evolución Innovations Inc.
Corporate Social Responsibility Report
evo Inc. 2006
Leadership Statement:
Corporate Social Responsibility is something that many of us have been involved in; I would guess, however, that few of us out there knew that there was such a technical sounding term for just doing our part in making the world a better place. In essence, CSR is just the idea of expanding the socially and environmentally beneficial activities of our personal lives to the largest entity in the private sector: the corporate world. Accordingly, we at evo have sought to run the company conscientiously and with the same degree of citizenship and ethical considerations that we expect in our private lives. Beyond this there have been two major areas that we have focused extra effort on; at-risk youth and the environment. After 5 years of incredible growth and a ton of change, we are more committed than ever to these issues that we feel are a large part of who we are.
Working with at risk youth and doing our part to protect the environment have been part of the culture since day one. Those who know us well and have followed us on a local level have witnessed first hand our efforts to give back. However, it’s never something that we’ve put out there for the public, until now. CSR documents have circulated within the company, progressive policies have been put in place and we have received some great PR but it’s not until now that we have given our customers and business partners a good look into what we are actually doing. We hope that making our CSR actions and ambitions more visible will provide inspiration to those who are seeking to help facilitate positive changes.
Corporate Social Responsibility isn’t just a marketing term meant to appeal to the people that care. It’s something that permeates everything we do. Offering paid days off for employees looking to volunteer and setting up ski and snowboard trips with The Seattle Children’s Home, PSKS and New Horizons are a couple of ways we have organized and been involved on a local level. Providing incentives to “reduce our environmental footprint” by subsidizing bike riders, biodiesel and hybrid vehicles as well as shutting down the business for a ½ day to pick up trash around the neighborhood are additional examples where we have practiced what we preach. At the same time, we will never be the company placing ourselves on a pedestal. Like all, we have plenty areas in which we can improve but improving is the key and we promise that we aren’t sitting still, not for a moment.
Stay tuned for much more including some pretty innovative concepts coming to a checkout near you.
Cheers,
BP
Executive Summary
Corporate Social Responsibility Mission:
To maximize our positive influences and minimize any negative effects on all of the communities within which we live, work, and play.
The following report summarizes evo Inc.’s standpoint on corporate social responsibility as well as practices and goals for the present and future. The report is broken into three sections: the first section reviews who and what evo is as well as the values that underlie the company’s day to day business and social interactions. The second section is devoted to stakeholder relations; how evo interacts with its employees, customers, suppliers and the community within which the company operates. The final section is covers evo Inc.’s stance on the environmental issues that affect the business.
1. evo Inc.’s guiding forces:
What is evo Inc.?: evo is a company dedicated to the promotion of the outdoor lifestyle associated with the sports it represents. The evo lifestyle also includes a laidback fusion of work and play with a deep consideration for the satisfaction of all stakeholder wants and needs. The company is focused on constantly improving all aspects of the business and making itself the premier retail destination for all those with an interest in the sports it represents.
The Great Eight: These are the core values behind evo Inc.’s operations; they are the principles that, consciously or not, guide the company’s day to day interactions. The Great Eight are: balanced ambition, authenticity, evo-style, respect, leadership, credibility, communicación and evolución.
2. Stakeholders:
Employees: evo company policy supports hiring locally and finding employees who share the company’s values. Employees are encouraged to take part in all of the sports represented by evo as well as to find up-and-coming sports, such as kite boarding, for the company to support. The company owns a boat for wakeboarding in the summer and a cabin for skiing and snowboarding in the winter; both are open to all employees. Salaries, wages and benefits packages are all competitive.
Customers: evo is committed to providing an unparalleled customer experience both through the internet and at the store. The store has an open, laidback feeling that mirrors the evo lifestyle. The Timesinfinity gallery, attached to the retail space, provides a unique experience for customers and staff alike. Because evo employees participate in the sports that the company represents, customer service representatives have an in-depth working knowledge of the products sold that goes beyond the product information provided by suppliers.
