PEOPLE
Shortly after Squatters served a record amount of beer and burgers during the 2002 Winter Olympics, Squatters' management team explored the question of “how do we want our relationship with other businesses, the environment and community to be measured?” They used backcasting principles to look “back to the present” and set goals that would create the team’s desired future.
New philosophies and business models surfaced from throughout the company regarding buying local, saving water and electricity, recycling, brewing a certified organic beer, just to name a few. Management structure was redefined and cooperative teams, rather than simple hierarchies were created, improving operations and generating innovation. Employee Councils were created to disseminate information and involve the staff, believing intelligence is distributed equally throughout the company.
Supporting a healthy community became a priority; partnerships with local businesses and non-profits were assessed identifying organizations that had similar values, some of the local organizations we work with are:
PLANET
From the beginning choices were instinctively made that at the time did not fall into definable terms like ‘green business practices’ for example, they used cobble stones from the old West Temple Street to build their fireplace and constructed the patio fence from reclaimed redwood wine fermentation tanks when they opened what has become, the flagship pub located in downtown Salt Lake City.
In January 2004 Salt Lake Brewing Co. became a Salt Lake City e2 Business and has received the Environmental Company of the Year Award from the Recycling Coalition of Utah and the Pollution Prevention Award from the Department of Environmental Quality.
In 2006 the Utah Water Conservation Forum bestowed their Annual Conservation Award to Squatters for reducing their water consumption by 35%, reflecting a savings of 849,120 gallons of water per year. That same year, they hired a director of environmental and social responsibility who researches, investigates and implements new policies and procedures. Ultimately, this allows Squatters to continually reduce their carbon footprint; here are some of their practices:
PROFIT
The last element of triple bottom line economics is indeed, the bottom line. A business must be healthy in order to support its employees and its community. “You’ve got to do good, to do good! When our business is sound and profitable, the more we can give back to our staff, our community and do what is right for our and their future.” Joe Lambert, Operating Partner
TAPIt
In order to reduce waste in our community, Squatters proudly supports TapIt – the
only water bottle refilling network in the U.S.
Click here to learn more about the TapIt Program
LINKS:
Have questions for James Soares, Squatters Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility
Email: james@squatters.com
Squatters Blog