up on Grindr. Well, in fairness, the latter is always a random possibility.

Nope, MisterB&B is no longer a slippery slope that can quickly become a hookup site. It’s much more than that now, far more sophisticated and offers way more services.

Yes, accommodation is still the bread and breakfast butter driving MisterB&B. At last count the site claims more than 100,000 LGBTQ-friendly hotel rooms, more than 300,000 hosts and the ability to make a solid travel decision based on some 270,000-plus reviews. It also behooves hosts and guests alike to be verified, a fairly rigorous series of steps that can help avoid any awkward arrivals after a 10-hour flight. Nodding to the reality of the pandemic, there’s also a process that pushes hosts to ensure they’ve followed rigorous cleaning protocols.

Online LGBTQ travel guides are available for the more popular travel destinations, there’s a Pride calendar along with listings for other events, and yes, one can even sign up for a rewards program, for which you can cash in points with MisterB&B or partners such as Adidas, Sephora, Spotify and Starbucks. In addition to the WiFi filter (doesn’t everyone check that one?), there are options for pet-friendly and kid-friendly hosts. If sleeping in a tent is your thing, that’s an option, too.

Oh, and in a nod to reality, if you're looking to avoid the prying eyes of the office busybody, there is — sigh — discrete invoicing, too.

Bottom line: If you are seeking a different experience when on the road, check MisterB&B out. Like Zillow, it can become a rabbit hole of exploring homes far away, only the prices are far more affordable, and you can actually stay for a night or two.

Image credit: Stanley Dai/Unsplash

We’re right in the middle of a turbulent time: Macroeconomic factors may be improving, but the delta coronavirus variant could throw a wrench in companies’ plans to prepare for the business landscape within a post-pandemic world. Nevertheless, how a company communicates its environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance has become increasingly important for recruiting and retaining top talent. As they say, word of mouth is often the best way to promote an idea, product or service — and when your company’s sustainability story resonates with your workforce, they can then become your firm’s best ESG ambassadors.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated engagement on ESG among forward-thinking companies and investors, with a starkly changed work landscape. As a result, companies are reconsidering every single aspect of their businesses, including their ESG responsibilities.

Along with the racial and social justice movements of 2020, the pandemic has raised expectations that business will take a stand on important social and environmental issues — not least among employees. Your communications team needs to be able to tell these sustainability stories where employees are now: from video conferencing, to face-to-face at future meetings and team-building events, to more informally around the water cooler or (virtual) break room, the conference room, or even the parking lot.

Clarity in communicating such objectives absolutely matters. Your company’s goals must be articulated with honesty, authenticity and consistency. To tell the story simply but powerfully, the language your communications team uses is crucial. Sustainability and other ESG topics cover complex issues, so information needs to be outlined in ways that are easy to understand, without technical jargon or painful buzzwords.

To that end, the staff at 3BL Media recently rolled out a compact guide that explains why the communication aspect of ESG shouldn’t be overlooked, how to go about it (with practical tips, insights and examples), and the business benefits of making employees true partners in your long-term ESG and sustainability strategy.

Take a moment and download "Words Matter: Making ESG Communications with Employees Count" for free.

Image credits: Brett Jordan/Unsplash; Sincerely Media/Unsplash

In 2017, the Foundation for Business Equity (FBE) was created to help address the widening income and wealth gap in Greater Boston experienced most acutely by Black and Latinx communities. We focus on scaling businesses of color to create greater wealth for business owners and more jobs with family-sustaining wages in our urban communities.

The racial wealth gap experienced today is the result of a steady accumulation of unfortunate public and private sector actions and policies over centuries. At FBE, we believe that to truly create collaborative ecosystems and programs that remove structural barriers, we must identify, acknowledge, and address each tier of a system that has adversely affected people of color for hundreds of years. At FBE, we recognize:

History: Business and wealth disparities for communities of color are part of American history. The institution of slavery and colonization of Caribbean and Latin American nations, followed by the Jim Crow laws and redlining, are some of the aggregated reasons that have led to disparities of wealth and differently resourced social networks for Black and Latinx business owners.  

Leadership with lived experience makes a difference: Our organization’s leaders represent the entrepreneurs we work with. We understand the challenges of the small business ecosystem, specifically for entrepreneurs and businesses of color, because we are entrepreneurs ourselves. This provides a unique vantage point in identifying opportunities to bring in resources where they are needed the most to help business owners of color succeed. This allows us to have frank discussions up front about co-investing in the process of growth.