Suppliers: While evo is not yet large enough to hold a significant amount of influence over its product suppliers, the company is still willing to say what it is that it respects and what it would like changed. As the company grows it expects to be able to exert more force over and instigate more change in the suppliers, whose practices it sees problems with but, for now, evo will suggest improvements where it cannot demand them. evo also supports local companies such as Casual Industrees and CWB.
Community: Although evo Inc. supports the community through local purchasing and hiring, the company’s commitment goes beyond that. Employees are given paid time off to volunteer with the organizations of their choice and the company as a whole participates in a semi-annual cleanup of the Fremont neighborhood. The Timesinfinity gallery was designed to serve the Fremont community as a whole as well as to blend the company, the sports it represents and the surrounding cultures. evo is in the design stages of building and improving green spaces surrounding the store which will be visual and environmental improvements for the surrounding neighborhood and community.
3. Environmental Issues:
Retail Space:Designed with a minimal environmental footprint in mind, evo Inc.’s first brick and mortar store, made improvements on the chicken frying warehouse that had previously occupied the space. Instead of tearing the original building down evo saved money and eliminated waste by making improvements to the building shell that was already in place. The interior uses renewable resources, such as bamboo, and recycled building materials; the toilets are dual-flush and low flow, and more windows with low-emissivity glass have been added to increase natural lighting and decrease energy use.
Carbon Footprint: evo Inc. is strives to minimize its environmental footprint and has put into motion programs to reduce its carbon emissions. Now in the design stages are processes to offset the harmful carbon that evo contributes to the surrounding environment. evo is also working with CarbonFund.org to produce some employee and customer informational packets on reducing carbon emissions.
Projects and goals: evo is in the planning stages of several environmental improvement projects. A full description of each of the projects can be found at the end of this report.
· Product lifecycle extension
· Cardboard consumption reduction and recycling
· evo block party/ Fremont clean-up
· Green spaces
· Community bike racks
What is evolución Innovations Incorporated?
What exactly does evo Inc. mean? The answer to the question will depend on whether it comes from a customer, partner, or employee. However, evo Inc.’s foundation is built on core values that should shine through regardless of the relation of the person associated with us.
Culture
From the beginning, evo Inc. has promoted the all-important balance between lifestyle and the workplace. In fact, working for evo Inc. is a lifestyle; it means being involved in and promoting the progression of the sports the represents. It is being respectful to all individuals, the industry and community. It is also about having a sense of humor and being able to laugh at past mistakes and quirky individualities.
Working for evo Inc. is a morning session on the lake before putting in a hard days work. It is also spending an extra hour with the local non-profit that won’t necessarily add to the bottom line. While the company aggressively pursues new opportunities, evo Inc.’s culture is about balanced ambition that will continue to reward well-rounded people as well as fuel a successful company.
Creatively Exceeding Expectations
evo Inc. is dedicated to creatively exceeding its customer and partner expectations. Every company vows to exceed expectations, but doing it with evo Inc. Style means making a person stop and take note. It is doing things in a way that is not only unexpected, but creative to the point that it makes evo Inc. stand out from all other companies. Creatively exceeding expectations is taking off for a powder day to ski with a local rep and skydiving with the sales manager from the local wakeboard manufacturer. It means bending over backwards to not only maintain a solid relationship, but to nurture that relationship on all levels. evo Inc. is always thinking of new ways to add value and character to the evo Inc. experience.
Communicación
Whether it is with a customer, business partner or fellow employee, communication is an obligation. Hoping an issue works itself out is not good enough. Everyone makes mistakes and without them we can’t learn and grow in the ways that we should. Communicating at every level from the important to trivial issue is central to building and nurturing solid, trusting relationships.
evolución
Everyone at evo Inc. understands that there is always a better way to do it. 20 years down the road, after 1000 tweaks to the process, there is still a better way. After getting 100% customer/partner satisfaction, there is still a better way. evo staff needs to always focus on humility and realize that the company needs to evolve as quickly as the sports it represents. The company also understands that no one is immune to stagnation and that it has to nurture and stimulate the young, creative, entrepreneurial spirit that makes evo what it is.
