Recent entries by Ashley Grosh

Sixty-four environmental nonprofits are a lot happier today. So is our Earth. And, so are we at Wells Fargo. I'm so proud to be the one to share the list of Wells Fargo's 2013 Environmental Solutions for Communities environmental grant recipients. We're awarding grants totaling more than $3 million today to 64 fantastic organizations across the country to do some great work to revitalize and strengthen our local communities.

Choosing the recipients wasn't easy. We received hundreds of applications from organizations across the country - all with a clear passion for the environment and great ideas to care for our planet. We would like to thank and congratulate all of the organizations that have participated in this competitive process, and we are confident that our selections enable a large number of environmental nonprofits to make a difference in our communities today and into the future.

This all was made possible starting last Earth Day, when we announced a new Environmental Commitment for Wells Fargo that included a $100 million Environmental Philanthropy goal to achieve by 2020. Wells Fargo's seventh CSR Report includes updates and details about how the company is on track to meet or exceed 13 of its 19 key sustainability goals that it aims to meet by 2020 or earlier. The goals cover areas such as environmental financing, community development, foreclosure prevention, supplier diversity, and community service. The report also highlights progress on five new goals in areas including environmental sustainability and military service members and veterans.

This grant program is funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation, and is administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), a leader in conservation,  through a $15 million, five-year relationship to promote environmental stewardship.  These grants will be distributed to organizations that focus on:  

• Sustainable agriculture and forestry
• Conservation of land and water resources
• Energy efficiency and infrastructure
• Community outreach and environmental education.

Now here's a list of our grant recipients. 

As we approach the big game this weekend, I wanted to highlight another hotly contested competition among clean technology companies that took place a few months ago known as the Cleantech Open. We’ve mentioned this organization before, as we have been national sponsors of the Cleantech Open since 2010, and I recently joined their board.

The Cleantech Open is the world’s largest cleantech business plan competition and accelerator in the world with some pretty impressive accomplishments since their inception in 2006, including:

·         A global network for more than 1,500 volunteers, partners and sponsors

·         727 U.S. Alumni companies have gone through their accelerator program and competed in the competition

·         40% of their alumni companies have collectively raised $750 million

·         The competition spans 50 states and 30 countries

·         NASA recently selected them to manage its $1.5M Centennial Challenge focused on generating solar energy systems to enhance robotic exploration of the moon.

The Cleantech Open network provides entreprenuers with opportunities to refine their technologies and business models and aligns them with key industry stakeholders and professionals. With 100 regional events and four larger events across the country, entreprenuers compete for prize money for new and emerging technologies in energy generation, distribution and storage, energy efficiency, green buildings, transportation, air, water, waste and much more. The winner receives a check for $250,000 in cash prize money in addition to nearly $1 million of in-kind services. This is a big boost for early stage companies and entreprenuers who are looking to make their next step towards commercialization.

The National Competition, held in the Silicon Valley, attracts more than 1,500 supporters and stakeholders along with media outlets. The stakes are high, the teams are put to the test to present their technologies to a group of elite judges in front of a public audience. Many teams prepare for an entire year for this opportunity. And then….the winner is announced!

For the second year in a row, the winner has come from the North Central Region… the 2012 Cleantech Open winner was a start up called HEVT out of Chicago. HEVT has developed high performance, high efficiency low cost electric motors. Their game-changing alternative to induction and permanent magnet motors are poised to empower the next generation of electric motors, making performance leaps with unmatched reliability and reduced cost volatility due to the use of zero rare earth minerals.

As a sponsor and supporter of the Cleantech Open, we want to congratulate the team at HEVT for taking home the big trophy in 2012. We also want to congratulate all the teams that participated in the accelerator process. We will be providing a $30 billion financial lending commitment to clean technology companies, as they accelerate us towards a greener economy. We are tracking the outcomes of this program to measure the impact that this accelerator is having on local communities by way of job creation and overall fundraising for the clean technology sector.

Keep up the hard work and great ideas, and if you haven’t become a fan of the Cleantech Open yet, you can follow them on Facebook to get information on how to go to an event your community.

To learn more and see highlights from the 2012 National Competition please see this video:

As you may know, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is helping us administer our environmental grants. Today, one of our projects was featured in the Sacramento Bee and we wanted to share the story with you here on the Forum. Please take a look and let us know what you think. 

So by now, everyone has heard about our environmental commitment announced earlier this year, right?

Well, you all may remember that it included a focus on encouraging stronger communities, which includes a whopping $100 million philanthropy commitment to nonprofits and universities by 2020. Part of this $100 million goal included a $15 million, five-year grant program we began with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) this year. This newly formed grant program, funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and administered by NFWF, received nearly 500 applications during the first round of funding in 2012.

As a result, we are in the process of funding and implementing more than 70, large scale, highly visible projects under the Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities grant program to promote sustainable agriculture and forestry conservation of land and water resources, restoration of urban ecosystems, clean energy, and infrastructure in select communities across the country.

