Mercury Marine earns 12th consecutive Green Masters designation

For the 12th consecutive year, Mercury Marine, a division of Brunswick Corporation (NYSE:BC), has earned a Green Masters designation from the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council (WSBC), placing the company among an elite group of organizations to have earned the honor as many times consecutively. In addition, Mercury President Chris Drees and Sustainability Manager Scott Louks each received awards for their exemplary leadership in sustainability.

WSBC recognized Drees and Louks for their leadership of sustainability efforts, noting that “the winners exhibit leadership, initiative and innovation and make measurable impacts across their businesses and the communities they serve.” Drees received the award for Sustainable Leadership – Executive, and WSBC honored Louks with its Sustainable Leadership – Champion award for his advocacy and consensus-building around sustainability initiatives at Mercury. Drees and Louks were among only three individuals to receive personal recognition in this year’s awards.

To win its 12th Green Masters designation, Mercury achieved a score within the top 20% of all applicants in a rigorous examination of the company’s sustainable business practices. Judges evaluated the applicants according to several categories of sustainability, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI); waste management and other forms of environmental stewardship; responsible use of energy and water; pursuit of humanitarian causes advancement of education; and leadership and consensus-building. They examined the advancement of these objectives in the contexts of transportation, supply chain management, workforce development, operations and other factors.

“Each successive Green Masters award is even more satisfying than the last,” said Drees. He emphasized the WSBC Green Masters Program’s evaluative methodology, which requires applicants to cite sustainable business practices and initiatives undertaken in the past year and to show improvement over previous years. “The WSBC’s approach requires applicants to build on successes year over year – there’s no resting on laurels. Mercury continues to set a new standard for sustainability within the marine industry and the state of Wisconsin.”

The company’s sustainability accomplishments in recent months include expanding its zero‑waste‑to‑landfill initiatives. Mercury also deepened its commitment to renewable energy, joining with Alliant Energy to launch a large-scale solar array project in its headquarters’ home county and investing in a virtual power purchase agreement with one of the largest suppliers of solar energy to the nation’s grid.

The company expanded its development of fuel-efficient marine engines and further refined its innovative concept for outboard propulsion that uses swappable and rechargeable batteries. Mercury will introduce products in its new electric-propulsion line to the market in the months ahead.

Mercury also expanded its contributions to worthy causes at both the corporate and grassroots levels. The employees’ annual food drives and electronics-recycling campaigns reached new highs. The company also introduced new employee-driven activities to advance the principles of DEI