Vision
evo Inc. will always strive to be the destination retail location for those seeking the progressive sports it represents. Not only will evo be involved in the promotion of the sports, it will always work hard to earn the respect of the core customer. This customer spends a large part of his/her day thinking about the perfect drop, endless glass, deepest powder, and the best transition. The core customer shares the same passion for the sports that evo does and is demanding of not only the product, but also the company that’s selling it.
The evo Inc. Great Eight
1. Balanced Ambition
Working for evo Inc. is about making a pledge to achieve a true balance between work and life outside of work.
2. Authenticity
evo Inc. team members are passionate about the sports they represent and promoting participation, progression, and the lifestyle surrounding those sports.
3. evo-Style
evo Inc. team members are dedicated to creatively exceeding customer and partner expectations in a style entirely unique.
4. Respect
evo Inc. is focused on being respectful to all individuals, the industries and community.
5. Leadership
evo Inc. strives add more value to the customer experience than its competitors and become the number one the destination retail location for those seeking the sports and lifestyle evo represents.
6. Credibility
evo Inc. works hard to earn the respect of the core customer.
7. Communicación
evo Inc. promotes a culture of respectful, objective-driven communication at every level, from important to trivial issues. Communication is central to building and nurturing strong, trusting relationships; communication is an obligation.
8. evolución
There is always a better way to do it and evo Inc. team members are continually measuring performance to find ways to improve.
Stakeholders
evo Inc. is committed to creating a positive impact within all of the communities that it is involved in. Stakeholders in the company include employees, customers and suppliers but also the people who live in the neighborhoods within which evo does business; most notably the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle. Areas of concern, however, extend beyond the social impacts of evo’s actions; the company is also committed to improving the environmental conditions and promoting sustainable practices.
Employees
“Employees are encouraged to run, jump and play outside as mother nature intended... This isn’t a suggestion, it's company policy”
evo. Inc. promotes personal and professional employee development, diversity, and empowerment, and regards employees as valued partners in business. evo. Inc. respects employees’ rights to fair labor practices, competitive wages and benefits, and a safe, harassment-free, family-friendly work environment. evo. Inc. strives to employ a diverse group of individuals who share evo. Inc.’s philosophy of fulfillment through contribution to society. evo. Inc. emphasizes that team members are valuable not only in what they offer to the company, but in what they offer to society around them. evo. Inc.’s Great Eight value statement outlines a culture and environment that the company commits to providing every employee.
evo’s work-lab office design encourages transparent and organic employee interaction. The team works alongside one another, and everyone's door is always open (because there are no doors). As a result, less human energy is wasted with placing and waiting on hold for interoffice phone calls, and employees get to know and understand each other naturally. The streamlined design reinforces that every employee is works towards common objectives, and what has followed have been enhanced cooperation, cross-functional learning, productivity and morale.
Does a shared work space imply anything about the company's respect for employee's individuality and imagination? It does. Employees are encouraged to run, jump and play outside as mother nature intended, and to dedicate themselves to the non-work related causes that drive them. This isn’t just a suggestion, it's company policy: In addition to paid holidays, all employees are given a minimum of one annual month of paid time off to travel, recreate and volunteer. And when business cycles allow, employees take powder days off anyway. evo. Inc. staff has access to the company’s ski cabin at Snoqualmie Pass and wakeboard boat, usually docked at Portage Bay. Salaries, incidentally, are competitive.
Other employee benefits include discounted membership fees and Sound Mind and Body Gym in Fremont and discounted monthly memberships to Ballard’s Stone Gardens.
evo. Inc. looks forward to building a healthier and even more satisfying work setting for each employee.
