Walmart has released its 10th annual Global Responsibility Report and its list of local investments highlighting milestones in its global progress toward creating shared value for people, business, and society. The company continues to invest in New Mexico stores, communities, and associates to make progress towards its global goals.
Walmart has outlined goals focusing on opportunity for its associates, investing in the communities it serves, and reducing waste.
The report looks back at the company’s progress during fiscal year 2017 in advancing the key areas of opportunity, sustainability and community. Following are local examples illustrating Walmart’s local impact in each of these three areas of the Global Responsibility Report:
2017 New Mexico Innovations and Investments
Walmart’s most recent earnings report shows continued positive momentum in U.S. sales, customer traffic and customer feedback, which is attributed to many of the innovations and investments the company has been making in store operations and its workforce.
Walmart is planning the following investments in New Mexico this year:
· Multi-million dollar capital investments in improving existing stores/clubs by remodeling 3 locations across the state, including a complete remodel of the Española store, and remodels in Truth or Consequences and Las Cruces.
· Opening a new Walmart Academy in in Albuquerque.
“2017 is going to be an exciting year for Walmart in New Mexico as we continue to focus on how to better serve our customers through innovation and investments so they can save both time and money,” said Paula Ginnett, Walmart regional general manager in New Mexico. “We’ve had a sharp focus on making our store experience second to none and our customers are telling us that our plan is working. Our team is energized and we’re looking forward to exceeding our customer’s expectations for what a great Walmart shopping experience can be like.”
Walmart’s 2017 investment plans build on Walmart’s growth last year in New Mexico. 2016 Highlights included:
· Opened three new Neighborhood Markets: Albuquerque, Alamogordo and Las Cruces
· Remodeled five stores across the state
· Launched Online Grocery Pickup Service at four stores in the Albuquerque area
· Launched Walmart Pay statewide
Opportunity
Walmart is addressing barriers that can impede career advancement for associates. In FY2017, Walmart completed a $2.7 billion investment in U.S. associates that included increases in training, education and higher wages. New Mexico achievements include:
· Opening 2 Walmart Academies in Albuquerque and Las Cruces, training more than 680 Walmart associates through the Academy program to date.
· Awarding a total of more than $6.8 million in quarterly bonuses to New Mexico associates in FY17.
· Continuing its commitment to hire military veterans for a total of 1,579 veterans hired in New Mexico since launching the Walmart Veterans Welcome Home Commitment in May 2013.
Community
In FY2017, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation invested more than $100 million in local communities, including more than $16.4 million in cash and in-kind contributions to non-profits throughout New Mexico.
Local non-profits awarded grants from the Walmart State Giving Program, one of several Foundation giving programs that play an essential role in the Foundation’s mission to create opportunities so people can live better, include:
· $50,000 for Goodwill Industries to provide call center training to clients.
· $50,000 for New Mexico AIDS Services to provide nutritional supplements for clients.
· $50,000 for New Mexico Appleseed to provide nutritional meals to children year-round, especially on weekends and during holiday breaks when they don’t have access to meals from school.
· $45,000 for Colfax County Seniors to deliver meals to local seniors in their homes.
· $40,000 for Earth Care International to increase food access for children and to teach them about nutrition through a school garden program.
· $40,000 for HELP-NM to create a career training program for underprivileged women.
· $39,000 for La Familia Medical Center to provide healthcare for the homeless.
· $31,000 for the Northern New Mexico Regional Art Center to support its Community Arts Education After School and Summer Arts Academy programs.
· $30,000 for The American Red Cross for disaster preparedness in New Mexico.
· $30,000 for Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails Inc. to provide education on Healthy cooking and living for Native American girls.
· $30,000 for the Santa Fe Boys and Girls Club to support its mentoring and tutoring programs.
