Gregory Packs 2010 Corporate Social Responsibility Report Â
Table of Contents
About Gregory Packs Employees Community Environment
About Gregory Packs
A t age 14 Wayne Gregory designed his first backpack as part of a Boy Scout project. Shortly after this experience, he met Andy Drollinger, the founder of San Diego California Adventure 16, at a boy scout camporee. Andy was impressed with Wayne's design and over the next few years Wayne could be found hanging around the Adventure 16 factory, buying raw materials and tinkering with a variety of backpack ideas. He soon became the young company’s second employee. In 1970, Wayne started his first company, Sunbird, with a goal to produce advanced external frame packs. Unhappy with the limitations of externals, he dissolved the company in 1973 and began working as a freelance designer, creating sleeping bags, tents, and technical apparel for a number of companies in the newly emerging outdoor specialty industry. Intrigued with new directions in soft packs and internal frame concepts, he decided it was time to get back to his first love, designing backpacks, and in 1977 Wayne founded Gregory Mountain Products in San Diego, California.
From the start, Wayne wasn't just meticulous about designing packs that improved upon fit and used the best materials available, he also wanted to know how his designs worked in the field and what he could do better; a heritage of accessibility that has continued to the present. In the early days, he loved to talk tech with customers at his retail store in San Diego, where he built his packs in the back shop. He wanted to know firsthand what worked and what didn't, and many customers' ideas were incorporated into new products. Ultimately, Wayne realized that in the backpack business fit was king, and he pioneered many firsts, including; being the first to build backpacks in different frame, harness and waist belt sizes; the first (and still only) pack manufacturer to develop a waist belt system that adjusts to fit different hip angles, automatically improving load transfer; and developing the center-locking bar tack, a stitch that ends and locks off on the center of a seam instead of the side for increased strength at major stress points. From the earliest days, Gregory packs were noted for innovative design, ergonomic and comfortable fit, and our obsession with quality, comfort and durability continues today.
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Employees Gregory prides itself on our workforce and we strive to provide our employees with a positive and supportive work environment where they can take their career to new heights. • •
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We pay for employees to continue their education to help further their career. With three different health plans, plus dental and vision, and Gregory providing ample life insurance coverage, only the best options are provided for our workers and their families. An abundant amount of vacation time is allotted for each employee to aid them in achieving a healthy work-life balance. 201k – Gregory matches 75% of the first 6% an employee contributes and this goes into their account on a bi-weekly basis. There are company luncheons in the park once a month during nice weather. Time off is provided in order to complete volunteer projects.
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Monthly R&D meetings are held in the park near our company headquarters. Gregory Ski Day - An annual event where the company buys every employee a ski pass and lunch for a fun-filled day hitting the slopes outside of Tahoe There is a gym on-site at the company headquarters to promote a healthy lifestyle. We have paid excursions to conduct product testing on all of our packs. Gregory Gives Back - A committee specifically for encouraging volunteerism with all of our employees.
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Community Helping the local community is an integral part of Gregory’s mission. We make every effort to give back whenever we can.
Helping Organizations Around the World •
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The Angelman Syndrome Foundation – A nonprofit that promotes awareness and provides funding for the treatment, research and support of children with Angelman Syndrome. o In addition to making a series of donations to the foundation, we helped out a group of University of New Hampshire students by providing them with Baltoro packs in a fundraising effort for the foundation in which they summited Mount Washington. America Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) – A network of people and organizations that sets out to change lives for the better in more than 70 countries. o Robert Schiller of Gregory recently volunteered in Tunisia with Sam Amiel of the JDC. Rob provided everyone helping out in Tunisia with a Muir 24 pack, and now the JDC is currently assisting with the relief efforts in Haiti. Climbing for Kids and Outdoor Outreach – Local organizations which take at-risk, underprivileged youth on outdoor adventures to help them build confidence and gain self-esteem o We outfitted all the members of Climbing for Kids with Baltoro packs. o For Outdoor Outreach, Gregory raised money for the organization by running a fundraiser during the Outdoor Retailer tradeshow. The Robertson Community Center – A center in Sacramento, CA, where youngsters in the community can learn, grow and play in a safe environment. The center also has an adopt-a-family program for families in need. o The employees at Gregory adopted a family, and through the Gregory Gives Back program, the office was flooded with donations for the family, providing them with rugs, tables, lamps, backpacks for school and much more. In the aftermath of the typhoons that hit the Philippines this past fall, Gregory made a significant donation to the Red Cross to help aid in the relief efforts.