Customers
evo. Inc. identifies and responds to the needs, desires and rights of its customers and ultimate consumers, and strives to provide the highest levels of product and service value, including a strong commitment to integrity, dignity and customer satisfaction.
evo Inc. is proud to offer products that contribute to customers' health and well-being. Many of evo's products represent the lowest prices available both today and historically. evo is happy to help provide access to outdoor pursuits for more people than ever before.
evo. Inc. is committed to never selling or misusing customers' private information and steering clear of any deceptive marketing tactics. evo. Inc. enjoys enormous customer satisfaction, and in the event that a mistake is made with a customer, evo is committed to correcting it. evo’s customer service representatives get to the office as early as three hours before store opening to answer questions and assist customers from around the country. All employees participate in the sports they represent; giving the company an indepth knowledge of the products and provding a strong base for the company’s world-class customer service.
evo Inc. is committed to 100% customer satisfaction and offers a refund to any dissatisfied customer who returns their purchase in saleable condition. evo Inc. will often re-purchase used equipment as well. In the even that a customer wants to exchange a purchase that was not made in the store evo covers all shipping charges associated with the transaction.
The store in Fremont is designed to provide the most enjoyable customer experience possible. The atmosphere is open an relaxing with plenty of couches and even an armchair available to those who just want to sit for a while and take a load off. Like most retail stores the music is always playing but what sets evo apart is that its tunes are more than just ambient noise coming from a corporate mixtape CD. On the contrary evo’s music library is thousands of songs deep and is accessible to customers and employees alike. The store opens directly into to an in-house art gallery, which features a new exhibit each month, a place where customers can view the work of up and coming artists or just realx.
Community
Practices:
evo Inc. is committed to engaging and developing the communities within which it and its employees work and play. evo. Inc. intends to play a proactive, cooperative and collaborative role in making the community a better place to live and conduct business.
The company focuses on hiring locally and using local service providers whenever possible, and sees the new evoSeattle store as a great resource for fostering integration and collaboration in the community with grassroots music, art, performances and workshops.
Since 2000, evo. Inc. has donated products, cash and volunteer time to important local nonprofits and gives all employees three to five paid days of each year to volunteer with the community or environmental organization of their choice. Often evo employees volunteer in groups, getting the company name out and setting an example for other companies to follow.
Participation in Fremont’s annual Solstice Festival and the use of retail space in the Fremont store as an open art gallery have both served to increase the company’s presence in the local community.
Goals:
evo. Inc. looks forward to developing a more measured and formal response to targeted community social issues, and particularly in utilizing its business resources as unique levers for confronting challenges that are important to employees and customers.
With future projects the company hopes to further integrate itself with the surrounding community; fostering strong relationships with surrounding groups businesses and residents. These projects will involve the community in ways that embody as many of evo Inc.’s core values and goals as possible. Furthermore evo Inc. recognizes that for community building it is at least as useful to get community members involved as it is to provide services.
Meanwhile, the company continues to accept proposals for cause-oriented alliances from nonprofit associations and individuals.
Suppliers
evo Inc. recognizes that at this time it is not large enough to have much influence over its suppliers but evo is still committed to seeking out businesses whose ethics and practices align with its own. evo also recognizes, however, that this is not always possible as there are a limited number of suppliers and it needs to do business with them in order to survive, even if the companies’ values are not in perfect alignment. There are certain qualities that evo respects in the brands which it carries and it goes out of its way to highlight those brands. As evo grows in size and influence it hopes to be able to ask for similar practices from its other suppliers or possibly even demand them as a condition of doing business.
The qualities that evo Inc. seeks out in suppliers center around fair labor and environmentally conscious practices. Below are a couple examples of product providers whose practices evo supports and respects:
Connelly Wakeboards (CWB):
CWB is a local company, started out of Lynwood, Washington, that has grown to be one of the three or four largest wakeboard and wakeboard gear suppliers in the world. While every other large wakeboard manufacturer has outsourced production to China, all of CWB’s boards are made in the United States. This practice provides a great deal of employment to workers within the United States. Also, because the products are made on a smaller scale and within the country there are significantly fewer occurrences of product failure and warranty fulfillment occurs much more quickly, an advantage for customers who can spend more time riding and less time waiting for equipment. Finally, boards built in the United States do not have to be shipped as far as those coming from China, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Casual Industrees:
Casual Industrees is a Washington based clothing line that employs local artists for its graphics. This is beneficial for all of the reasons listed under CWB. Furthermore Casual Industries has used its art to get involved in the community. One example of this was 2006’s Ad hoc Hood Experiment, a show of one Casual Industree’s artist’s work that stopped through evo’s own gallery.