And, now, it’s time for another round of funding. Due to the overwhelming response and interest for the program, we are extending the 2013 funding deadline to December 17, 2012. Any interested grantees can apply for funding through our program at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation application website, so please share the news with any great nonprofits you may know of.

In a nutshell: We are looking for community-based conservation projects to fund in select markets across the country that bring environmental, social and economic benefits to our communities. *** Here’s a tip: We give preference to projects that help underserved communities or include volunteers.

We are excited about the outcomes we are seeing in the programs we’ve funded earlier this year. We can’t wait to work with more nonprofits across the country working hard each day to make our communities healthier for future generations. To learn more about our other environmental grant programs please visit wellsfargo.com/environment.

We will be producing annual impact reports that will show the positive ripple effects of these grant programs, so keep an eye out on our blog for more on that.

Wells Fargo, Grid Alternatives, and Habitat for Humanity have struck an accord once again, delivering clean, affordable energy to people who need it most.

Many of you have been following the work we've done together with Grid Alternatives, an Oakland based nonprofit that has—working with community partners like Habitat and us—created a unique model of gifting solar electric systems to low-income families throughout California.

And it's a model that was just too good to keep in one state! So we put our construction thinking hats on, and tried to figure out how we could expand it to other areas and really strive for a national expansion. After many meetings and assessments, we concluded that Colorado—with its more than 300 days of sunshine a year and solar-friendly culture, consisting of more than 1,000 independent solar partners, a 30% Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) for the state by 2020, and willing Wells Fargo Green Team members—was the natural next place to roll out this incredible program.

As a result, Wells Fargo has provided Grid Alternatives with a $2MM grant over the next 5 years to help them expand to other markets across the country!

By the end of September 2012, we'd been able to make all of the pieces of the puzzle come together, and successfully installed solar PV systems on 12 homes just outside of Denver in Lakewood, Colo., on Habitat for Humanity homes.

While I was volunteering to install panels—and again while touring the site recently—so many things struck me about how unique this program is. Together, we successfully:

• Gained media attention from across the state
• Engaged with work force groups like Veterans Green Jobs, who volunteered and shared their expertise on site all week
• Worked with local officials, utilities, and solar industry leaders, who all came out to tour the site

As we continue to find new technologies being developed in our communities across the country, America continues to be the frontier for innovation. Many of these technological advancements are related to energy efficiency and the "built environment"—think lighting, windows, landscape, buildings software, and much more—and are being developed at colleges and universities across the U.S., on campuses like the University of California at Davis.

The UC Davis Energy Efficiency Center's (EEC) mission is to accelerate the development and commercialization of energy-efficient technologies and to train future leaders in energy efficiency. Sounds great! But why is this important? And why would Wells Fargo want to be a part of this?

To answer that, let's take a look at a few numbers. Buildings in the U.S. alone are responsible for more than:

• 40% of CO2 emissions
• 40% of energy consumption
• 13% of water consumption
• 15% of Gross Domestic Product per year [Source: USGBC.org]

What that means is there is tremendous opportunity to improve the efficiency of our current building stock. And by doing so, we reap all kinds of benefits:

• Employees and tenants are more productive.
• Health care costs are reduced from improved air quality and healthy food options.
• Jobs are created through the retrofit process.
• New technologies can be tested and deployed in the retrofit process.
• Overall energy costs can be significantly reduced for building owners.

Not bad, right?

Less than a year ago, the Clean Energy Trust expanded its Illinois clean technology competition to encompass eight Midwestern states. This newly formed collaboration supports clean technologies that are being developed at the university and early-stage company level. In just a few short months, the Clean Energy Trust formed a very high level board, received grant funding from the Department of Energy (DOE), raised $12 million in venture funding, and caught our attention at Wells Fargo, who became a sponsor of the annual event held last week in Chicago.

As a part of our commitment to supporting all aspects of a low-carbon or “greener” economy, we're dedicated to seeking out and participating in the top clean technology research and incubator programs across the country.

In the heart of the Windy City, where those eight states and their brilliant entrepreneurs were represented, I found a unique setting that's just the tip of the incubator program iceberg. Just looking at the Board—as well as the support from the DOE and even a keynote from Chicago's Mayor Rahm Emanuel—I knew I was in for an exciting competition.

We also heard from leaders in the industry: General Electric provided perspective on the growing global renewable market in places like Brazil and Turkey, the DOE focused on commercialization of new technologies through ARPA-E, and United Airlines discussed the advanced bio-fuel industry.

As one of the participating judges for the competition, I got to review 10 early stage companies and about 20 university team technologies, which ranged from bio-fuel applications, battery advancements, new wind technologies, energy efficient building software, and much more.

Now who are these modern day Thomas Edisons you ask?

If you weren't one of the 500+ that attended the Clean-Tech Investor Summit put on by the International Business Forum, Clean Edge, and Technology Partners, fear not! I will provide a quick recap of the two-day, power-packed summit.

