Report highlights 2020 strategy, goals, and progress of citizenship story.

GE Appliances (GEA), a Haier company, today released its first-ever Corporate Citizenship Impact Report, highlighting the company's long-standing, purpose-driven commitment to making a difference in the world through its people, products, and the places where it operates. The 2020 report titled, "We Come Together to Make Good Things, for Life," outlines the company's goals and demonstrates its progress in five key pillars that reflect the company's top priorities and serve as the foundation for GEA's citizenship work: Community Engagement; Inclusion & Diversity; Operations Sustainability; Product Sustainability; and Compliance & Ethics.

In 2020, GEA remained focused on three guiding principles: protecting the health and safety of employees, delivering for customers, and helping build stronger communities. Throughout the report, GEA shares the story of how it responded to the impacts of COVID-19, leaned in to address and be part of the social justice conversation, innovated ways to manufacture products with less environmental impact, and developed new products that help owners maximize energy efficiency while minimizing the use of natural resources.

"We’re on a journey as a company to be and be recognized as the leading appliance company in the U.S. Caring about the communities where we live and work, the people who make us who we are, and the planet we’re all a part of have always been at the heart of our business and are helping us get there," said Kevin Nolan, president and CEO of GE Appliances. "This report is a new way to capture that work and outline how we’ll continue progressing in the future. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we’re all connected. Together, we can bring about real solutions that create powerful change. At GE Appliances, we’re committed to helping drive that change."

The 2020 GEA Corporate Citizenship Impact Report is available online here. Highlights of the report include:

Community Engagement: GEA's volunteer efforts and investments with community partners are connecting people with the resources they need to be successful, shaping the future workforce, and helping strengthen equity, health, and education in local communities.

• $2 million in grants and product donations were provided to more than 100 nonprofit agencies.
• $1.8 million was raised through GEA’s annual Employee Giving Campaign supporting nonprofits.
• Nearly $1 million worth of appliances were donated to first responders and healthcare workers across the U.S. working to keep people safe during the fight against COVID-19.
• More than 300,000 units of PPE were provided to healthcare facilities, nonprofits and government agencies.
• 15,000 volunteer hours from employees helped community partners complete 75 projects.

Inclusion & Diversity: From new employees hired to partner suppliers, GEA is building a more inclusive and diverse company that is reflective of the communities where it does business.

• 100 percent of the GEA Executive Leadership Team completed unconscious bias training.
• 42 percent of management hires are female, and 45 percent of management hires are people of color. As a whole, GEA is committed to reaching a companywide goal of 40 percent female representation and 40 percent people of color representation by the end of 2025.
• Partnering for progress: GEA supported local schools and community organizations through a variety of initiatives to help break down barriers, increase equitable educational access to opportunities, and connect people with the resources they need to be successful.
• Nearly 3,000 GEA employees took part in a company-led virtual All-In Rally, an event created to help educate on social and racial injustices and learn best practices centered on Inclusion & Diversity.
• Expanded Paid Parental Leave to up to 12 weeks for new parents, a commitment to advancing equity and inclusion for people of all genders.

Operations Sustainability: From sourcing to manufacturing and distribution, GEA is focused on the health and safety of its employees and reducing its environmental footprint throughout a state-of-the-art supply chain.

• Achieved 80 percent landfill diversion from Appliance Park, with 90 percent achieved at GEA’s LaFayette, Ga., plant. GEA is committed to achieving 80 percent landfill diversion across all U.S. manufacturing sites by 2025.
• Achieved ISO 14001 Environmental Management System Certification in Appliance Park.
• Recycled 102 million pounds of material including metal, cardboard, wood, and plastic.
• Created a 13-acre sustainable greenspace at Appliance Park to reduce the heat footprint and provide a complex native ecosystem.
• Implemented companywide health and safety initiatives to create safer workplace protocols supporting and protecting employees during COVID-19.

Product Sustainability: GEA is designing environmentally conscious products that use less energy and water – innovating with consumers and the planet in mind.

• More than 80 percent of product packaging materials used are recyclable.
• Reduced more than 700,000 tons of CO2-equivalent annually by transitioning from R-410a refrigerant to R32.
• GEA refrigerators built today are 30 percent more energy efficient than those produced in 2010.

Compliance & Ethics: GEA is promoting a culture of compliance and ethics across the entire business and committed to being recognized by customers, owners, and other stakeholders as one of the most ethical companies that manages all business relationships with integrity.

• Developed and expanded a risk-based training approach to sustain and improve GEA’s compliance culture through initiatives including Compliance Week, Privacy Week, and other live compliance learning activities.
• Identified plan to investigate and manage confidential concerns in under 45 days.
• Audited suppliers to ensure compliance with GEA policies.

The baseline reporting period for most of the company targets outlined in the report is fiscal year 2019, with additional business highlights from 2020. 

Download the 2020 GEA Corporate Citizenship Impact Report here.

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