The Winnebago Waterways Program at Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance recently received a $5,000 donation from the charitable branch of Mercury Marine’s parent company, the Brunswick Corporation. This is thanks to Scott Louks, the Sustainability Manager at Mercury Marine in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. As a non-profit focused on conservation, we rely heavily on the generosity of our supporters. This donation will go a long way in helping us meet our financial needs for the Winnebago Waterways Program this year.
In January, the Brunswick Corporation named Scott as the recipient of its inaugural Sustainability Leadership Award for his leadership in helping Mercury achieve its long-range sustainability goals. In conjunction with this award, Scott had the opportunity to designate a charitable cause to receive a $5,000 donation from Brunswick Corporation. Reflecting his devotion to the preservation of natural resources, environments, and habitats, he elected to direct the donation to the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.
When asked why he chose the Winnebago Waterways Program at Fox-Wolf, Scott replied, “At Mercury Marine, we understand the importance of protecting and preserving the natural environments where people enjoy using our boat motors and other marine products. This appreciation drives us to find ways to help keep the world’s waterways pristine. I live in Fond du Lac, and Lake Winnebago is almost literally in my backyard. I have spent countless hours on the water, enjoying and connecting with nature. When Brunswick honored me with my award, which included my opportunity to direct a $5,000 contribution toward a worthy cause, I immediately thought of the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. Your organization does an outstanding job of organizing efforts toward keeping the watershed, including its critical wetland habitats, clean and free of litter and debris. Your organization strives to keep these waterways pristine, so its surrounding communities may enjoy them for generations to come. That is definitely a cause that I, and all of Mercury Marine, can get behind!”
Mercury Marine vigorously pursues sustainability according to the four pillars upholding the company’s sustainability mission: Energy, Environment, Product, and People.
As a thank you to Scott and Mercury Marine, we want to highlight their efforts by sharing a summary of some of Scott’s achievements:
As the Mercury Marine Sustainability Manager, a position he has held for the past seven years (and for five years prior to Mercury’s establishment of this formal title), Scott Louks coordinates Mercury’s global sustainability efforts to advance sustainability best practices into Mercury’s strategy, operations and culture. In fulfilling this charter, Scott has developed and implemented Mercury’s sustainability roadmap, defining three major sustainable growth horizons:
- Identifying baselines, measures, gaps, opportunities, objectives, targets, and best practices;
- Applying the techniques and findings from the effort above and socializing them across the global enterprise, integrating them into global and business-unit strategies;
- Employing processes, procedures and break-out technologies to enhance sustainable business and societal value.
Examples of Scott’s sustainability successes
There are many examples, but a standout accomplishment has been Scott’s advocacy of Mercury’s adoption of renewable-energy initiatives. He served as the primary researcher, proposal developer and advocate of initiatives that have resulted in Mercury’s construction of an on-site solar array, investment in a large local array near Mercury world headquarters, and participation in a large North American utilities-scale renewable energy project via a virtual power purchase agreement.
Mercury is well-positioned to meet its goal of deriving 50% of its electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2030 specifically as a result of Scott’s planning and consensus-building success.
He has similarly built consensus behind Mercury initiatives to expand recycling, to develop distribution centers into zero-waste-to-landfill facilities, to reduce water consumption and expand its reuse, and to conserve energy through the adoption of energy-saving technologies such as systemwide conversion to LED lighting and energy-saving procedures for powering up and down devices and equipment.
Examples of Scott’s leadership in sustainability
Scott leads the company’s Sustainability Committee, which is made up of employees representing a cross-section of organizational functions, business units and business leaders. In this role, he reviews and recommends actions on improvement opportunities in relation to four pillars: energy, environment, product and people. The environmental and societal opportunities include: environment, health, wellness, DEI, safety, and community engagement and stewardship.
Scott has excelled as an inspirational leader and consensus-builder. Activities of the Sustainability Committee under his leadership are at an all-time high. Participation in employee sustainability-related activities (recycling, volunteering for charitable causes, adherence to energy-saving procedures and protocols, etc.) are also at an all-time high.
When necessary, Scott can be persistent and persuasive. For example, building high level consensus behind Mercury’s solar projects was no slam-dunk. The investments are large with long-range break-even points. Scott, however, used data and sound rationale to win over the senior management team and compel them to embrace the investments.
Scott’s successes as a communicator around the subject of sustainability
As the Sustainability Manager, Scott provides regular updates to Mercury’s senior management team on the status of global sustainability targets, goals, actions, and progress.
He communicates Mercury’s sustainability successes via a combination of channels, depending on the nature of the accomplishment and the audience(s) to whom it pertains. Channels include the employee newsletter, the digital-bulletins email newsletter, the sustainability pages of the company website, the employee intranet, the annual sustainability report, dedicated dealer and consumer emails, news releases, and media relations.
Additionally, Scott provides input into communications from Mercury President Chris Drees, including the monthly Town Hall meetings and the quarterly streamed communication updates. He delivers updates on initiatives and their progress, and he congratulates the sustainability accomplishments of various individuals and teams.
Scott’s successes as a consensus-builder for sustainability
Scott seeks financial support and volunteering opportunities for employees to support and contribute to organizations that focus on: construction of housing for the poor; cleanup efforts in watersheds and other outdoor environments; advancement of STEM learning among high schoolers and college students; promotion of women’s participation and leadership in manufacturing industries; disease prevention and treatment; and proper recycling of electronics and other materials that could harm the environment.
Scott delegates leadership of various employee initiatives listed above, providing guidance but allowing the employees on these task forces to formulate and execute their plans.
Scott’s leadership style allows employee participants in sustainable activities to become invested in the outcomes and take pride in both the management and outcomes of these activities.
Scott’s successes in leading by example, going above and beyond
Scott promotes, leads and participates in both corporate- and employee-organized efforts in donation drives for the underprivileged, including collections of food, school supplies and other necessities. These activities raise tens of thousands of dollars and truckloads of donated goods each year. He is on-hand for every single sustainability activity, with his sleeves rolled up while he does the work. He is the kind of leader who “gets in the trenches” and breaks a sweat with everyone else who is participating.
Scott goes above and beyond by volunteering at the grassroots level. He knows when to take his manager hat off and replace it with the volunteer hat.
Another way Scott goes above and beyond: Scott and the Sustainability Committee that he leads seek opportunities to equip employees with knowledge and resources for improving the world in which they live. For example, “Lunch ’n’ Learn” sessions have informed employees about composting, organic gardening, healthy snacking, mental health, and rain-barrel use for water conservation.
Scott works with a state agency to provide employees with sharp discounts on LED lighting to replace less-efficient incandescent and fluorescent lighting in their homes and electronic recycling.
We want to extend a HUGE thank you to Scott and Mercury Marine for their generous donation and leadership in sustainability!!
Winnebago Waterways is a Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance recovery initiative. Contact us at wwinfo@fwwa.org