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Helping the Outdoor Community •
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Appalachian Trail Conservancy – A volunteer, private nonprofit dedicated to the conservation of the 2,175 mile Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Pacific Crest Trail Association – A nonprofit that protects and preserves the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. The Access Fund - A national advocacy organization that keeps climbing areas open and protects the area, keeping it in pristine condition for climbers. The Conservation Alliance – An organization helping to protect, preserve, and restore endangered and threatened ecosystems and species. Gregory donated a Z55 pack to Trevor Thomas for his hiking endeavors. Trevor went blind at around 30 years old and is the first blind person to successfully complete the Appalachian Trail. He most recently was selected as the team leader for Team Farsight’s trek across the Pacific Crest Trail. This is the first time a handicapped person has led the team.
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The Conservation Alliance – An organization helping to protect, preserve, and restore endangered and threatened ecosystems and species. Gregory donated a Z55 pack to Trevor Thomas for his hiking endeavors. Trevor went blind at around 30 years old and is the first blind person to successfully complete the Appalachian Trail. He most recently was selected as the team leader for Team Farsight’s trek across the Pacific Crest Trail. This is the first time a handicapped person has led the team.
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Environment The people at Gregory Packs strive to protect the environment and promote sustainable business whenever possible. This company ethos predominates all aspects of the design and manufacturing of our products, and has spilled over into other areas like the recent green build-out of our company headquarters, which attained 14 of the 26 design elements needed for LEED certification.
Product Design Every aspect of our design process has been developed to decrease our overall impact on the environment, increase efficiency, and minimize waste. • •
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Design briefs are written to provide a sustainable solution to correct the problem. Businesses that constantly update their products, making last year’s models obsolete, are drastically shortening the lifecycles of their products. We allow our designs to run for a longer period of time, allowing for more value to the consumer, greater manufacturing efficiency, and more profit for the business. Gregory products are designed to reduce the number of rejected finished parts, making it easier to repair the parts if they wear or malfunction and thus creating a longer lifecycle for the product.
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We design products to last as long as the customer needs them. The higher quality lets the consumer keep the product for years and years, reducing the need to buy a new pack in the future and creating less waste and energy that would otherwise be involved in the production process. Our product molds are designed with thought put into the quantities needed, so part cost is reduced as well as the energy used per part. Product shapes are designed to help maximize packability, so as to reduce the amount of material used in the shipping process and minimize shipping costs.
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Manufacturing The manufacturing of products requires the largest use of a company’s resources compared to any other process. As such, we have engineered our operations to drastically limit shipping, increase the quality of our products, and create as small a carbon footprint as we can feasibly manage. •
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Vertical Supply Chain - The factories making Gregory’s products are all located right next to each other, greatly reducing transportation costs and fuel consumption, and allowing for easy changes to the production line if need be. The same fabrics and colorways are used for multiple models in Gregory’s product line, resulting in high quantities of fabric being ordered so there are less shipping costs, less energy wasted on new setups for the machines when switching the models of backpacks being manufactured, and major reductions in quality issues and rejected fabrics. All of our products are PVC-free. PVC is nearly indestructible and cannot be recycled or re-used, so Gregory has switched to using TPU in place of PVC, a class of plastics that is 100% recyclable at the end of its lifespan.
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Some materials are dyed in the nylon-chip stage, before it is extruded and spun into yarn. As a result, millions of gallons of wastewater are eliminated that would have been used in the traditional dye bath process of dyeing fabric. Digital marking equipment and electronic cutters increase efficiency, allowing for a precise use of materials that cuts down on waste.
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Green Renovations We reviewed all aspects of LEED certification when planning renovations to our company headquarters. After all was said and done, we attained over half of the design elements needed for certification. Below is a sampling of what we have accomplished. • •
Much of the light for the office is supplied by natural lighting, and the majority of lighting in the building is on motion sensors. Only the windows and skylights were replaced on the building, with over 75% of the exterior structure maintained.
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Low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint was used throughout the building. The majority of furniture and carpet in the building is refurbished or fully recyclable
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The office was chosen since it is within a highly livable and walk-able area that is within a half mile of Light Rail and bus stops. We provide bike storage in the office, with showers and changing rooms on site, to help encourage our employees to bike to work if at all possible.
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We recycle all the paper, aluminum, and plastic in our office. Our 2010 catalogs were printed on recycled content paper with veggie based inks, printed locally and delivered by biodiesel trucks
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