Accessibility: Networks of social capital and wealth are critical to enterprise growth – and an advantage not often afforded to Black and Latinx entrepreneurs. We are committed to providing entrepreneurs and businesses of color with access to the necessary tools for enterprise growth, namely strategic planning for their businesses, growth capital, and access to networks and people who can further foster business development.

For sustainable impact, trust takes time to build: Trust isn’t built overnight. At FBE, we prioritize creating a space where authentic and deep relationships between strategic advisors, or mentors, and entrepreneurs can thrive. We recruit highly skilled advisors who specialize in diagnosing and prioritizing the critical next strategic steps of the business they are embedded in. The trust that is built early opens a pathway for the honest conversations necessary for our advisors to do the real important work. When trust is at the forefront of the work and a business owner is open to hearing different and sometimes difficult perspectives, true entrepreneurial potential can be reached. 

FBE’s signature program, the Business Equity Initiative, brings together strategic advisory services and growth capital to help businesses of color grow revenues, create jobs and revitalize communities. Over the past three years more than 60 businesses have enrolled in the program, with $7 million of growth capital invested. The program, which could serve as a national model for leveling the playing field for Black and Latinx business owners, has proven highly successful, resulting in 205 new full-time equivalent jobs, and $120 million in growth revenue with the first 5 cohorts of businesses.

What’s more, we know that businesses armed with this support and new knowledge fared better than others going into, during and coming out of the pandemic. We saw business owners better prepared to adjust their operations in order to continue realizing a profit when the COVID-19 pandemic happened. Many applied what they learned and through their strategic advisors’ advice, were better able to pivot and respond quickly. They refocused to accommodate necessary and unplanned shifts, and this resulted in both survival and for many substantial growth. Said one CEO, “We’ve hired more locally, our sales were higher, and our clients have turned to us for support during this time.” Another CEO said, “This has been a game-changer for me.”
 
We have a relentless focus on strengthening each part of the local small business of color ecosystem. We are able to report that 99 percent of the businesses we have worked with are still in business, even after the early disruption of this hundred-year pandemic. We are humbly just getting started.

Image credit: Daniel Thomas/Unsplash

Since the introduction of vaccination options to limit the spread and risk of the pandemic, American businesses have had a global advantage to keep their most valuable assets, their people, healthy. This has been a major contributor to the strong recovery of our economy, keeping business enterprises open and running. As business operators know, if they don’t have the people needed to serve customers, or produce or distribute products, they will shut down or scale back.

Therefore, the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) and Social Venture Circle (SVC) call on all businesses operating in the United States to require their workers to be vaccinated for COVID-19, except for workers medically ineligible, and to require face coverings when appropriate to protect the public and our economy. For workers not eligible for vaccination or refusing to be vaccinated, businesses should require of those workers frequent routine testing for the virus or to be isolated from others. In addition to mandatory vaccination to limit transmission in places of work and dramatically reduce hospitalization and mortality, ASBC and SVC call for the required use of masks in all workplaces in those settings recommended by the CDC or local authorities.

The science indicates that viruses can mutate into ever more dangerous variants which means that vaccinations are more than a personal choice. Vaccinations limit potential spread and mutations, making not just those being vaccinated, but all of society safer. As the virus continues to surge, especially in areas with lower rates of vaccination, getting vaccinated is now mission critical to keep ourselves, our businesses, and our communities healthy as the Delta variant spreads, hospitalizations rise uncontrollably, and other variants are increasingly expected to emerge.

The role of American businesses to control this public health risk is clear to us and to our members because we are stakeholder focused. Only by mandating vaccination for our employees who are medically eligible can we fulfill our obligation to look after the interests of all of those who make us successful. That is a basic premise of stakeholder engagement. With the medical evidence for the safety of vaccine options far outweighing the risks and considering the ease of getting vaccinated, it is no longer acceptable to reject the public good that is within reach via mass vaccination.

In addition to the moral imperative to take care of one another by getting vaccinated, the economic risk to American businesses of not mandating vaccination is too great because it’s clear that we will return to the shut-downs that shuttered businesses of all kinds, snuffed out the dreams of entrepreneurs, cost millions of people their jobs, and necessitated trillions of dollars of government spending to recover. American businesses cannot afford to repeat that.

In March of 2020, we made the early decision to close our office in Washington, DC, to help keep our employees safe and at home. Like others, we quickly established new ways of working to help our employees care for loved ones. And thanks to the Biden administration as well as state and local government, we have enjoyed access to vaccines as soon as they became available locally. Among our staff, 100 percent who are eligible have already been vaccinated. For our in-person December conference we are requiring all attendees to be vaccinated, and a reasonable accommodation to participate virtually will also be available for those who are ineligible or refuse. And in the event we re-open our office, for the safety of all we will require vaccination for all who enter, whether you are an employee or a visitor.

