NFI Group Inc. (NFI) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, everyone. My name is Janice Harper, Executive Vice President, People and Culture at NFI Group. Today, I am very pleased to introduce NFI's environmental, social and governance report for 2021. As leaders in transportation solutions, NFI plays a critical role in driving tangible environmental and social impact. Our product and services, lower emissions, create economic opportunities and build healthier communities. NFI's fourth annual ESG report for 2021 demonstrates our impact and the significant growth in maturity in our company-wide ESG practices. Throughout 2021, we continue to lead the evolution to zero-emission transportation. What we like to call this evolution through the launch of 6 new battery and fuel-cell electric models. NFI now has zero-emission buses and coaches operating or on order in more than 80 cities. And 2021 saw us expand our zero-emission presence in Ireland, Britain, New Zealand and Australia. We also accelerated our company-wide sustainability strategy and road map focusing on serving all our stakeholders. This included the hiring of a sustainability manager, launching an ESG materiality assessment and actioning company-wide diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. As a leading global designer, manufacturer and provider of transportation mobility solutions, we know that we have a responsibility to lead sustainably with strong governance program focus on the long term. It's in that spirit of leadership that we focused on our sustainability pledge to create a better product, a better workplace and a better world. And introducing this year's report, I'd like to explain a bit more about each of these areas. A better product. Each NFI bus is designed and built for either zero emissions or fuel efficiency. Our impressive lineup of zero emission and battery-electric products as well as telematics and connected technology to monitor performance demonstrates our commitment to a sustainable future for all. From 2015 through to the end of 2021, NFI delivered over 2,032 equivalent units of zero mission-buses or ZEBs. These vehicles have traveled more than 65 million miles and prevented the emission of billions of pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. In 2021, our electric buses were featured on the world stage, the 26th United Nations COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, and we also expanded our battery-recycling program with Li-Cycle Corporation for a better workplace. In 2021, we engaged an independent third party to give back the diversity, equity and inclusion survey of the organization to assess our current state and areas for opportunity. We also formalized the human rights statement, which includes the freedom of association commitment, invested $7 million and employee training and conducted a living wage assessment of the company's main transit bus production facilities, which found that 99.78% of our employees were at or above the living wage standard in their region. We take pride in being an employer and a partner of choice with a focus on building a respectful, inclusive and vibrant workplace. We are proud to say that NFI's Board is now 40% female and 80% independent with a growing 21% female executive leadership team. For a Better World, NFI is focused on being a responsible corporate citizen and creating positive change for all our stakeholders and their communities. In 2021, NFI submitted our first response to the CDP Climate Change Questionnaire, took part in a social innovation lab focused on indigenous youth employment in the manufacturing industry and completed ongoing projects to improve our operational impact on climate change. NFI has continued its strong relationship with United Way agencies across North America raising more than $370,000 in 2021. Collectively, NFI donated more than $3.1 million to the United Ways from its workplace campaign since 2009. We were presented with the Spirit of Collaboration Award for our partnership with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers and Unifor during our 2021 workplace campaign. We look forward to continuing to drive change and lead the ZEvolution. We hope you'll join us on that journey, and we hope that you enjoy reading NFI's ESG report for 2021.