Last week, Norfolk Southern hosted its second annual Thoroughbred Sustainability Partner Awards. The awards honor 13 partner companies that are leading the way with sustainability achievements across three categories: Energy Efficiency, Innovation, and Environmental Stewardship.

EVP and Chief Transformation Officer Annie Adams kicked off the event at Norfolk Southern’s Midtown Atlanta headquarters.

“These companies are all working on parts of this puzzle and finding ways to be more innovative and thoughtful about the important work we are all doing – to preserve and protect the world that we live in,” Adams said. “Sustainability leadership means supporting each other in these crucial efforts, and our hope is that by recognizing and encouraging each other and our successes, together we will achieve measurable progress towards our shared goals.”

Key items on the agenda included:

• Norfolk Southern’s Chief Sustainability Officer Josh Raglin gave an overview of how the company is partnering with customers and suppliers on sustainability initiatives.
• Vice President First and Final Mile Markets Stefan Loeb spoke to the benefits of choosing to ship via rail to solve supply chain issues.
• Leadership from award-winning partner companies Kuenz America, Inc., The Greenbrier Companies, and Outokumpu Stainless USA participated in a panel discussion on supply chain sustainability, moderated by Raglin.

From left to right: Chief Sustainability Officer Josh Raglin (Norfolk Southern); President Clemens Horacek (Kuenz America, Inc.); Senior Vice President of Product Development & Automation Peter Jones (The Greenbrier Companies); Senior Vice President SCM Americas Wes Moyer (Outokumpu Stainless USA)

During the customer panel, Peter Jones, senior vice president of product development & automation at The Greenbrier Companies, commended Norfolk Southern for the innovation nature of their partnership together developing a lighter, more sustainable steel gondola railcar. “It’s unusual in the rail industry to experiment with railcar design in the way Norfolk Southern is doing – sustainably, and with a radically different type of steel,” Jones said. “It all comes down to partnerships like this – a railroad willing to take a risk and do something different.”

Partner companies will be able to apply for the 2024 Thoroughbred Sustainability Partner Awards later this year. To learn more about Norfolk Southern’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.norfolksouthern.com/sustainability.