Applied Sustainability Center to Offer Workshops

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Applied Sustainability Center, housed in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, is offering two sustainability workshops for area business people on Thursday, May 8.

The first is a “Breakfast with a Buyer” from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Clarion Hotel, 211 S.E. Walton Blvd., Bentonville. It is free and open to the public. The panel includes Wal-Mart associates, John Stoll, packing innovation; Jamie Grace, product component innovation; Laura Phillips, innovations for improved customer value; and Kim Brandner, supply chain transparency and innovation. To register, go to http://www.sustainablepathway.com/calendar

The second workshop, “Understanding Business Sustainability,” will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Clarion. The workshop combines the expertise of a former Wal-Mart buyer with the sustainable business consultant who has educated hundreds of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club buyers, division merchandise managers and general merchandise managers on the benefits of sustainability. The cost is $199. Participants will learn:

• Wal-Mart's sustainability goals, objectives and priorities, and how the effort is organized.

• What sustainability characteristics Wal-Mart and Sam's Club buyers increasingly seek - in products, packaging, and production processes from all suppliers.

• How to begin to leverage sustainability for competitive advantage, including how to create opportunities for sustainability in your products; what attitude and approach to adopt in order to win with sustainability; how to build the right team for success; and, how to communicate with your buyers around sustainability.

The Applied Sustainability Center, which is an interdisciplinary initiative of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, will work with a wide range of partners for the rapid development of sustainable business practices and to promote their application across the retail and consumer goods industries.

For archived stories about the University of Arkansas sustainability efforts, go to the university’s Web site at http://sustainability.uark.edu/

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Jon Johnson, executive director, Applied Sustainability Center Professor,
management department Sam M. Walton College of Business
(479) 575-6227, (479) 422-0060, jonjohn@walton.uark.edu

Michele Halsell, managing director, Applied Sustainability Center
Sam M. Walton College of Business
(479) 575-3044, mhalsell@walton.uark.edu