News Room
SEATTLE , Nov. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY) today announced the launch of a new program that will provide targeted support to five of its rural operating communities, starting with Zwolle, La. , and the northwest Louisiana region. The new program, called THRIVE, involves a commitment from Weyerhaeuser to invest $1 million in each community over the next several years. As part of this $5 million investment, the company will work with innovative partners — including businesses, nonprofits and governments — to further support these communities through grants and other types of funding and local engagement.
“Giving back to our operating communities has been foundational to our company since our first days at Weyerhaeuser, and we are incredibly excited for the launch of our THRIVE program,” says Devin W. Stockfish, president and chief executive officer. “We made our first donation as a company in 1903 and have always understood that supporting and making a positive impact on our operating communities is essential for our long-term success. We see tremendous opportunity to make a real difference through this program, and we’re looking forward to amplifying the support we can provide as a company and community member.”
As part of the program, Weyerhaeuser will work closely with local leaders and other stakeholders to tailor investments and help ensure all plans and priorities make sense at the community level — and that the company is providing the appropriate resources and scale to be effective. In and around Zwolle , where the company operates a wood products manufacturing facility, those plans include working with partners to address challenges in areas such as housing, broadband connectivity, education or workforce development and specific needs such as infrastructure replacement.
“The town of Zwolle is excited for our partnership with Weyerhaeuser and their new THRIVE program, which will bring important investments to our community and help make Zwolle a community that ‘thrives’ on excellence,” says Marvin Frazier , mayor of Zwolle . “We have a longstanding relationship with Weyerhaeuser’s mill in Zwolle and look forward to building on our partnership as we work together to address some of our community’s most pressing needs.”
Weyerhaeuser expects to announce additional THRIVE communities next year. Selected communities represent areas where Weyerhaeuser has a significant presence (in Louisiana , the company operates five manufacturing facilities, manages 1.35 million acres of timberland and employs more than 1,000 people); where the company has a history of employee and leadership engagement; where there are opportunities to take advantage of external resources, such as federal or state infrastructure grants, to strengthen advocacy efforts; and where Weyerhaeuser can partner with other employers, nonprofits and community leaders to amplify efforts and impact on the ground.
“We want to provide the support these communities need, but we know we can’t do it alone,” says Nancy Thompson , senior director of advocacy and philanthropy for Weyerhaeuser. “We are excited to partner with local leaders and grassroots groups to help identify the areas of greatest need and opportunity, and we’ll build on what we learn with our first THRIVE community to ensure we’re making the greatest possible difference in these communities and everywhere we operate.”
ABOUT WEYERHAEUSER
Weyerhaeuser Company, one of the world’s largest private owners of timberlands, began operations in 1900. We own or control approximately 11 million acres of timberlands in the U.S. and manage additional timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada . We manage these timberlands on a sustainable basis in compliance with internationally recognized forestry standards. We are also one of the largest manufacturers of wood products in North America . Our company is a real estate investment trust. In 2022, we generated $10.2 billion in net sales and employed approximately 9,200 people who serve customers worldwide. Our common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WY. Learn more at www.weyerhaeuser.com.
For more information contact:
Analysts – Andy Taylor , 206-539-3907
Media – Nancy Thompson , 919-861-0342
SOURCE Weyerhaeuser Company
How Timberland is building a better life for factory workers’ children
A decade ago, Timberland was among many apparel companies dogged by accusations that some of its products were manufactured by children. Since then, the company has emerged as a leader in social responsibility and transparency. Extensive quarterly sustainability reports and factory audits are among the steps Timberland has taken towards progress on responsible sourcing and factory conditions.
Going beyond improvements in the quality of life of factory workers, Timberland now demonstrates what companies can do to provide a better quality of life for children whose parents manufacture its products. From child care to clean water projects, companies looking to mitigate their impact on working families and their children can learn some lessons from Timberland.
One side effect of long and tangled supply chains is that children are separated from their parents in long stretches of both time and distance. In China alone, a minimum of 50 million children are left behind as their parents leave rural areas to work in factories. Besides the emotional impact of living far from their parents, such children often lack the supervision and family structure necessary for the best possible upbringing.
To that end, Timberland partners with organisations including the All-China Women’s Federation to provide companionship and education programs for factory workers’ children. Timberland employees spent their own vacation time organising a summer camp for 700 “left behind children.” According to Colleen Von Haden, Timberland’s senior manager of code of conduct, the first camp in 2009 was so successful that it is now an annual program.
As wages and working conditions improve in China, Timberland’s factory workers are beginning to demand a better level of work-life balance, something that was once seen as a western luxury. The stress of their children living far away is an overwhelming burden for women, so Timberland collaborates with Verité, an NGO that provides social audits and training, to develop a program to help workers cope with both shop floor and home stress.
Programmes focused on workers and their children also thrive in other countries where Timberland sources its apparel. In India, one factory in Chennai provides day care for the children of its workers. Women appreciate the benefit of leaving their children in a safe environment, while they work their shift at the factory, and enjoy the opportunity to visit their children when they are on break. Another factory in the Dominican Republic led a project to build a school for both workers’ children and others living in the community.
The communities in which some of Timberland’s factory workers and their children live lack basic amenities including safe and clean water. While building schools and providing day care are noble, neither are of much benefit if clean drinking water is unavailable and health risks are significant. One of the many water projects that Timberland funded is near a factory in Ambur, India, in a community where residents have long suffered from waterborne illnesses. Located near the factory and a school, a water tower completed last year guarantees that local children stay healthy and alleviates families of the expense of payment for water that has been transported over long distances.
One hundred years after strikes in the New England mill town of Lawrence, which gave rise to the organised chant: “We want bread, and roses too”, demand for a better quality of life now resonates in factories around the world. For workers at garment factories, their “roses” are opportunities for their children to blossom into productive citizens who will have a more comfortable life than them. “As your workforce matures,” Von Haden says, “you have to be accommodating to keep those employed in your factories.” Timberland’s action on this front is one example of how multinational businesses can do a better job of not only protecting their workers in the farthest reaches of their supply chain, but also doing more for their children so they can grow and thrive.
Leon Kaye is founder and editor of GreenGoPost.com
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