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Stanley Black & Decker Celebrates 175 Years of Leading with Purpose

In celebration of its 175th anniversary, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) has announced a refreshed corporate social responsibility strategy aligned with the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and designed to inspire makers and innovators to create a more sustainable world.

Published 6 years ago | About a 4 minute read

To celebrate the milestone, Stanley Black & Decker will ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning, where it will concurrently launch a new partnership with Discovery Education and the STEMIE Coalition to bring a stronger “maker”-focused curriculum into the classroom. The three partners are also hosting two classes of New York students at the New York Stock Exchange, inviting them to participate in STEAM-focused educational activities at Stanley Black & Decker’s new mobile Makerspace and interact with sports legend Joe Gibbs and NASCAR driver Erik Jones.

“175 years ago, Frederick Trent Stanley opened the Stanley Bolt Manufactory in New Britain, CT, to manufacture bolts and hinges – and his commitment to innovation and social responsibility didn’t stop there,” said Stanley Black & Decker President and CEO Jim Loree. “He was the first mayor of New Britain, brought what was believed to be the first steam engine to Connecticut, and was instrumental in bringing gas lighting and railway to his city. It’s this spirit that enabled Stanley to thrive through three industrial revolutions, and it’s what continues to drive our organization as we move through what we see as the fourth industrial revolution.”

As the pace of technological change – particularly digital transformation – advances at an exponential rate, individuals, businesses, governments and society as a whole are facing challenges navigating this change. Stanley Black & Decker’s commitment to empower the next-generation of makers, creators and innovators is focused on helping today’s youth develop the skills necessary to compete in this dynamic landscape.

“Corporations like ours have an obligation to be part of the solution by providing individuals around the world with an opportunity to thrive in this new world, and we want to put our skills and resources to work,” Loree added. “Our new corporate social responsibility strategy will deliver programs that can empower those who are doing the work of creating and shaping the world around us – the makers and creators, who are the true heroes of the world.”

Stanley Black & Decker's Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

The company recently reevaluated its existing sustainability and philanthropic work to begin aligning those efforts around the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The work resulted in a new strategy built around three pillars:

Empowering makers and creators to thrive in a changing world: Enable 10 million creators and makers to thrive through programs that upskill Stanley Black & Decker employees who may be displaced by technology and empower everyday citizens with vocational training, STEAM education and access to maker spaces.
Innovating products to improve lives: Enhance the lives of 500 million people and improve environmental impacts by creating and using products to meet underserved societal needs as well as improve the lifecycle impact of our products and sourcing and reduce supply chain Green House Gas emissions 11. Creating a more sustainable world: Positively impact the environment through the company's operations by reducing our environmental impacts related to GHG emissions, water and waste. Already, the company's long-term environmental sustainability goals have been approved by The Science Based Targets initiative. Partnership with Discovery Education and STEMIE

Stanley Black & Decker is partnering with Discovery Education and STEMIE to build a Stanley Black & Decker maker movement program, a new Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) curriculum that will transform student learning by inviting students and educators nationwide to explore numerous disciplines through building, making and doing.

"We're excited to partner with Stanley Black & Decker to inspire the next generation of inventors, designers, and creators," said Vice President of Corporate Education Partnerships at Discovery Education Kristin Hirst. "Across the country, the maker movement is helping students express their creativity, as well as grow the technical and engineering skills they need for success beyond the classroom. Together with Stanley Black & Decker, we look forward to igniting the 'maker spirit' in students nationwide through a combination of innovative digital resources and immersive classroom experiences."

As part of the Stanley Black & Decker maker movement program, Discovery Education and STEMIE's unmatched STEAM curriculum development expertise and classroom reach will provide students with opportunities to learn about diverse technical and engineering careers in context, connecting them with examples of real world application. Young innovators will engage in a virtual field trip, maker activities and a national student challenge.

Stanley Black & Decker’s traveling makerspace.

The curriculum is currently in development and will be introduced to schools in the U.S. later this year, with plans to expand the collaboration in the coming years.

This program complements Stanley Black & Decker's existing maker-focused efforts that include Makerspace collaboration initiatives with universities and other organizations, global apprenticeship programs, sponsorship of WorldSkills International, and the company's recent announcement of its Manufactory 4.0 initiative that includes job retraining efforts.

Explore the future of education at DiscoveryEducation.com.

Find out more about the STEMIE Coalition at stemie.org

Learn more at http://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com.