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Fertile Ground: Make an Impact Takes Root at Alcoa
Howmet in Whitehall, Michigan
If you want something to grow and to thrive, you have to prepare the soil before you
plant.
For Alcoa Howmet in Whitehall Michigan, this is true of the 4.5 acres of former industrial
landscaping that has been replanted with native trees, wildflowers and prairie grass to
rebuild biodiversity and reduce watershed phosphates.
It’s also true of the Make an Impact rollout that
took place at the Alcoa Whitehall Operations
campus in 2010 for Alcoa employees and
community members. The program brought
together employees, local businesses,
government, schools and environmental
organizations. So far, Whitehall Alcoans have
identified 390,000 pounds of potential CO2
savings at home and work through the Make an
Impact program.
Habitat restoration
The preparation that made it all work came in the
form of deep roots of collaboration between Alcoa Howmet employees and the matrix of
organizations that care for Muskegon County’s economic and environmental welfare.
Mutual trust and common goals enabled the program to hit the ground running with the
broadest possible community support.
Preparation
The bridge-building that created these relationships began in 2003, when Alcoa made a
new corporate commitment — with Alcoa Foundation grant money behind it — to take a
positive stake in this Midwestern community. According to
Amy Heisser, Alcoa Whitehall’s Director of Human
Resources, “2003 started a new strategy for us. We started
reaching out in a proactive, highly advertised fashion into our
community as partners in driving public policy, education,
diversity, infrastructure, community fun, and partnerships to
showcase Alcoa as a positive, critical driver in our local
success.”
Community Development
Community
MAI Case Study: Alcoa Howmet
Since that time, Alcoa has applied this strategy on many levels. They have successfully
encouraged executives to join major community boards, area foundations, and
government-appointed task forces. Heisser has set the example as Board Chair of the
area Chamber of Commerce. The company has also
sponsored a watershed study, arts and cultural events,
educational initiatives, and leadership training. They have
established a high-powered, well-informed Community
Advisory Board (CAB) that has become an important voice
of support for Alcoa in all major sectors of the community.
Alcoa Howmet has also instituted monthly communications
to all levels of employees about the work Alcoa is doing
locally and the opportunities for employees to get involved.
These efforts have significantly benefited Muskegon County
and increased its appreciation of Alcoa Howmet as the
Recycling
county’s largest manufacturing employer. Alcoa’s
commitments to the environment, education, and downtown
development have demonstrated the company’s willingness
to be a long-term partner in sustainable growth. The town has reciprocated by
embracing Alcoa-led initiatives like Make an Impact that support mutual sustainability
goals.
A dynamic internal leadership team was also key in the success of the program. The
“Green Team” included the location’s HR Director, Employment Manager, IT Director,
and an employee representative from each plant. The team’s goal was to introduce the
Make an Impact program to all 2,000 of the location’s employees in the first quarter of
2010 and follow up the launch with a new event each quarter. MAI would be further
reinforced through partnerships with local community conservation organizations.
Planting the Idea
In the first week of February, the team conducted a
community rollout of Make an Impact to 75 local
community leaders. Speakers included Amy Heisser,
MAI program manager Jennifer Denney, and others.
Key community organizations involved included the
Chamber of Commerce, the Muskegon County
Conservation District, and local schools. The
introduction continued with an on-site Green Fair that
presented the Make an Impact program to 700
employees. The fair featured exhibits sponsored by
Green Fair
community organizations that offered ideas and
products for carbon reduction and conservation.
Employees were given an incentive to visit at least five of the exhibits.
In April, Make an Impact was shared with attendees of the company’s annual
community Earth Day celebration. Local students, parents, principals and teachers, as
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MAI Case Study: Alcoa Howmet
well as Whitehall employees, executives, the mayor, and city managers were given
presentations on the importance of reducing their carbon footprint, and how the Make
an Impact carbon calculator and other online tools provided by Alcoa and the Pew
Center can help them do it. At the event, Alcoa presented awards to local students who
gave presentations on recycling, including a presentation by students who had built their
own ‘landfill pizzas’ from discarded recyclable objects found in the area. Other Earth
Day events included tree planting, birdhouse installation, and habitat development.
Alcoa Howmet held its next Make an Impact event in June. Twenty percent of the
workforce showed up for the Recycling Day, which featured presentations on recycling
as well as collections of goods and recyclables from employees and community
members. Sellable goods were donated to Goodwill Industries.
A subsequent September event kicked off the fall with an “In 3 Words” competition for
employees and Whitehall residents. Participants won prizes for creative 3-word
expressions about their personal energy-saving best practices.
Alcoa Howmet held its final Make an Impact event for the year in November by
organizing an Aluminum Can Challenge to celebrate America Recycles Day. Held on
November 12 to coincide with Veteran’s Day, deposits from collected recycled cans
were donated to the local Veteran’s food bank.
Internal events were supplemented by an aggressive program of community
presentations on Make an Impact to groups such as the Western Michigan
Sustainability Coalition, the White Lake Community Native Landscaping Initiative, and
the Chamber of Commerce.
While engaging Alcoa employees in energy conservation at home, the Make an Impact
program has stimulated conservation thinking about Whitehall facility operations as well.
Employee input forms for the company’s Continuous
Improvement process have been modified to collect
input on energy conservation in addition to the existing
areas of input: process improvement, quality, safety,
and efficiency.
The Alcoa Howmet Green Team plans to continue
its work with the goals of reinforcing the Make an
Impact program among employees and the
community, engaging local organizations, restoring
native habitat, and achieving its targets for recycling
and energy conservation.
Bluebird habitat.
Harvest
Heisser describes the success of Make an Impact
in terms that go beyond the carbon savings. The
spadework Alcoa Howmet has done to nurture the
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MAI Case Study: Alcoa Howmet
program and other community-oriented sustainability initiatives is paying off financially:
an estimated total of over $500,000 has been saved from habitat and energy
conservation. The Make an Impact program has also played an important role in
elevating Alcoa Howmet’s profile as a good neighbor seriously committed to
sustainability while providing jobs and community growth.
The most important fruits of all, however, from the Make an Impact program have been
employee engagement and pride in Alcoa Howmet, says Heisser. “We are finding
common points of interest and passion with our employees,” she says. “That helps us
work better together. With all that this group has done this year, we could still do more.
People are still wanting to make a difference.”
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