Acres for America Program to Improve Urban Ecosystems in Bridgeport, Chicago, Portland, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.
Bentonville, Ark. – April 27, 2012 – Walmart’s Acres for America program is conserving an additional 300 acres of land to protect and restore wildlife habitats in the heart of our nation’s cities, including Bridgeport, Chicago, Portland, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. The announcement is part of an ongoing effort to conserve the nation’s most precious lands and natural resources to benefit people, wildlife and local economies.
Since 2005, Walmart has worked with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to establish Acres for America, a 10-year, $35 million commitment to purchase and preserve one acre of wildlife habitat in the U.S. for every acre of land developed by the company. The program has protected critical habitats for birds, fish, plants and wildlife and far surpassed its original goals, becoming one of the country’s most effective conservation partnerships. To date, Acres for America has invested in projects in 25 states and the District of Columbia, protecting nearly 680,000 acres.
“Walmart is proud to help protect and restore important natural habitats in communities that we serve,” says Jennifer May-Brust, Walmart vice president of realty supplier management and compliance. “The Acres for America program exemplifies our commitment to sustainable development as it directly links our land use to land preservation. Our urban restoration projects often times involve volunteers, including our customers and associates, and provide a way for people to connect with and enjoy nature right in their backyard.”
In 2011, Walmart expanded its Acres for America investments to include urban conservation projects in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles. The awards announced today will support additional projects in Bridgeport, Chicago, Portland, San Diego, and Washington, D.C.
“Protecting and restoring streams, woodlands and other natural places in our urban areas is a vital part of the Acres for America mission,” said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF. “Walmart’s support of these projects directly benefits areas that are home to both wildlife and people, and makes our cities more livable for everyone.”
The 2012 Acres for America urban projects are:
Pequonnock River Fish Passage, Bridgeport, Conn.
Partner: Connecticut Fund for the Environment/Save the Sound
This project in the heart of Bridgeport will install a fish ladder in the Pequonnock River, providing safe passage for river herring, trout, sunfish, eel and perch through a highly urbanized area. It will mitigate the damaging effects of a highway construction project that paved a part of the stream channel.
Eggers Grove Marsh Restoration, Chicago, Ill.
Partner: The Field Museum/Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Volunteers will remove invasive species, sow native plant seeds and maintain trails in Eggers Grove, a 205-acre preserve on the Illinois-Indiana border. The marsh and woodland along Lake Michigan is a rare example of the region’s natural ecosystem and is an important habitat for migratory and nesting birds.
Nyberg Creek Wetland Restoration, Portland, Ore.
Partner: Wetlands Conservancy
The Nyberg Creek Wetland lies along I-5, the major transportation corridor in Oregon. This 13-acre project will involve community volunteers in enhancing habitat quality in the wetland by restoring native vegetation, which will benefit fish and bird populations in the Tualatin River system.
Otay Delta Habitat Restoration, San Diego, Calif.
Partner: River Partners
Located near several trail systems and the Bayshore Bikeway, this project focuses on 65 acres where the Otay River meets San Diego Bay. Community, state, federal and local agencies will collaborate on a restoration of the area that will benefit local residents and four endangered species of birds.
In addition to these four projects, Walmart will award an additional grant to support the Anacostia River Revitalization Fund in Washington, D.C. The Fund supports projects that improve water quality, benefit public health and local economic development, and provide outdoor recreation and volunteer opportunities in the nation’s capital. Partners include the Washington, D.C. Department of the Environment and federal agencies.
States with lands protected or restored under the Acres for America program include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming, in addition to the District of Columbia. When complete, the Acres for America program is expected to be one of the largest public-private partnerships in the U.S., and the first time a company has directly tied its land-use footprint to land conservation.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at 10,130 retail units under 69 different banners in 27 countries. With fiscal year 2012 sales of $444 billion, Walmart employs about 2.2 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://www.walmartstores.com. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.
Cranberry Walmart Honors Longtime Employees
The count holds steady at the Walmart Supercenter in Cranberry Township, which currently employs a little more than 400 area residents.
But standing at the front of the line is Patti Allison, 52, of Zelienople, employee No.1. After 20 years of operations at the site on Route 19 — an anniversary celebration was held on March 17 — 30 associates have earned the distinction of gold badges for two decades of service. Among them was Allison.
“She’s a stellar employee,” said store manager Sean Sullivan, who’s been with this store for five months. “She sets the example. She makes my job really easy.”
Today, Allison is one of three associates in the receiving department who make sure shipments from 25 food vendors are accurate and fresh.
“I make sure that what’s in the box matches the invoice and that they pull damaged and outdated products,” she said.
Those vendors then stock the shelves.