Our collective survival relies on this simple health measures, similar to the measures we’ve taken successfully for so many other viral diseases, and we owe it to one another and for the continued success of American business to take the most responsible course of action available.

Image credit: Jakayla Toney/Unsplash

U.S. Representative Mark Takano (D-CA) launched the first bipartisan “Energy Storage Caucus” in Congress in 2019, with a strong focus on battery-type technology. That iteration of the caucus seems to have sputtered out, but now Rep. Takano is bringing the caucus back with a new Republican partner, and all signs point to a broader approach that embraces green hydrogen for energy storage, too.

The bipartisan push for green hydrogen and energy storage

Takano’s new partner is U.S. Representative John Curtis (R-UT), who has ample reason to go to bat for green hydrogen. Utah’s coal, oil and gas reserves are less than impressive, but the Beehive State does have a good measure of hydropower along with plenty of sunshine and wind.

The renewable energy angle provides Utah with a strong edge in the race to pry the global hydrogen economy loose from the fossil energy economy.

Hydrogen is a ubiquitous throughout the global economy. It is used for everything from zero-emission fuel to food processing and oil refining to ammonia production, pharmaceuticals and personal care products. Hydrogen can be transported by ship, truck railway or pipeline, and it can also serve as a large scale, long duration energy storage medium.

Unfortunately, hydrogen does not occur in nature. It must be extracted from something else. Currently, that something else is natural gas.

Hydrogen can also be extracted from plain water through a process called electrolysis, which involves applying an electrical current to unlock bubbles of hydrogen gas.

Considering Utah’s water, solar, and wind resources, the state could become a leading green hydrogen producer in the U.S.

No, not all Republicans hate renewable energy and energy storage

From a political perspective, Utah’s strong roster of Republican office holders makes it an unlikely candidate for national leadership on green hydrogen. Republicans in Congress became notorious for stifling wind and solar development during the Obama administration, and former President Trump further cemented his party’s reputation by withdrawing the U.S. from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, among other actions.

Nevertheless, in December 2019 Rep.Curtis introduced House Resolution 5409 in support of energy storage. Called the INVEST act for “Incentivizing New and Valuable Energy Storage Technology,” the bill would have amended the federal tax code to provide utilities with the ability to claim an up-front federal tax credit for new storage facilities, rather than spinning the credit out it years-long increments.

At the time, critics noted that hydrogen was among the laundry list of eligible energy storage technologies specified in the bill. That raised concerns of a loophole that would enable natural gas to wriggle through.

However, much has changed in the short time since the bill was introduced. Interest in green hydrogen began to pick up significantly last year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The pace of green hydrogen activity has continued to accelerate this year, with Utah front and center in the trend.

Utah happens to be the home state of ACES, the Advanced Clean Energy Storage project. Deploying hydrogen as an energy storage medium, ACES was billed as the largest facility of its kind when launched in May 2019, just a few months before Curtis introduced HR 5409.

ACES comes under the umbrella of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and Magnum Development, and it should go a long way towards allaying fears of a natural gas loophole.

In a joint press release, Magnum and Mitsubishi stated that “the ACES initiative will develop 1,000 megawatts of 100 percent clean energy storage, thereby deploying technologies and strategies essential to a decarbonized future for the power grid of the Western United States.”

In the same press release, Mitsubishi touted its role in transitioning coal power plants to natural gas, but the company also made it clear that the next step is replacing natural gas with green hydrogen. Mitsubishi has recently introduced a new hydrogen package for power generation that is based on green hydrogen production and storage. The package also includes a gas turbine designed to integrate green hydrogen into the fuel stream gradually. Once a sufficient supply of green hydrogen is available, it replaces natural gas entirely.

Magnum comes into the picture as the owner and controller of five massive salt caverns that are currently used to store liquid fuels in bulk. The green hydrogen partnership will complement three other clean energy features of the ACES project, including compressed air technology as well as large-scale flow batteries and solid oxide fuel cells.

A new bipartisan pitch for energy storage

Utah is also the scene of Mitsubishi’s first installation of its so-named “Hydaptive” green hydrogen package at a power plant. Based on the success of that trial, Mitsubishi currently has similar projects planned for power plants in New York, Virginia and West Virginia.

All in all, Utah is emerging as America’s secret weapon in the fight to accelerate global decarbonization, and Rep. Curtis seems determined to overcome his party’s obstructionism.

