The 2018 Cox Corporate Social Responsibility Report CEI_2018_CSR_Report | Page 7
You launched Cox Conserves SM more than a decade ago. How do you assess your
progress against your environmental goals, and what are the big opportunities ahead?
JIM
When we launched Cox Conserves we believed our employees would play a big role in making sure this
initiative gained traction. But frankly, I don’t think any of us anticipated the degree of engagement we now see
among employees across all of our businesses. It’s a level of participation — both at work and in their personal
lives — that may be unmatched for a company our size. It’s a great reflection of our unique culture, and I’m very
gratified by it.
ALEX
I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved in our journey toward zero waste and being carbon and water neutral.
Across hundreds of our facilities we’ve implemented more efficient systems and processes to improve our
environmental performance. Yet there are even bigger opportunities ahead. One is to do more with
partners throughout our supply chain to reduce environmental impacts. Another is to be leaders in Cleantech,
businesses built on cleaner, more environmentally responsible technologies, including energy services and
sustainable agriculture. We see promising opportunities to advance our environmental goals and build good,
profitable businesses in these emerging fields.
As Cox has grown, it
seems your philanthropic
commitments have grown
as well.
JIM
They have, and last year I was very
proud when our board chose to
invest, over five years, $250 million
in savings from the federal tax cut in
the James M. Cox Foundation. The
Foundation is focused on important
priorities like early childhood education
and healthcare, environmental
conservation and empowering
individuals and families. Our sustained
involvement in these areas is
producing some exciting results.
Thinking about the full range
of your Corporate Social
Responsibility goals, what are
the big opportunities to raise
the bar?
ALEX
The most exciting frontier I see is to
bridge the gap from philanthropy to
business. We donate a great deal of
time and money to great causes; we
seek efficiency in our operations, but
the prospect of growing a business in
this space is really exciting to me.
Jim Kennedy speaks about the importance
of the Cox Conserves program.
Cox Enterprises, Inc. 2018 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
5