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GE (NYSE: GE) and its Chinese partners that represent some of that country’s key infrastructure development goals announced the signing of a series of “Country to Company” agreements aimed at promoting collaboration between GE and Chinese public and private sector aviation, energy and transportation organizations. The announcements, which were made as part of "GE's Clean Technology Week in China" activities, included the formation of two joint ventures – in avionics and locomotive engines; and the parties’ agreements to explore future “cleaner coal” gasification and high-speed rail opportunities.  

The agreements encourage active collaboration to advance clean technologies that address both long-term strategic challenges and economic opportunities for GE and China. Over time, these initiatives are expected to create and safeguard thousands of jobs in both countries.
 
Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE said, “These agreements share common themes – rapid growth potential, clean technologies and job creation. Whether expanding our existing aviation, energy and transportation relationships or looking at technology collaborations to open up new growth opportunities, partnerships like these help protect and grow employment for both GE and China’s infrastructure sectors.
 
“We expect these investments and commitments to yield long-term benefits,” Immelt said. “New global sales will be a direct result of these collaborations – safeguarding and growing U.S. jobs while supporting Chinese growth for GE businesses and the Chinese aviation, energy and transportation industries,” Immelt said. These partnerships will also give GE the opportunity to strengthen our own local capabilities, enhancing our ability to serve our Chinese customers as that nation drives its technology initiatives.”
 
Mark Norbom, GE’s president & CEO for Greater China, said: “The deals we are signing are built upon GE's rapid growth in mainland China in the first three quarters of 2009.  They not only represent tremendous growth opportunities for our China platforms but also support jobs in the United States.  The partnerships we are building with the Chinese industry leaders will better position GE in strategic growth sectors in China such as aviation, transportation and energy. "
 
Spanning GE’s industrial portfolio, the announcements include initiatives in the following areas:
 

·         Avionics joint venture: GE Aviation and AVIC Systems will create a global avionics business to develop and market integrated systems for commercial aircraft customers. The joint venture, to be headquartered in Beijing, China, plans to offer fully integrated, open architecture avionics and services for future civil aircraft programs. The joint venture, which was announced on Sunday, may create more than 200 U.S. jobs.

·         Cleaner coal energy: GE Energy and Shenhua Group Corporation have agreed to a framework for an industrial coal gasification joint venture. GE and Shenhua would conduct research and development on new cleaner coal technologies to improve cost and performance of commercial scale gasification and integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) solutions, and jointly pursue the deployment of commercial scale IGCC plants with carbon capture and sequestration. To further progress "cleaner coal" IGCC technology in China, the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) announced its intention to fund the initial steps toward a plant in China based on GE's technology.

·         Advancing high-speed rail technologies: GE and the China’s Ministry of Railways (MOR) are considering advancing partnership opportunities to pursue high-speed rail projects in the United States. While GE is the world leader in diesel-electric locomotive technology, GE does not currently manufacture locomotives for high-speed rail travel. A successful partnership with the MOR would allow GE to more effectively compete against European and Japanese companies for high-speed rail related opportunities and would create in the near future about 150 high technology jobs in the U.S. and sustain approximately 3,500 U.S. jobs over time – at least 80% of the content would be sourced from, and all final assembly will take place in the U.S.

·         Transportation locomotive assemblies order:CSR Qishuyan Locomotive Co., Ltd. agreed to purchase 300 Evolution® Series locomotive assemblies. The agreement helps to sustain nearly 1,200 clean-technology jobs in the U.S.

·         Engine joint venture: GE Transportation and CSR Qishuyan will form a joint venture company to develop, build and service GE’s Evolution® Series locomotive diesel engines in China, where there is significant opportunity for modernization. Of the 12,000 diesel locomotives in China, only a small fraction are advanced technology. Also, as demand for the ecomagination™ certified technology increases around the world, the new company would jointly seek future commercial opportunities.

 
The announcements came as GE’s “Company to Country” strategy continues to bear fruit. In 2006 GE signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to explore broad partnerships with the Chinese government and state-owned companies, especially on GE’s green initiative “ecomagination.” The areas of cooperation with NDRC cover energy, transportation, aviation, water, lighting and other key infrastructure sectors. 
 
GE started doing business in China as early as 1906 and was considered one of the most active foreign companies in the country at the time. Currently GE runs 36 wholly owned or joint venture companies in China ranging from manufacturing, service, research and development, financial services and sourcing, with a total workforce of over 13,000. GE is actively involved in China's infrastructure expansion by offering products and technologies in power generation, oil & gas, water treatment, aviation, transportation, healthcare, security, lighting, power distribution and financial TV.
 
To learn more about GE’s announcements in China this week, visit http://www.ge.com/chinanews.

Micro-lending website Kiva.org recently hit a major milestone. Since launching four years ago, the organization has facilitated $100 million in microloan transactions between individual lenders and low income entrepreneurs all around the world. Lots of charities target the poor, you may ask, so what makes this organization unique? It’s the approach.