· Total: $435,000 in New Mexico grants from the Walmart State Giving Program
As the nation’s largest grocer, Walmart is uniquely positioned to support organizations that are on the front lines in the fight against hunger. In addition to donating more than 9.1 million pounds of food to local New Mexico food banks – equivalent to 7.6 million meals – Walmart and the Walmart Foundation donated more than $50 million toward hunger relief in FY2017, including $60,000 for after school and breakfast in the classroom programs in New Mexico.
Walmart also engages customers across the country in making an impact on hunger in their local communities. In the U.S., Walmart stores and Sam’s Club locations teamed up with customers and participating suppliers to support Feeding America through the “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” campaign, raising more than $17 million in funds in FY2017, including $157,542 for Road Runner Food Bank, New Mexico’s Feeding America affiliate food bank.
Walmart associates are deeply engaged in their communities and in FY2017, associates overall volunteered more than 1.2 million hours generating more than $12 million in Walmart donations, including more than 7,500 hours with local non-profits and charitable causes in New Mexico, marking another way in which the company supports and impacts the local communities it serves.
In FY2017, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation supported communities after 30 disasters. A total of $6.8 million in cash donations was given specifically for disaster preparedness and relief, including $30,000 in New Mexico to assist with home fire preparedness, as an example.
Sustainability
Walmart is the first retailer with an approved science-based target emissions-reduction plan. The company aims to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 18 percent by 2025. The retailer recently announced that it will also work with its suppliers to reduce CO2e, or carbon dioxide equivalent, emissions from upstream and downstream Scope 3 sources by one billion tons (a gigaton) between 2015 and 2030.
Additionally, Walmart aspires to eliminate reliance on fossil fuel-based energy sources by meeting its needs with 100 percent renewable energy. By 2025, Walmart aims to power 50 percent of its operations with renewable energy. At the end of FY2017, approximately 26 percent of Walmart’s electricity needs globally were supplied by renewable sources, including more than 460 onsite and offsite projects in operation or under development globally. In FY2017, Walmart added an on-site solar panel project in a Las Cruces Supercenter.
Walmart is also making progress toward its zero waste goal, following the U.S. EPA Solid Waste Hierarchy and with a primary focus on waste reduction and donations (reuse) before recycling or disposal. By the end of FY2017, Walmart overall diverted from landfills 82 percent of materials previously considered waste in Walmart U.S. operations, including the diversion of 88 percent of materials from store operations in New Mexico. The company continues to work toward eliminating state barriers to efficient waste diversion, in an effort to reach its zero waste goals and make it easier for other companies to follow suit.
In FY17, Walmart completed a $10 million commitment for the Walmart U.S. Manufacturing Innovation Fund, which focuses on the development of domestic manufacturing with a specific goal of advancing the production or assembly of consumer products in the U.S. In January, 2017, $3 million in grants was awarded to six academic research institutions for their work in advancing innovation in textile manufacturing and addressing present challenges to domestic manufacturing.
Through Acres for America, a public-private partnership with National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, Walmart continues to conserve lands of national significance, protect critical fish and wildlife habitat and benefit people and local economies. The program has far surpassed its original goal to permanently conserve one acre of wildlife habitat for every acre of land developed by Walmart Stores, with more than 1 million acres protected in the first 10 years of the partnership—an area comparable to Grand Canyon National Park. In FY2017, more than 82,000 acres were added to the tally of protected lands.
About Walmart in New Mexico
In New Mexico, Walmart serves customers at 53 retail units and online through Walmart Grocery Pickup, Walmart.com and Jet.com. Walmart is proud to employ 14,445 associates in New Mexico. Walmart supports local businesses, spending $81.9 million with New Mexico suppliers in FYE17, which supported 7,359 supplier jobs. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are active in New Mexico communities and invests in them through local grants, customer engagement and associate volunteer efforts. In FYE17, Walmart contributed more than $16.45 million in cash and in-kind donations to local nonprofits in New Mexico and New Mexico associates volunteered more than 8,871 hours with local causes. Learn more at the Walmart Today blog, and Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram channels.