Sustainability experts from New Belgium Brewing Company and Nike Inc. will headline the Outdoor Industry Association Sustainability Insights Conference in Salt Lake City Aug. 4
Jenn Vervier, Director of Strategy and Sustainability at New Belgium Brewing Company, will kick-off the fourth Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Sustainability Insights Conference, discussing the work that the brewer has been doing to address the impacts of climate change, from supply chain management to advocacy.
Launched in 2014 at Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, the Sustainability Insights Conference provides opportunities for industry professionals to stay apprised of best practices and industry trends around risk mitigation and supply-chain management, providing a forum to collaboratively discuss and address shared challenges.
The one-day conference will take place on Tuesday, August 4, just prior to the start of Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2015, and will be held at the Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown at City Creek.
Since 1993, Jenn Vervier has fulfilled a variety of roles at New Belgium including bottler, CFO, and COO. As Director of Strategy, Jenn is responsible for articulating and identifying roadblocks to achieving the strategy, setting up strategic planning systems, as well as innovation and business development opportunities.
As Director of Sustainability, she oversees a team of specialists working on the sustainability management system and reporting, natural resource management, advocacy and philanthropy. She has a special interest in areas where the environment, economics and policy overlap, such as ecosystem service, carbon and water credit markets. She serves on the boards of Conservation Colorado and Colorado State University’s Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Enterprise and on the Steering Committee for the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable.
“New Belgium is a fellow member of BICEP [Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy] and has been doing incredible work around both supply chain management and climate advocacy for years,” said Beth Jensen, OIA’s Director of Corporate Responsibility. “This is a great opportunity to hear from a company in another industry that faces many of the same challenges and shares so many of the same values as the outdoor industry.”
Nike's Systems Innovation Experience
The afternoon of the conference will be dedicated to Nike’s Systems Innovation Experience (SIX)-an interactive simulation game that helps brands tackle sustainability challenges in the supply chain. This collaborative exercise will bring supply-chain pressures to life, illustrating the potential future impacts of the decisions companies make today.
Teams collaborate and compete against each other as well as against external challenges that are made real through a mix of multimedia experiences, team discussions and negotiations. Success requires smart investing, collaboration and innovations focusing on materials, manufacturing, workers, consumers and more. Team success hinges on maximizing operational and financial results while dramatically reducing environmental impacts.
Other sessions will focus on climate risks and opportunities in the supply chain, wool and leather traceability, microplastics, living wage in the supply chain and much more.
Interested parties can view the full agenda and register for the conference online.
About OIA Sustainability Working Group
Convened in 2007, the Sustainability Working Group is a collaborative industry group dedicated to developing industry tools, standards, and best practices around responsible supply chain management. In addition to in-person meetings at Outdoor Retailer, the group holds regularly scheduled calls throughout the year to address topics around materials traceability, social responsibility, chemicals management and product indexing.
Based in Boulder, CO, with offices in Washington, D.C., Outdoor Industry Association is the leading trade association for the outdoor industry and the title sponsor of Outdoor Retailer. OIA supports the growth and success of more than 4,000 manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, sales representatives and retailers of outdoor recreation apparel, footwear, equipment and services. For more information, visit outdoorindustry.org or call 303.444.3353.
