SETTING THE BENCHMARK

Benchmark 2022 Sustainability Report—Building a Sustainable Future

by Brenda Battin Cianciosi / February 28, 2023

On February 27, 2023, we were excited to announce the release of our annual Sustainability Report that highlights our environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiative achievements in 2022 and shares our targets set for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. This report builds on our inaugural 2021 Sustainability Report and demonstrates our transparency and continued commitment to publish high- quality sustainability disclosures across key ESG reporting frameworks.

In 2022, we updated our ESG strategy to focus on the four key tenets of Environmental Responsibility, Our People, Our Community, and Governance. We removed “Our COVID-19 Response” as a tenet since this activity is most closely related to the topics covered under “Our People.” At Benchmark, ESG is a strategic and operational imperative across the entire global organization. Although we encourage you to read the full 2022 Sustainability Report which delves into much greater detail, the following article provides you with the key ESG/Sustainability takeaways of 2022, highlighting the progress we are making across all our global sites.

ESG/Sustainability Progress Throughout 2022

At Benchmark, we have a long history of operational excellence and we are extending this same level of rigor to our pursuit of our ESG/Sustainability imperatives. Our core values serve as our foundation for promoting sustainability which is found throughout the report. By acting with integrity, valuing inclusion, showing commitment to our customers, promoting ingenuity, and demonstrating that we genuinely care, we demonstrate to our stakeholders and to our community, what we stand for at Benchmark. As Steve Beaver (Benchmark’s Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Chief Legal Officer and ESG/Sustainability Council Chair) so aptly states:

“There is no better way to live our tag line, “When It Matters” than through the advancement of ESG.”

Environmental Responsibility

Protecting our environment through well-developed environmental management systems (EMS) and developing, implementing, and continually improving sustainability efforts continued to be our focus in 2022. In that spirit, we launched the Benchmark Environmental Challenge, an internal global competition among our manufacturing sites to engage employees in thinking about how each site can reduce their utilities usage (e.g., energy, waste, water, etc.). The quality of the project submissions and the demonstrable progress being made at our sites around the globe is truly impressive. This enthusiasm is contagious and gives us further confidence that we will continue to meet our environmental objectives.

Some additional—and notable—environmental achievements in 2022 include:

ISO 14001:2015 Certification

We are proud to report that all of our manufacturing sites have now achieved ISO 14001:2015 -Environmental Management Systems certification, an achievement that is prominently displayed on our website and throughout our facilities.

*Since the Moorpark, CA location will be closing at the end of March 2023, we let that particular certification lapse as noted in our 2022 Sustainability Report.

Climate Change Target

We took an important step forward in 2022 when we set a Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target. We will be tracking and reporting our progress towards this goal.

*Check out the full report to learn more about the Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emission reduction targets we have set.

Earth Day 2022

We are beyond grateful to our valued employees who participated worldwide in cleanups at local parks, beaches, library grounds, trail systems, and more.

EcoVadis Award

We are honored to have received a Silver Sustainability Rating from EcoVadis for the second year in a row.

First Company-wide Response to CDP

For the first time, Benchmark participated in the CDP (formerly the Climate Disclosure Project) Climate Change questionnaire. The CDP is a well-respected and often cited resource for environmental stewardship. We are honored that Benchmark’s participation in the CDP demonstrates our commitment to action and progress with regard to climate. 

Environmental Design and Design for Sustainability

Our growing expertise in environmental design and design for sustainability is attracting a growing number of customers that wish to partner with us. This is truly a growth area for us with the design engineering services and the exceptional solutions we provide.

Our People

Benchmark remains dedicated to upholding the principles of worker safety and observing fair labor and employment practices. We support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives through business best practices and through the expansion of an innovative workforce to ensure our organization reflects the communities in which we operate. To that end, 2022 saw the embarkment of the Inclusion Council (IC), the creation of a new DEI leadership position (Vice President of Talent Attraction and Inclusion), and the launching of a new Employee Resource Group (ERG), Women’s Inclusion Network (WIN). We also implemented a strategic framework to guide our DEI work with goals, timeframes, and measurable targets.

Our Community

Throughout 2022, we demonstrated our efforts to continue to uphold the principles of human rights, fair treatment, and dignity within our organization (and across our supply chains). We actively participated in the development of our global communities while continuing to provide value to our shareholders.

We are also proud of our employees worldwide who continued to support local communities throughout 2022 with blood donations. In fact, Thailand has run a blood drive every quarter for the past 30 years with over 100 employees donating their blood every quarter. In 2022, the Mayo Clinic brought a blood donor center to Rochester, Minnesota, and our Tempe, Arizona site organized a blood drive, partnering with Vitalant.

Honorable Mention

Our Ayutthaya and Korat sites in Thailand received responsible manufacturing awards from Thailand’s Ministry of Industry, Department of Industrial Works, recognizing human rights, labor practices, and community involvement. This was the fourth time these facilities won these prestigious awards.

Governance

We emphasize a culture of accountability and conduct our business in a fair, ethical, and responsible manner to earn stakeholder’s trust, including our customers, employees, investors, partners, and regulators. We comply with all applicable legal requirements regarding human rights, ethics, and responsible supply chains as evidenced below.

Our ESG/Sustainability Council comprised of a cross functional team of leaders from nearly every function in Benchmark is responsible for advancing our company's ESG strategy and implementing strategic sustainability initiatives.

Our Board of Directors includes three standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Human Capital and Management Committee and the Nominating, Sustainability and Governance Committee. The Nominating, Sustainability and Governance Committee oversees Benchmark’s ESG strategy and initiatives and receives regular updates and information on ESG initiatives and plans from our ESG/Sustainability Council.

Ethics and Integrity

We maintain robust risk management programs to ensure compliance to applicable laws and regulations governing ethical business practices and have secured comprehensive corporate governance policies to guide employees in maintaining the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

Benchmark’s Code of Conduct exemplifies how we do business and demonstrates our commitment to operating with the highest ethical standards with strong compliance programs and effective whistleblowing protections. In addition to our own Code of Conduct, Benchmark endorses the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct.

*Access the full 2022 Sustainability Report to learn more about our Speak Up campaign, our mandated ethics and compliance training, and our company helpline, and discover how even those employees with limited access to emails can now complete training with our site-accessible kiosks and language support (current support in eight languages with capacity to provide more).

Why Do We Publish an Annual Sustainability Report?

Benchmark publishes an annual Sustainability Report because ESG matters to our customers, our investors, our community, and our employees. The efforts we put forth with regard to ESG/Sustainability are achievements to share. Our annual Sustainability Report provides insight into our future plans to reduce environmental impact, increase social and economic value, and further promote ethical business practices. After all, we are on this journey together, building a better Benchmark and a more sustainable future for all.

Reach out to Benchmark—When It Matters.

 

There is no better way to live our tag line, “When It Matters” than through the advancement of ESG.

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about the author

Brenda Battin Cianciosi

Brenda Battin Cianciosi is the Vice President, Quality Assurance Regulatory Affairs (QARA) at Benchmark, responsible for managing the global QARA organization, including regulatory compliance, certifications, and customer quality initiatives. In addition, Brenda co-chairs Benchmark’s ESG/Sustainability Council, a cross-functional team of leaders responsible for evolving Benchmark’s ESG/Sustainability strategy and implementing and managing strategic sustainability initiatives. Brenda holds a BS in Computer Science from Duke University, an MBA from Arizona State University, and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certificate from Villanova University.

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