Last week, Curtis joined Rep. Takano in a press release launching the new iteration of the bipartisan Energy Storage Caucus, and he did not mince words.

“I am pleased to announce the Bipartisan Congressional Energy Storage Caucus with my co-chair Congressman Takano— to encourage the production of American clean energy and better environmental stewardship. Investing in the deployment of American technology and resources around the world will reduce global emissions and improve our national security. Storage can, and should, be a part of this effort,” Curtis said.

Interestingly, Takano appears to have shifted his messaging to accommodate Utah’s emerging position in energy storage technologies that do not involve conventional batteries.

In a press release launching the first iteration of the Energy Storage Caucus, Takano focused his attention on battery-type energy storage, emphasizing that “battery energy storage is the future of renewable energy."

“We must explore battery energy storage and invest in it to improve America’s energy infrastructure,” Takano also said, while thanking his former co-chair Representative Chris Collins (R-NY) for “helping me lead the Advanced Energy Storage Caucus to advocate for policies that promote battery storage technology.”

Takano has taken a far more expansive approach with the new bipartisan Energy Storage Caucus. Last week’s press release mentioned the need for “robust battery storage technology,” but Takano carefully refrained from including any reference to batteries in his quotable statement.

Curtis also took a broad approach, emphasizing the key role of energy storage in decarbonizing the global economy while supporting national security goals, without mentioning battery-type technology.

Republicans in Congress have a long way to go before they can take any credit for kicking the U.S. energy transition into high gear, but virtually every state in the nation has the resources needed to carve out space in the green hydrogen sector. If money talks — and it does — Utah will not be the only traditionally “red” state to help kick the U.S. into the sustainable hydrogen economy of the future.

Image credit: Arturo Rivera/Unsplash

Pay for the product, not the packaging. Start filling bottles, not landfills. These are just a few of the value propositions Algramo, a Chile-based company, has introduced in recent years. In business for a decade, Algramo is a circular economy game-changer … and still very much on the rise.

Algramo provides a self-service, cashless way to buy big brand cleaning products in a more sustainable way. Algramo stations – which are smart dispensing systems, similar to vending machines – are set up at retail locations, including Walmart, throughout Chile. The process is simple: users download an app, charge their account, bring their reusable bottle to an Algramo dispenser and then select how much of a cleaning product they wish to buy.

Having just secured $8.5 million in funding from Mexico’s Dalus Capital, with participation from Angel Ventures, FEMSA Ventures, Volta Ventures, Impact Assets, University Venture Fund, Century Oak Capital and Closed Loop Partners’ Ventures Group, Algramo says it will launch pilot stations around the world.

Projects are already underway with retailers and distributors in Mexico, Jakarta, London and in New York locations to set up new stations. Algramo’s supply chain management initiative requires careful handling to promote its sustainable, bulk-refilling solution while also not upending existing supplier-retailer relationships.

Algramo’s initiative and distribution model captured the attention - early on - of some consumer packaged goods (CPG) giants, like Unilever, Nestlé and Colgate-Palmolive. As reported in a recent TechCrunch article, Algramo, in its early stages, had to make the business case to the big retailers and consumer grands of the world to provide bulk products in refillable containers to help consumers, the planet and these companies’ bottom lines. Recently, these large corporations have started to listen and respond at a local level – and have partnered with other companies to launch similar services in the process.

In the interview with Techcrunch, Algramo CEO José Manuel Moller said, “…we’re integrating into their supply chains, working with the retailers and the brand[s] so they don’t disrupt existing relationships. And actually, ordering the product in bulk saves them about 60 percent of the space.”

In addition to saving space by offering reusable bottles, any packaging costs, which can range from 10 to 30 percent of the product cost, are removed.

The result is a scalable way to bring together big brands and big retailers while saving customers money and mitigating single-use plastic waste. When customers refill their “smart reusable packaging” at an Algramo dispenser, they are rewarded with increased savings.

To date, Algramo’s funding has totaled about $11 million. This invested capital is supporting three key socially responsible investment themes: Climate innovation through mitigating plastic waste; business productivity by offering a circular economy solution; and improving consumer accessibility by promoting inclusion and enabling consumer access to better priced, big brand products.

Once the pilot stations launch and if they operate successfully, Algramo can will be able to prove that its circular economy model performs well – even within the well-established, albeit ripe for disruption, retail and CPG sectors. The success of these global stations could increase Algramo’s valuation and should help to attract additional funding in the near future. Then, perhaps within the next several years, Algramo stations will become more prevalent, offering more consumers better priced goods in a way that significantly reduces plastic waste.

This could be a likely win for everyone involved.

Image credit: Algramo/Instagram