“They’re like 25 children, but I keep them all in line,” she laughed. “They’re good guys.”
Sullivan, 47, of Bethel Park, sees Allison as someone who always sets high expectations.
She had no idea she would be celebrating a milestone anniversary with the retail chain when she began.
“I thought I would stay for a little while,” she said.
For nine years, she had worked as a stay-at-home mom. There were thousands of applicants, she recalled, and she had no retail experience.
But three interviews later, the part-time cashier position was perfect “so that my husband would appreciate me.”
Later on, her salary helped send her children to college.
I Worked at Walmart for Two Years and I Actually Really Liked It
I’m a former Walmart associate.
Not only did I work there once, but I liked the job so much that I actually returned for three more tours of duty during college.
About six months before I started, a Walmart opened near my hometown to fanfare from a number of residents and scorn from a majority of local businesses.
When my summer job ended, I decided to apply to Walmart. The first thing you notice is the application: it’s time consuming and actually difficult.
Okulski now covers transportation for Business Insider.
I sat at a kiosk in the store for about an hour filling out a questionnaire which mainly was intended to see how I would react in certain situations that employees would face, such as confrontations with coworkers and observing theft.
Soon after, I got a call back for an interview, which was also surprisingly grueling. I passed and was soon onboard as an associate in the automotive department, starting around $9 per hour. But before I hit the sales floor, I spent the majority of my first few days in the training room on computer terminals, learning proper store practices. They are actually useful, and if you pay attention, you learn a great deal about being on the floor.
Walmart Adds Solar to Six Stores in Colorado Reaching 100 Installations in US
The Centennial State, Colorado just got another 100, Walmart’s 100th solar installation in the U.S. Through a partnership with SolarCity the retailer recently completed six new solar projects. The most recent installations total two megawatts spread over six stores along Colorado’s front range. Three of the solar stores are in Westminster. The other solar installations are on stores in Lakewood, Highlands Ranch and Lafayette. “The solar installations will provide up to 20 to 30 percent of each location’s total electric needs,” said Walmart spokesperson Brooke Buchanan. The arrays will generate nearly 3 million kilowatt-hours annually the equivalent of powering more than 225 homes.
Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting Survey and Wrap Up
It has been seven years since our company made a bold and ambitious commitment to become a global leader in sustainability, and in that short span we have accomplished several milestones few thought were possible.
During yesterday’s global sustainability milestone meeting, associates and leaders from across the company gathered to discuss the next generation of sustainability at Walmart. The secret of our success thus far has been a persistent passion on the part of our associates, suppliers and other partners to find innovative solutions to the sustainability challenges facing our world and business. As we work to globally scale our numerous pilot projects, our future success rests with how well we can inspire the surge which will require a renewed commitment from all of us to make sustainability a focus in our business decisions both large and small.
As part of the milestone meeting we heard from Chief Financial Officer, Charles Holley about the business case for sustainability and leaders like Mike Duke, Bill Simon, Rosalind Brewer and Doug McMillon who each stressed the importance of sustainability in every aspect of our business.
If you participated in the milestone meeting by video conference, webcast or in person, please provide your feedback by completing a brief survey. A replay of the meeting is available at www.walmartstores.com/sustainability.
Thank you for the role you will play in the next generation of sustainability.
Wal-Mart ‘On Track’ To End Landfill Waste by 2025
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it is on track to meet many of its goals for making its operations more environmentally sustainable, but it fell short of some benchmarks. Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke said in June that environmental sustainability is one of the company’s top five priorities. Even small improvements in Wal-Mart’s operations can make a big difference because of the massive scale of its retail outlets and global supply chain. “Understandably, in some areas our progress is slower than we would like, and sometimes we hit temporary roadblocks,” Duke said in a statement Monday, as the company released an annual update of its environmental sustainability efforts.
PA Communities in Running for $2 Million in Hunger Relief from Walmart
Walmart’s Facebook campaign runs through April 30
HARRISBURG, Pa., April 17, 2012 – Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is inviting customers in Pennsylvania to join the fight against hunger as part of the company’s “Fighting Hunger Together” initiative, which will award $2 million in grants nationwide.
The company is holding a Facebook campaign to bring grants to local hunger relief programs through online voting at http://apps.facebook.com/
- Scranton-Wilkes-Barre: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1431 - Lehigh Valley Area: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1551 - Erie Area: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1571 - Johnstown Area: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1591 - York-Hanover Area: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1701 - Reading Area: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1761 - Philadelphia Metro Area: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1881 - Williamsport Area: http://apps.facebook.com/
walmartfighthunger/profile/ 1911
Voting ends April 30. The winning community will receive $1 million to fight hunger, and another $50,000 will be given to each of the 20 communities with the next highest amount of support.