In order to achieve its mission of connecting people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty, Kiva employs a strategy of inclusion. It turns what was once an opaque process in both lending and charitable giving on its head, creating greater levels of personal involvement and future commitment.

A few weeks ago Kiva founder Premal Shah described this process to an audience of thousands at the 2009 Women’s Conference, saying: “When you give to big organizations, you don’t know where your money is going. Here you do. There are short feedback loops and direct transparency. When you browse entrepreneurs’ profiles on Kiva, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you know exactly where your money is going. You can see that you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence. Because of the technology we enable, you get an e-mail from that person and establish a connection. That makes it personal.”

What Shah describes also encourages the experience of web-based world change to go viral. People excited about a new process tend to spread the word, and Shah says Kiva has benefited tremendously from this natural momentum: “We don’t even have a marketing person at Kiva, it all just spreads from word of mouth. For every dollar we spend at Kiva, we raise $10 online.”

Other firms are benefiting from technology-enabled connections, too. Ashton Kutcher’s company Katalyst, which is widely known among the Gen Y and Hollywood set for creating savvy social media campaigns, is now convincing large corporations that it’s time to go about communicating social issues and engaging stakeholders in totally new ways. Earlier this year the company joined forces with Kellogg company in order to confront hunger.

The result of the Katalyst-Kellogg collaboration was a web video featuring a cross section of user generated content, submitted by people moved to help end the growing hunger epidemic in the United States. The aim of the video was to encourage consumers to donate to Feeding America, the nation’s leading hunger relief organization. The video, accessible on on the KelloggCares Facebook Page www.facebook.com/kelloggcares and numerous other channels, was directed by Demi Moore.

“The web is by far the quickest and most efficient way for companies to activate and organize people,” explains Kutcher. “We don’t just use the web to evangelize a cause, we use it to mobilize.”

The core idea behind what both Kutcher and Shah stand for, in addition to transparency and openness, is effective engagement. Both feel an urge to harness the power of technology in order to elicit a greater level of participation from the public on key issues that affect our world. They strongly encourage more companies to do the same.

“Let people be the ambassadors of your cause,” Kutcher says. “There are now dozens of ways to do this. The biggest thing I advocate for is don’t go out and build a website. There are so many social media tools that already exist: Facebook, Twitter, iPhone applications...These are all tools that can be used to create social good. All you have to do is connect them. Just link these tools. Create a loop of technology to get your message out and create a world of good.”

Shah heartily agrees that linking technology applications creates superior social opportunities for companies, and points to how even the simplest advances – from e-mail to cell phones and mobile cash – have upped the ante for Kiva and helped his stakeholders tremendously. As for what the future holds, Shah seems optimistic: “What we are going to see in the next decade is going to be mind-blowing.”

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The Centre for Sustainability and Excellence (CSE) in North America is proud to announce it will be hosting its IEMA Workshop titled, “Certified CSR Practitioner IEMA Approved”, on February 9-10, 2010 for the second time in Chicago.

This certified workshop will give participants the opportunity to earn a certificate designating them as Qualified to originate and manage a Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability program within their organization. The CSE workshop is certified by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), and is designed for all professionals responsible for the management of CSR, Marketing, and Public Relations activities. General Managers, Public Relations Managers and Sustainability and Environmental Professionals can advance their Sustainability understanding, acquire the skill and knowledge that will bring added value and authenticity to their company, and also earn an official business qualification through this two-day workshop.

With specialized, detailed and highly focused training, the CSE workshop will cover:

• CSR/Sustainable Development Concepts & its Return on Investment

• Global Warming & Climate Change Issues

• Future trends & legislation in the U.S. & Worldwide on Corporate Responsibility

• The Stakeholder Approach & CSR

• CSR Communication & Reporting

• Global Standards/Models/Guidelines & Tools for practical CSR integration (GRI, UN Global Compact, EFQM)

• A CSR Action Plan for your organization (prerequisite for CSR practitioner Qualification)

More than 80 Professionals from 5 continents have already joined this unique workshop, which is designed for all professionals responsible for the Sustainable Management of their organizations. The certified workshop, launched in Europe and expanded in many different countries successfully by CSE, represents a stepping-stone for organizations that want to implement Sustainability into their operations gradually, one-step at a time. September's CSR Practitioner Workshop was certified as carbon neutral and attracted an eclectic group of professionals, ranging from CSR Managers to University Directors, and finally CSR media.

To request additional information or register in the next workshop contact CSE at research@cse-net.org or info@cse-northamerica.org .

Billionaire financier Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is all in, buying the rest of railroad firm Burlington Northern Santa Fe that it doesn't already own. The deal is Berkshire Hathaway's biggest-ever acquisition.

Buffett makes his biggest investment ever and it is in a railroad company.

I had to read this a few times to believe it, simply because you don't think of railroads as a booming industry. It is a mature business -- but then, this is what made Buffett. Patiently waiting for his investments to pay dividends instead of looking for short-term gains.

If you think about it the investment makes sense. As the economy picks up, there will be an increase in railroad traffic and that business will start making money again.

There is no question that profitability will come back. However, would it continue to grow?