It’s one of America’s biggest wire and cable manufacturers, taking around half the market share. Southwire manufactures half the electricity transmission cables used in America. Its products are found in nearly 50% of all newly built American homes.
Southwire is a family legacy. Founded in 1950, it quickly became a technological trendsetter. Its influence goes beyond products to considering the environment it operates in.
Southwire seeks to positively impact everyone in its sphere of influence: employees, customers, and the community. It even extends its influence to suppliers, requiring them to meet sustainability standards.
Philosophy
Southwire operates with a long-term view. The company is rooted in community, seeing its members as caretakers and stewards.
This idea of stewardship is visible throughout the company. Everything is connected, integrated, and therefore all corporate activities matter.
Southwire operates based on five core tenets: growing green, living well, giving back, doing right, and building worth.
Growing Green
A truly sustainable world is achieved when fundamental processes and essential materials are environmentally responsible. Southwire works to bring this to the energy-intensive manufacturing sector.
Southwire operates on the principle of “growing green,” with a Carbon Zero mission. The current aim is to achieve 100% zero-carbon energy by 2025.
Southwire is taking this on with a mix of strategies.
Schemes like carbon offsetting, renewable energy certificates, and virtual power purchase agreements give an immediate impact.
The company also invests in employee ingenuity with a global sustainability team. The team has representatives from every business area. This team originates new ideas and guides the company’s overall sustainability strategy.
Sustainable manufacturing considers the impact of every activity, source material, and product. With many stakeholders to consider, Southwire values insight from diverse groups.
Living Well
Work is work; family is family. The workplace is often likened to a family when employers are acting exploitatively.
But Southwire really does look after its people. This goes beyond maximizing productivity, by ensuring their safety and wellbeing while at work.
Southwire invests in its people by giving health benefits, equitable pay, professional experience opportunities, community engagement, and life planning.
Forbes has ranked it as one of America’s best employers.
Giving Back
Many manufacturers have an extractive view of the world. Southwire thinks differently. It operates with a holistic, circular view of its economic environment.
The company’s success depends on thriving communities. By heavily investing in the surrounding communities, it’s ultimately providing for itself and ensuring its own future.
Southwire doesn’t just provide jobs and work training. It educates young people to be resourceful and capable of meeting future needs as employees.
Doing Right
One-off campaigns aren’t being used to cover up poor corporate governance. Southwire integrates ethics into all areas of business, especially when working with outside parties.
As an ethical manufacturing company, it prioritizes anti-corruption, trafficking prevention, supplier diversity, conflict-free minerals, and sustainable supply chains.
Southwire is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact. This backs up its professed values with transparency and accountability.
Building Worth
Southwire runs on financial stewardship, designed to lead its market.
Why does this matter? Because social and environmental ideals are only viable when the company can thrive. Southwire proves that profit doesn’t need to come at the expense of people.
Standout Projects
Southwire nurtures the communities it operates in. It’s identified a number that is deeply in need and created projects to serve them.
12 for Life. Southwire provides at-risk young people with skill-building education and work opportunities. It places classroom learning inside a manufacturing environment—these strategies for incentivized, practical learning work. Southwire took a county with a 64% graduation rate and raised that to 91.35%. This program is incredibly successful. The White House has taken it on as a model for raising graduation rates.
Project GIFT. Southwire has its own 501(c)(3) registered non-profit. Employees run it and volunteer through it to serve their local communities. Southwire brings the funds, while its people bring passion, purpose, and direction. It has over 1,200 committed employee volunteers.
E-Recycling. Southwire provides its communities with electronic recycling programs. Many communities don’t have the infrastructure or financial resources to sustain their own e-recycling. Working in partnership with Keep America Beautiful, Southwire’s collected over 1,000,000 lbs of electronics. These would otherwise have been trashed. Southwire’s Project GIFT volunteers provide the staffing.
Disaster Relief. Southwire gives disaster aid relief when natural disasters hit its communities. Project GIFT volunteers collect food, supplies, and funds. They also provide direct on-the-ground help after hurricanes, earthquakes, tornados, or floods. Southwire responded to February 2021’s winter storm by donating emergency water, food, and funds. On their own, Southwire employees donated over $3,000 in a program that gave ten meals to every dollar.
Toys for Tots. Southwire runs an annual holiday toy drive, complete with concerts and drive-in donation marathons. All toys are then handed off to the US Marine Corps for distribution through its official Toys for Tots program.
Solar Infrastructure. Indirect green energy schemes, like purchase power agreements, are good temporary solutions. To directly improve sustainability, Southwire is building its own on-campus solar infrastructure. New additions include a rooftop solar array, solar car canopy, electric vehicle charging stations, and solar picnic tables.
Charitable Partnerships. Southwire operates by forming healthy partnerships with employees, community members, and other involved stakeholders. Its charitable giving is investments, not temporary fixes. All charity projects align with its core values of supporting local communities, developing a better workforce, and protecting the environment.
For Southwire, doing good isn’t an isolated initiative or something taken care of with a few donations. Its values are integrated into every aspect of the business.
Southwire demonstrates that social responsibility and environmental stewardship don’t come at the expense of financial health.
This company is a leading model for good corporate governance, sustainability, and social responsibility. As one of America’s largest manufacturers, this example makes a powerful statement.
Southwire has been revolutionary since day one. The company has invented and introduced many of the products we rely on for electricity.