While these are a just a couple examples of the many socially responsible practices of evo’s suppliers there are also some companies whose business models or geographic locations encourage actions that evo does not agree with. Even now, however, evo is seeking ways to improve these practices. Below is one example of this
Line Skis:
Line Skis is based out of Burlington, Vermont. When evo purchases skis from line they are shipped to the evo’s warehouse in Auburn, Washington. If someone on the east coast then purchases the skis from evo they are shipped another 3000 miles across the country. evo would like to have some skis held on the east coast; eliminating 6000 miles of shipping.
Environmental Issues
evo Inc. is aware of its environmental impact and is committed to decreasing this impact and promoting sustainable practices. The company has never been cited with any regulatory misconduct or been involved in litigation. evo Inc. is an ethical business by just about any yardstick today, but defining, measuring and accounting for the range of potential impacts and externalities is important for making informed decisions tomorrow.
With these ideas in mind evo Inc. is dedicated to the pursuit of sustainable business practices and decreasing its carbon footprint. The company also realizes that these concepts are not necessarily at odds with the driving forces behind a successful business and that environmental sustainability can and often does benefit the bottom line.
Retail Space
After selling gear products exclusively online for the past six years, evo. Inc. moved to better serve customers and suppliers by opening its first brick and mortar store in October 2005. evo. Inc. sought a space that would produce a minimal environmental footprint, be friendly for the most employees to commute or walk to, be cost-efficient, and integrate its headquarters office.
The company's 10,000 square foot, two-story new office and evoSeattle store made green improvements on an old chicken-fryer warehouse in the Fremont district near downtown Seattle. New holes were knocked through the concrete walls to give better natural light and ventilation, and the spaces were covered back up with Low-E glass for better insulation. The new internal fixtures rely significantly on reclaimed wood, concrete, glass and light housings from the previous business. The updated landscaping is a low-water, drought-tolerant standard, and the floor is bamboo, a renewable resource. The four primary toilets in the new office and store are efficient, low-volume certified.
evo. Inc.'s headquarters office is, in essence, one big drawing board. The office is a single open work lab with 24 workstation tables and computers. All office employees work under the same overhead lamps, and there are no executive or other private offices, other than a company meeting room, that might prove inneficient uses of space or light. It's an efficient way to spend energy, and employees working in close proximity to one another is an efficient, organic way to collaborate in general. Employees, nearly all of whom are outdoor enthusiasts, have generally come to the company with mindset towards being frugal with energy, water and paper use.
As with consumption, evo. Inc. is committed to minimizing waste and harmful emissions. The company recycles all glass, aluminum, plastic and paper, and relies on post consumer recycled paper for its interoffice print jobs. Product packaging is recycled cardboard, and labels on the packaging urge customers to recycle again.
Carbon Footprint
Because of the nature of its business, evo. Inc. doesn't directly produce significant pollutants or emissions. The company uniquely recognizes, however, the potential impacts of employees’ auto emissions on their journey to and from work, and is accordingly developing incentives to promote efficient and clean employee transportation. The new company headquarters is located in diverse and pedestrian-friendly Fremont, a location selected largely because of its livability and ability to allow more employees to walk, bike and easily ride public transportation to. Employees that do drive are offered cash grants for purchasing bicycles or vehicles with clean biofuel engines. Founder Bryce Phillips sets the example by using a space-efficient diesel VW car he runs biodiesel on, though he steps it up further by leaving his car home most days and biking the 2 miles each way. The company is continually exploring measures for encouraging and assisting employees to travel efficiently and cleanly.
