SC Johnson releases its 2009 Public Report

SC Johnson 2009 Public Report

SC Johnson released its 2010 public report documenting the company's investments in people, the planet and the company's sustainable progress.

The report features CEO and Chairman Fisk Johnson and his company's charitable and environmental efforts around the world, including several in the Racine area. Titled “Investing in People, Investing for the Planet,” the annual public report further details the company’s  legacy and commitment to family values, progress against its environmental objectives and social responsibility efforts around the world. The report is  the privately-held company’s 19th year of publicly sharing information about the company’s goals, efforts and progress.

“Today’s consumers want more information about companies and the products they make,” said Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson, the fifth-generation leader of SC Johnson. “We’re committed to doing what’s right and sharing these details with our consumers is just one way we’re working to build consumer trust.”

The 2010 public report is a flip-book, divided in half to show the two sides of the company’s sustainability strategy. One side focuses on how SC Johnson is investing in people all over the world, while the other focuses on its efforts to protect the environment and improve its products.

According to an SCJ press release, the company has set specific goals every five years for the last two decades and is currently working against firm objectives to be achieved by 2011. SC Johnson set goals to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions and utilize alternative renewable energy sources. The 2010 public report details that 75 percent of these environmental objectives have been met:

• Water and emissions have been reduced by 54 percent
• GHG emissions in the U.S. have been reduced by 29.1 percent***
• GHG emissions worldwide have been reduced 31.6 percent

SC Johnson’s patented Greenlist process annually increases the proportion of our ingredients with the least impact on the environment and human health. Since 2001, the percent of “best” ingredients in the company’s products has increased 14 percent.

In addition, the company hopes to source 40 percent of total electricity usage worldwide from renewable energy by 2011. SC Johnson is close to meeting this goal early – currently, the company sources 39.7 percent of total worldwide electricity usage from renewable sources.

SCJ's charitable highlights from 2009 include:

• SC Johnson ranks sixth among the top 10 companies for disabilities and in the top 50 companies for diversity, according to the ninth annual list published by DiversityInc.com.
• SC Johnson Mexico is honored with the Socially Responsible Enterprise Award from the Mexican Center for Philanthropy (CEMEFI). SC Johnson is one of only 10 companies in Mexico that have received the award for nine years in a row.
• SC Johnson announces a 28-month partnership to benefit thousands of Rwanda pyrethrum farmers by helping them enhance the collection, drying and transportation of higher-quality pyrethrum flowers. The effort aims to enable farmers to increase their families’ income, as well as result in an increased supply of sustainable East African pyrethrum for key purchasers like SC Johnson. Pyrethrum is a natural insecticide that is used in some of SC Johnson’s pest control products such as its Raid and Baygon brand insecticides.
• SC Johnson is recognized as a top company for diversity by prestigious organizations including AARP (Best Employer for Workers Over 50), Working Mother magazine (100 Best Companies for Working Mothers), Hispanic Business Magazine (Top 60 Companies for Diversity), and the Human Rights Campaign (scoring 100 percent on the group’s Corporate Equality Index, which rates companies on their fair treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors).
• SC Johnson joins Kroger’s “Giving Hope a Hand” campaign to raise money to fight breast cancer. Working with Kroger, we pledge $280,000 to support non-profit organizations targeting this cause, and develop specially designed displays and packaging featuring Winnie Marquart, sister of Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson, sharing her breast cancer survivor story.
• SC Johnson employees contribute more than $855,253 to the annual United Way campaign in the United States. The SC Johnson Fund, Inc. matches the pledges dollar-for-dollar, meaning United Way-supported agencies receive more than $1.7 million from SC Johnson and its people.
• SC Johnson announces its first commitment through the Clinton Global Initiative. Focusing on malaria prevention, SC Johnson will roll out an information, education and communication program in partnership with the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. The program draws from SC Johnson’s experience combating malaria and will be designed to help NGOs, governments, businesses and community health groups support families at risk of contracting the disease.
• And throughout the year, from January through December 2009, SC Johnson companies were named to local employer-of-choice lists compiled by the Great Place to Work Institute, Hewitt Associates and others. Among the SC Johnson operations honored in 2009 were our companies in Argentina, Canada, Central America, Chile, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Turkey, United States and Venezuela.

