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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/61712
INDUSTRY NEWS Stens comes to aid of southern Indiana tornado victims IN RESPONSE TO THE SERIES OF TORNADOES that devastated southern Indiana on March 2, Jasper, Ind.-based Stens sent a Relief Team to the towns of Scottsburg and Henryville. Henryville was hit by two tornados, one of which was an EF4 with winds up to 175 miles per hour. Stens employees Chris Roos and Ryan Schwartz volunteered to assist Scott's Hardware, located in Scottsburg, with post-storm cleanup. The Stens team arrived with a Franzen Chain Sharpening Machine in tow, allowing them to offer free chain sharpening to anyone needing the service in the devastated areas. The team spent a full day in Scottsburg, which suffered hail damage, then spent a second full day in Henryville, offering the chain sharpening service to local volunteers helping to clean up the region. To see photos from the team's relief efforts, visit Chris Roos of Stens operates the Franzen Chain Sharpening Machine in Henryville, Ind. Stens on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stens. corporation1 or on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ StensCorp. Kohler donates more than 10,000 engines to educational institutions IN AN EFFORT TO IGNITE A RENEWED APPRECIATION and understanding of small engines among high-school and technical-college students nationwide, Kohler Engines recently donated more than 10,000 engines to hundreds of educational institutions across the country. Kohler partnered with several non-profit organizations that worked independently to distribute these one-time-gift engines to interested schools. All of the donated engines have been delivered to numerous schools from New York to California and almost every state in between. "This has been a very rewarding process," said Justin Blount, director of marketing for Kohler Engines. "We've been touched by the level of response this donation has received from students, faculty and administrators at all of the participating schools. We've received countless e-mails, letters and photos from the people who directly benefited from this donation — and those have certainly been appreciated by everyone here at Kohler." The organizations that helped distribute the donated engines on Kohler's behalf, include: SkillsUSA, a non-profit partnership of students, teachers and companies working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce; the Equipment & Engine Training Council (EETC), a non-profit association whose goal is to address the shortage of qualified service technicians in the outdoor power equipment industry; Fox Valley Technical College Foundation in Appleton, Wis.; and Hinds Community College Foundation in Jackson, Miss. Each of these organizations distributed the engines only to schools that agreed to utilize the donated product exclusively for educational purposes. Individual classrooms within the participating schools were eligible to receive up to 24 engines each. The products donated by Kohler were Courage XT 7-hp. vertical-shaft engines, which are typically used in equipment such as walk-behind lawn mowers and pressure washers. Students with access to the donated engines are now able to gain critical hands-on experience, while also enhancing their knowledge of a variety of engine-related topics, including assembly and disassembly, components, torque values, engineering processes, and the general functioning of internal combustion engines. "As a leading engine manufacturer, we're very interested in working with future generations of technicians and consumers to make sure they understand the craftsmanship and attention to detail that goes into each engine bearing the Kohler name," Blount continued. "This recent donation presented an ideal opportunity to connect directly with students across the country while also aiding the administrators and faculty who play such a critical role in shaping the leaders of tomorrow with needed equipment." Briggs & Stratton Corporation unveils its first life cycle assessment BRIGGS & STRATTON CORPORATION unveiled its first detailed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) March 27, showing an interesting progression of the company's new 500e Series gasoline engine in a walk-behind lawn mower. The assessment further outlines Briggs & Stratton's commitment to sustainability efforts and initiatives, which build on its 103-year legacy of environmental stewardship, community involvement, social responsibility, and economic performance. From reducing the emissions in its products by 75 percent since 1995, to the launch of its Life Cycle Assessment, Briggs & Stratton is committed to continuous improvements in all aspects of its business, including environmental performance. "We are pleased to showcase this fully 10 transparent look at one of our best engines," said Todd Teske, chairman, president and CEO of Briggs & Stratton. "We now better understand the environmental impacts of our products." The LCA process was broken down into three steps: 1) Understanding impacts: "Very little quantitative information in the Outdoor Power Equipment industry existed before conducting the assessment," said Jennifer Misiewicz, environmental manager at Briggs & Stratton, who led the LCA process. "While there was an intuitive understanding that the use phase of a mower likely held the largest impact, it was unknown how much other life cycle phases, such as raw materials extraction and processing, product manufacturing, transportation, and end-of-life recycling/ disposal, contributed to the whole." 2) Identify improvement opportunities: Thanks to the LCA process, Briggs & Stratton is now able to better identify opportunities for improvement of its processes, designs, and use of engines and other products. Moving forward, the company will evaluate the environmental impacts from new products being developed using LCA as a tool. 3) Engage consumers: "We feel that transparency, leadership and value are key elements that our retail customers and consumers look for when they make decisions about our products," Misiewicz said. The company is using the LCA results to work with retail customers and consumers to drive a sustainability-minded decision-making process. OUTDOOR POWER EQUIPMENT www.outdoorpowerequipment.com