SACC
EVENTS
PHILADELPHIA
The panelists: Brian Berson, Liberty Property Trust; Lisa Davis, IKEA; David Engstrom, SACC Philadelphia; Poul Jeppesen, SKF; and Amy Bellcourt, SCA Americas.
SUSTAINABILITY - FROM BUZZWORD TO REAL BUSINESS VALUE, FEBRUARY, 2013
If your company thought sustainability was a temporary hype that would soon disappear – think again. Panelists from four prominent global corporations that achieved success by embracing sustainability spoke at the event Sustainability – from Buzzword to Real Business Value on February 13 this year. The well-attended event was launched to show why sustainability, a top-ranked business value in Sweden, is today a must to stay in the game. The panel discussion took place in SCA Americas’ LEED-CI gold certified offices in Cira Centre Philadelphia, and featured Amy Bellcourt, VP and Communications from SCA Americas, Poul Jeppesen, CEO and President of SKF USA, Lisa Davis, Social & Environmental Affairs Manager from IKEA USA and Brian Berson, VP Leasing & Development from Liberty Property Trust. All companies except the latter are Swedish based with their U.S. head offices located in the Philadelphia Region. Minna MarsLogemann from the Finnish-based company EarthRate led the discussion. The panelists were all convinced that sustainability is a must to remain competitive and to keep an edge in the marketplace. Amy Bellcourt from SCA Americas said “If you have not started working with sustainability yet, you have missed a major opportunity. Customers are getting more aware every day and they demand sustainable business partners and products.” The speakers from the three Swedish companies said that their work in this field had a lot to do with their Scandinavian heritage. Poul Jeppesen, born in Denmark, told that when he came to the US some 20 years ago, he was the only one in his building who turned the lights off when leaving: “From the outside you could only see one dark of-
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