Basically, this summit (Wells Fargo is one of the sponsors) brings together the industry's thought leaders—including representation from corporations, research, investment, entrepreneurs, and government leaders—all of whom share perspectives and are deeply engaged in the future and opportunities within the clean-tech landscape.

It also featured many special guests that presented on investment opportunity, the current energy landscape, the future of energy innovation, energy policy at federal and state levels, leadership among various corporations, and much more.

Before I share a few interesting details and tidbits from specific companies and speakers, here are a few high level themes present throughout the summit:

1. Optimism. There is tremendous growth opportunity in the clean technology landscape.
2. Jobs. Investment in clean technology is essential for moving the jobs needle.
3. Education. Consumer education and awareness around energy use is a necessity to increase energy efficiency.
4. Leadership. Corporations are part of the solution and can provide transparent best practices for others to follow.
5. Investment. One trillion dollars have been invested by the public and private sector in the clean tech space since 2004. In other words, this investment is real and here to stay!

Now, let me share a few examples of what some of the key speakers unveiled as they addressed the eager clean tech audience....

I would like to introduce Brenda Lindell, a 10 year + veteran employee of Wells Fargo, who serves as a project manager in our Technology and Operations group in Minneapolis, Minn. Brenda also serves as Co-Chair of our Wells Fargo Green Team in Minneapolis. Under her leadership, the Green Team has successfully supplied volunteers on many activities, grown relationships internally and externally, and supported "green" philanthropic investments made by Wells Fargo into the community.

Brenda incorporates her passion for Green and Team Member Engagement advocacy into her leadership at all turns. This year, she put together a few holiday "green" tips for her fellow Green Team members in Minnesota—tips we thought were just too good not to share with you!

So thank you, Brenda, for taking the time to help us think about the environment while we celebrate the holidays and ring in the New Year! (—Ashley)

Wells Fargo believes environmental stewardship is directly linked to the success of our communities, business and team members. Fundamental to our environmental stewardship is our network of Wells Fargo Green Teams, who create and engage our team members in all types of projects, from community events and volunteer programs to energy efficiency campaigns and water conservation at the office!

"Greener" Wrapping Ideas

Most wrapping paper is not recyclable. Paper products are the easiest to recycle, as long as they don't have chemical coatings. Glossy paper decorations and wrapping paper are often not easily recycled because their coloring and designs are made of complicated chemicals.

Some decorations or wrapping papers, though, use soy inks or other natural dyes, making them more recyclable. You can also try using old sweaters, scarves using Furoshiki wrapping techniques, newspapers, left over wrapping paper or tissue paper, old boxes and brown bags, maps, jars, and cans. Be creative!

It's rare that I recommend a TV show to our blog readers, but the truth is everyone should know where their trash goes.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, when Black Friday hit record sales numbers, I couldn't help but think about all of the consumption. That led me to wondering where all of our trash really does go. And that led me to stumble upon CNBC's Trash Inc: The Secret Life of Garbage. Take a minute to watch this series—the numbers will make you think twice about your footprint and your addition to landfills.

A few highlights that I learned: We hear a great deal about the massive growth overseas in India and China. China's GDP is growing at a staggering 8% per year. With this rapid growth, comes massive consumption. Today in Beijing, the existing landfills are only equipped to hold 60% of the regions daily trash accumulation. Therefore illegal landfilling has become a severe problem— throughout the country, open fields, forests, streets, neighborhoods are all covered in trash.

The resulting health implications of this trash are mounting—it affects air quality, crops, drinking water, and day-to-day life. Sadly, much of the trash also makes its way to the oceans, whose coral reefs are being taken over by plastic bottles and other trash.

Another staggering statistic in the US is that only 22% of trash is recycled when 80% of it could be.* Why do people not recycle? Many cities and municipalities are struggling with this issue and wondering how to provide recycling resources when governments are already budget stricken.

The good news is that there is a huge opportunity for us all to help improve these statistics. One US company turning trash into profit is Foss Manufacturing, one of the largest purchasers of recycled plastic bottles from Waste Management. They have a process that shreds the plastic into tiny flecks and ultimately creates a string like product that can be used to make clothing (Patagonia fleece jackets, for example), carpeting, furniture, and much more. The company says it can continue to grow and continue to make goods in the US, but they need more plastic!

Another company that is turning landfills into profit is the BMW factory in South Carolina. The operations plant is run on methane gas piped in from a landfill miles away. They have found a way to capture the methane, clean it, and use it to create steam which in turn creates electricity to run their plant.

A few other processes are underway that could help in countries like India and China, like using an incinerator to burn trash, then either capturing the emissions underground or actually using the methane to create electricity for local industrial businesses.

So what can we take from all of this? Our trash can be valuable. It can be reused and can provide multiple benefits to our economy. As a planet of 7 billion people and growing, our trash is only going to continue to mount. If we learn more about where our trash goes, our everyday actions can help make a difference.

So please remember: Think before you dump! And always try to recycle as much as you can.

* Source: Foss Manufacturing Company