While evo Inc. is continusously striving to decrease its carbon emissions the company is also currently researching an offset program to fully alleviate the effects of its harmful emissions.evo has instituted several programs to decrease the emissions of employee commutes to and from work. These programs include incentives such as:
· $200 bike to work stipend for full time employees who bike at least three days a week (two in the winter)
· $200 bus stipend for full time employees riding the bus to work at least ¾ of the time
· $500 stipend for full time employees purchasing alternative fueled cars.
As a result of these programs combined with the healthy and outdoor oriented attitudes of evo’s employees and the company’s practice of hiring locally, commute emissions are quite low for an company of 30 people.
evo Inc. has begun work with Carbon Fund (www.carbonfund.org) to make its retail location, as well as employee commute to and from the office and retail space, carbon nuetral. This means decreasing evo’s carbon emissions and offsetting the harmful carbon (CO2 and equivalent greenhouse gasses) that it does produce.
According to Carbon Fund’s carbon footprint calculator, evo’s commute and retail/office space emissions total 27.8 tons annually. This figure is made up of 12.1 tons from employee commute (not bad for 30 employees) and 15.7 tons from retail and office space energy use. The building’s electricity provider is Seattle City Light which uses hydro power and produces no carbon emissions. The company is looking into satisfying its energy needs with electricity purchased from other renewable energy sources.
Appendix A
Projects and Goals
evo Inc. is in the development stages of several new projects to reduce wastes and emissions, not just within the company but within the entire community. They are listed below.
Product life cycles/ end of life:
evo Inc. which has its beginnings in used ski gear is committed to extending the life of the products that it sells. Finding ways to get more use out of the same products will decrease the amount of waste produced. The product life cycle extension project has been divided into two parts, hard goods such as skis and snowboards, and soft goods like clothing.
· Hard goods: evo is looking into a ski and board trade-in or buy back program to further expand its used gear business. This program would encourage people buying new skis to do more than just throw out their old ones. Furthermore it brings business into the store by providing an incentive for ski and board purchases. evo is also looking into a program with manufacturers that would reuse old products that are no longer rideable.
· Soft goods: The extension of soft good life is a bit more of a challenge for evo as the company specializes more in hard goods and there are already many groups locally and nation wide that do nothing but sell used clothing. Instead of becoming the next Buffalo Exchange or Plato’s Closet evo has decided to set up a donation bin in the store with coupons, such as 10% off, given for each donation. The clothes in the donation bin will be taken to Goodwill or another charity.
Cardboard Consumption:
evo Inc. is trying to find ways to reduce the use and waste associated with the cardboard used in shipping. Some ideas include:
- Size specific boxes, adult and child sized equipment shouldn’t be shipped in boxes of the same size.
- Printing “Please Recycle” on boxes shipped to customers.
- Using boxes made of recycled paper and wood products.
evo Block Party:
The evo Block party is a semi annual outdoor party put on by evo which involves a cleanup of the surrounding Fremont area. Community members are encouraged to join in and food and beverages will be served. The film, “An Inconvenient Truth” may be screened at the store in conjunction with the evo Block Party.
Green Space:
Green spaces in urban areas are important for many reasons. First, they affect environmental conditions through things such as rainwater absorption, heat reduction and carbon absorption. These effects are all much greater in urban areas, such as Fremont, due to the relatively small amount of green space present. Second, green spaces beautify the communities they are found in and often serve as gathering places for community members.
Over the second half of 2006 evo plans to improve the smaller green spaces already surrounding its building and possibly even convert the parking lot into a larger green space. Improvements may include the addition of flowers, grasses, trees and possibly even some interesting found objects which will add some interesting character to evo and the community as a whole.
Bike Racks:
It seems that on any given day there are three or more bikes in the back room. This confirms what we all know; evo employees ride their bikes… a lot. evo wants to share this with the community and encourage them to do the same. The company has already taken a step in that direction by putting a bike rack in front of the store and attaching bike locks that encourage employees to leave their bikes in front of the store, setting an example for the entire neighborhood.