Logistics company DHL Supply Chain moved ahead with its commitment to keep its North American headquarters in Westerville by breaking ground on Thursday on a $20 million corporate office building, Columbus Business First has reported.
The 145,000 square foot building is in the Westar Complex off of Polaris Parkway. Westerville City Council gave the corporation a 12%, 10 year property tax abatement to invest in the city.
DHL Supply Chain also announced this week that it has partnered with The Ohio State University to plant 30 trees near the Schottenstein Center. DHL Supply Chain made a contribution to purchase and care for 30 new trees to help support urban forestry in the Columbus area. DHL Supply Chain also purchased and donated 1,000 tonnes of carbon credits for Ohio State to contribute to the university’s own carbon reduction goals. Ohio State matched DHL’s donation by purchasing an additional 1,000 tonnes of carbon credits.
A single carbon credit is equal to one metric ton of CO2 removed from the air. The 30 newly planted trees and credits purchased by DHL and Ohio State reduce greenhouse gases equivalent to taking 400 passenger vehicles off the road for one year. Ohio State will use these credits to offset a portion of the University’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, such as those from its own transport fleet. The program is being facilitated by North Carolina-based Urban Offsets.[widgets_on_pages id=1]
“We have collaborated with Ohio State for years as we recruit significant talent from their programs. This new commitment helps us both make a difference in the community and the environment by planting trees together on campus,” said Val Hoge, COO, DHL Supply Chain North America. “The tree planting builds on our company’s GoGreen mission of planting a million trees each year by the year 2050. In the process, we generate awareness of climate change and give supply chain experts and students an opportunity to connect.”
DHL Supply Chain and Ohio State have a long-standing relationship where DHL provides internships, guest lectures, teaches courses, offers students site tours of local facilities and fills two seats on Ohio State’ssupply chain Center of Excellence board. Since the Fall of 2015, DHL Supply Chain has hired 79 interns and 78 full-time Ohio State students as full-time employees.
This tree planting provides an opportunity for students from Ohio State’sFisher College of Business and the Center of Operational Excellence (COE) to learn more about DHL and interact with DHL Supply Chain executives and associates.
“This event is the type of corporate partnership that benefits both our students and the greater Ohio State community,” said Kate Bartter, director of the Ohio State Office of Energy and Environment. “We’re pleased to partner with DHL Supply Chain and Urban Offsets to further support our university sustainability goals, specifically to increase the ecosystem value of our campus lands, which helps to reduce our carbon footprint.”
Urban Offsets helps corporations and universities execute their sustainability missions on a local level. “University students want a role in making their communities more sustainable,” said Shawn Gagné, CEO and founder of Urban Offsets. “By planting trees with Ohio State students and offsetting Ohio State emissions, DHL Supply Chain and Ohio Stateare champioining this new and innovative model.”
DHL Supply Chain’s GoGreen program has delivered an average reduction of 3 percent in carbon dioxide emissions, year over year, for every mile travelled and every square meter of space used worldwide for its customers. For more information about DHL Supply Chain’s GoGreen Solutions, click here.
