Every day at Hunter Industries, we strive to conduct business with our core value of Social Responsibility in mind. In 2018, we set new Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals to create a sustainable organization that achieves a balance between the people we serve, the planet we impact, and the profit we earn. This report summarizes our progress and highlights our activities in 2020.
Company Profile
Founded in 1981, Hunter Industries is a family-owned manufacturer of best-in-class solutions for the landscape irrigation, outdoor lighting, dispensing technology, and custom manufacturing sectors. Headed by CEO Greg Hunter, our Global Operations Team provides leadership for the entire company.
The core mission of Hunter Industries will always remain the same: to deliver valued products and services backed by unwavering customer support, grow the company conscientiously, and remain true to the culture that makes our employees proud to work at Hunter.
Our Board of Directors is made up of three members of the Hunter family and six independent members. The Leadership Team (LT) oversees day-to-day operations at Hunter, ensuring top performance while preserving our core values. In 2019, Hunter Industries hired a new CSR Director and created a CSR Council comprised of management-level employees from various business units to help guide and implement company CSR initiatives. The CSR Director provides updates during quarterly board meetings and participates in weekly LT meetings. The CSR Council meets quarterly. Each campus also has a Focus 3P (People, Planet, Profit) group that taps into employee passions to promote innovation and communication about CSR issues.
Corporate Social Responsibility in a Changing World
In 2020, everyone in the world experienced change, from small adjustments like having to wear masks to more significant transitions like working from home or having children attend school remotely. The global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people everywhere, but it has affected each of us in different ways regardless of what we do or where we are located.
The changes in and around our industry — like the unexpected housing construction and renovation boom — led to a very busy year in 2020. Many other industries, businesses, and individuals have been less fortunate. The nature of how the virus spreads has made it difficult for some businesses to safely adapt.
I am extremely proud of our employees globally and their quick ability to adjust to the ever-changing conditions. Not only did they work hard and tirelessly throughout the year, but they also did so in a safe and efficient manner while protecting each other and those in our communities.
Initially, the pandemic delayed progress on some of our planned CSR initiatives, including the creation of a new Climate Action Plan. However, we finalized the plan in the first quarter of 2021. I’m pleased to announce that, in addition to other CSR goals set in 2018, Hunter has established an ambitious target to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030. We’ll share more details regarding efforts to implement our Climate Action Plan in our 2021 CSR Report. That report will mark the 10th anniversary of our CSR reporting activities, a significant milestone indeed.
While the challenges brought about by COVID-19 will continue to place many strains on our business, the Board of Directors, the Leadership Team, and I remain committed to reaching our CSR goals. We look forward to collaborating with all our stakeholders as we advance on this journey. Thank you for supporting Hunter Industries.
Adapting Corporate Social Responsibility During a Global Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic introduced many complex challenges to our global society, impacting every aspect of life around the world. As I reflect on our CSR efforts in 2020, I’m very proud of what we accomplished despite some project delays.
We continued to lay the foundation for an effective CSR program, including the creation of a CSR communication team to drive the development and execution of internal and external communication strategies. We also developed an employee training program focused on CSR awareness. In November 2020, we launched a new video to educate employees and customers on the importance of CSR initiatives to the success of our business.
We also integrated our CSR initiatives into dedicated project management software to increase engagement from departments across our organization. In addition, we enhanced our greenhouse gas inventory process and finalized our Climate Action Plan. This will provide us with a long-term roadmap for decarbonizing our organization and help us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
Finally, we implemented numerous energy and waste reduction projects across our campuses while taking steps to ensure that our employees were as healthy and safe as possible throughout the year. As we continue along this journey, I want to thank you for your continued support, and I encourage you to reach out to me directly if you have any feedback or suggestions about our CSR efforts.
Our Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility
Considering our role as a global manufacturer in a changing world and our impact on future generations, CSR initiatives remain a primary focus of the Hunter Industries Board of Directors across all levels of the organization.
Emily Guevara,
Board Member and Shareholder,
Hunter Industries
Donna Queen,
Board Member,
Hunter Industries
Rodrigo Guevara,
Board Member,
Hunter Industries
Mark Steele,
Board Member,
Hunter Industries
Defining Topics of Importance
We created this Materiality Matrix based on feedback from internal and external stakeholders in 2017 and 2018. The matrix helps us determine our sustainability initiatives and refine our goals. The 14 issues shown were selected as the most impactful to Hunter from among dozens identified by stakeholders. Their placement on the matrix reflects how they were prioritized in relation to one another. Hunter remains diligent in driving meaningful change for all these issues, despite their respective locations on the matrix. In the fall of 2021, we plan to seek stakeholder input once again to help us refine our Materiality Matrix and ensure we are on track to reaching our goals.
