It’s a common question. Why would a company in the logistics industry invest and practice sustainable business measures to such a degree? Why does Murphy Warehouse Company even care about sustainability? Is it really good for business? Is it expensive? These are good questions. There are several answers.
1. While other CEOs have more traditional business backgrounds, I am a landscape architect by education, training, and profession. After both designing and teaching Landscape Architecture for over 28 years, I migrated back to the family business to assist with running the company at a time of deregulation and the resulting business struggles. It’s a natural fit for me to see creativity as an element of our business decisions. Paying attention to the way things look and fit the environment and balancing economic and environmental factors has always been a part of my professional instincts. So it’s an understandable evolution for the company under my leadership.
2. For more than 100 years, our family heritage has been to lead – in business, in employee relations, in community service and stewardship. Today, sustainability is an area where we set an example by showing others what can be done. This focus also extends our family tradition of giving back.
3. Strategic business reasons suggest we focus on green efforts. Wall street demands it of our larger clients. The public prefers it. Increasing costs force us to look at alternatives. Many of our clients have committed to green practices themselves and hire us because we share that commitment.
4. Sustainability is good for business – benefiting our bottom line – and good for our brand. We have been truly honored with unprecedented, positive, national industry media exposure because of it.
5. It lends real credibility to our reputation in business, in the industry, in our operating neighborhoods, and with regulators.
It is now more important than ever for companies to invest in green efforts. Whether it’s the space and energy used by our warehouses, the costs of doing business as usual, or the emissions released by our fleet of trucks, we are each accountable for our impacts on the environment around us. It follows that we are each responsible to lessen our impacts today for our business success tomorrow.
At Murphy, it’s all about our next 100 years.
Warm Regards,
Richard