Dealerscope February 17, 2020
By Jessica Guyon
Earth Day might be over two months away, but one Philadelphia-based distributor didn’t want to wait that long to start doing something good for the environment. Almo Corporation, the largest U.S. independent distributor of professional AV equipment, appliances, consumer electronics, and home goods, has taken the leap into clean, sustainable energy to reduce its carbon footprint and electricity costs.
“Almo Corporation is committed to responsible environmental stewardship and sustainable business practices,” says Ed Gibbons, Almo’s Executive Vice President. “Solar will greatly reduce our dependence on grid-generated, non-renewable electricity for many years to come.”
Paradise Energy Solutions decked out the 430,000 square-foot warehouse in 3,200 solar panels that will generate enough electricity in one year to offset 100,000 gallons of gasoline, 900,000 pounds of coal, or 2,100 barrels of oil. The system is projected to last until 2050, and Almo will begin seeing the financial benefits in less than five years. The distributor also created a sustainability page with details to the second about how much solar energy has been generated.
“We have been pleasantly surprised to find that by offsetting the need to purchase electricity from the utility company, these solar panels will have contributed enough savings to pay for themselves in less than five years, leaving an estimated 25 years of free electricity for our business”, shares Gibbons.
With year’s worth of energy-cost savings, Almo plans to continue to act as “responsible corporate citizens” by making contributions to the Philadelphia community in various outreach efforts. Just some of the company’s philanthropic activities include appliance donations to the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House, food drives, Secret Santa efforts with St. Luke’s Hospital, donations to organizations related to Crohn’s disease and the Anti-Defamation League, a Splash for Cash dunk tank event that raises money for the American Cancer Society, and much more.
“Giving back isn’t an obligation,” says Chaiken. “It’s a privilege. The communities that we live in and work in are part of our fabric. All our employees, when they leave every day, go back to these communities. We want to make sure they’re strong and that we help where we can.
“Being a family business, we believe in giving back. By doing that, it really has become part of the culture of this company,” he says.
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