It’s estimated that over the course of a year, nearly 49 million Americans won’t know where their next meal is coming from. While the need to combat food insecurity is ever present, spring is a particularly difficult time as the season traditionally brings a decrease in food donations, leaving hunger organizations with limited resources and leaving clientele vulnerable.
About Philanthropy at Walmart:
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are proud to support initiatives that are helping people live better around the globe. In May 2010, Walmart and its Foundation made a historic pledge of $2 billion through 2015 to fight hunger in the U.S. The Walmart Foundation also supports education, workforce development, environmental sustainability, and health and wellness initiatives. To learn more, visit www.walmartfoundation.org.
A Small Businesswoman Strikes a Deal With a Retail Titan
Ask those who have worked with Emily Gottschalk to describe the Cherry Hill entrepreneur, and the compliments gush forth. Market savvy. Upbeat. Focused for success. Trustworthy. But last week, the identifier that seemed to thrill Gottschalk the most was 011891. It was the SKU, or stock keeping unit, on a DVD Gottschalk plucked from a display Wednesday at the Walmart in Somerdale, Camden County. “In this bin, I have over 85 titles,” Gottschalk said with the kind of pride expected of someone actually starring in the DVDs she markets. That bin represented the latest accomplishment for a young company that already has had an impressive run: a deal to sell TGG’s DVD creations — most of them movies from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s and old television shows such as The Three Stooges — in 1,300 Walmart stores, predominantly along the East Coast and in the Midwest.
Emmaus Coach is in a Contest That Could Save Lives
Emmaus girls basketball coach Bill Dunn understands there’s more to life than winning games and hanging championship banners.
As the pastor of young adults at Faith Church in Allentown, Dunn preaches the importance of things beyond the X’s and O’s of everyday life.
Dunn, though, remains a competitor who likes to win and he’s in a nationwide contest that could not only make him a big winner, but save thousands of lives in the process.
Dunn has a product called Humankind Water and it’s involved in an American Idol-styled contest that allows people across the country to vote and help get it on the shelves at Walmart.
And if Humankind Water is sold at Walmart, Dunn said 100 percent of the profits will go toward the purchase of wells and filtration systems that will provide safe drinking water to impoverished countries around the world.
Dunn, who is involved in the project along with T.J. Foltz of Philadelphia, knows first-hand about how the lack of safe drinking water is a greater crisis than most of us know.
As one of the founders and directors of the Push the Rock organization, Dunn has traveled to close to 50 countries for missionary work and has seen the conditions and struggles of thousands of people.
He was there in earthquake-ravaged Haiti where more than 200,000 people died and Dunn said cholera, which is linked to lack of safe drinking water, is the problem that has lingered long after the cleanup began.
“The earthquake was devastating in itself and everybody has seen those pictures, but I was there a year later and what was crazy was that more people were dying because of the effects of poor drinking water than any other reason,” Dunn said.
The numbers are staggering.
Dunn cited United Nations stats that say that approximately 10,000 kids worldwide die per day from issues related to lack of safe drinking water.
Bad water kills more children daily than AIDS, malaria, measles and warfare combined.
A Small Businesswoman Strikes a Deal With A Retail Titan
Ask those who have worked with Emily Gottschalk to describe the Cherry Hill entrepreneur, and the compliments gush forth. Market savvy. Upbeat. Focused for success. Trustworthy.
But last week, the identifier that seemed to thrill Gottschalk the most was 011891.
It was the SKU, or stock keeping unit, on a DVD Gottschalk plucked from a display Wednesday at the Walmart in Somerdale, Camden County.
In bar-code language, that SKU stands for TGG Direct, the home-entertainment distribution company Gottschalk founded in 2006 to compete in an industry dominated by such behemoths as Disney, Warner, and Universal Studios and less-familiar independent companies such as Echo Bridge and Mill Creek Entertainment.
“In this bin, I have over 85 titles,” Gottschalk said with the kind of pride expected of someone actually starring in the DVDs she markets.
That bin represented the latest accomplishment for a young company that already has had an impressive run: a deal to sell TGG’s DVD creations — most of them movies from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s and old television shows such as The Three Stooges — in 1,300 Walmart stores, predominantly along the East Coast and in the Midwest.
It’s a big score for a 12-employee operation. TGG expects close to $20 million in annual sales this year, $10 million through Walmart, where its DVDs will sell for $5 each.
“To be in 1,300 stores is enormous. … My head spins sometimes,” an enthusiastic Gottschalk said.
That from a seemingly unflappable 51-year-old mother of two who already has performed feats many would think improbable for a small-business owner — including talking her way into a licensing deal with MGM Home Entertainment a few years ago to secure the rights to 75 movie titles.