SCJ's haritable efforts listed in the report include:

The Opportunities Industrialization Center is a worldwide organization of local affiliates that provide employment-related services to disadvantaged members of the community. The OIC of Racine County focuses on working with young adults to help them stay in school, graduate and learn job skills. The OIC’s Youthbuild Racine GreenTech Project provides hands-on, on-site training in green housing construction and rehabilitation. The program provides skills to participants while also increasing the supply of affordable, energy-efficient low-income housing. The program aims to transition at least half of participants into a construction trade apprenticeship and to graduate at least 75 percent in a GED or high school equivalency program. Since 1996, the SC Johnson Fund has provided $1,073,000 to the OIC of Racine County.

The mission of the Alliance for the Great Lakes is to “conserve and restore the world’s largest freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife.” To accomplish this mission, the Alliance works with residents, scientists, teachers, policymakers and others to preserve the Great Lakes. The program has several focus areas, including water quality, water conservation, habitat recovery, and education and outreach. The SC Johnson Fund has provided $66,000 in funding to the Alliance for the Great Lakes to develop a local Adopt-a-Beach program and to educate area youth about the importance of the Lake Michigan coastline.

Feeding America is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that help fight hunger in the United States. Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin feeds 330,000 people each year, including 105,000 children and nearly 33,000 seniors. The food bank distributes more than 12 million pounds of food and grocery products annually through 1,100 partner hunger relief agencies that serve the hungry directly. Each year, SC Johnson makes large product donations to Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, for example contributing more than 60,000 pounds of products such as Ziploc brand sandwich bags in 2009. In addition, since 1996 the SC Johnson Fund has provided $60,000 in financial contributions.

First Choice Pre-Apprenticeship Training provides low-income, unemployed and underemployed individuals in Racine with skills necessary for the construction and skilled trade industries. The goal is to improve employment opportunities by providing the skills needed to obtain familysupporting wages. Hundreds of workers have completed the program and secured area construction jobs, including employment on a major Milwaukee freeway interchange and on a new building at SC Johnson’s world headquarters. Since 2002, the SC Johnson Fund has provided $331,850 in funding to First Choice Pre-Apprenticeship Training, which is now managed by Human Capital Development Corp.

Habitat for Humanity works to provide housing that is decent, safe and affordable to low-income families around the world. Local Habitat affiliates work to select homeowners, organize volunteers and coordinate house building. Homeowners are selected based on need, ability to pay a mortgage and willingness to help participate in the homebuilding process. Homeowners and volunteers build under trained supervision. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 350,000 houses worldwide, providing shelter for more than 1.75 million people in 3,000 communities. Since 1989, the SC Johnson Fund has provided $255,000 in funding to Racine Habitat for Humanity to support the construction of new homes.

Conservation International is an international organization that works in more than 40 countries to protect the earth’s resources. CI is committed to helping societies adopt a more sustainable approach to development — by considering and valuing nature. CI has many focus areas, including watershed and forest protection, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration and ecotourism. CI’s mission includes empowering societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature. As part of this mission, over the next three years Conservation International plans to support the development of a green economy in Rwanda. CI hopes the economy will serve as a regional model for integrating ecosystem services into development and conservation. The SC Johnson Fund, in collaboration with SC Johnson corporate giving, provided $725,000 in support to Conservation International this past year, of which $100,000 will support their Rwandan green development program.

The Johnson Foundation at Wingspread is dedicated to serving as a catalyst for innovative public and private solutions. It operates the Wingspread Conference Center and hosts leading thinkers, conferences, workshops and seminars in an effort to have a great impact on environmental, community and other public policy issues. An entirely separate institution from the SC Johnson Fund and SC Johnson, the Johnson Foundation seeks to provide solutions on a regional and global basis in the areas of healthy environments and healthy local communities. Most recently, the Johnson Foundation announced the 2010 Freshwater Summit, a new initiative to focus attention on the emerging freshwater crisis in the United States, including pollution, water shortages, water infrastructure and water quality. In 2009, the SC Johnson Fund provided $3,000,000 in funding to the Johnson Foundation.

The Racine Art Museum (RAM) opened in 2003 as an outgrowth of the 69 year-old Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts (Wustum). RAM operates both locations, using Wustum as an education center and RAM as home to internationally recognized exhibitions of contemporary crafts. The museums are a popular destination for the 11 million residents of the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor and across the United States. In addition to six exhibition galleries, RAM has a world-class museum store and an art library. Both campuses offer a myriad of free community outreach programs and Wustum offers one of the largest studio arts programs of any Wisconsin museum. In the past 10 years, the SC Johnson Fund provided more than $5,700,000 to RAM’s building fund, endowment, exhibitions and education programs.

Download a PDF of SC Johnson's public report here.