HAPPENINGS, PEOPLE AND PLACES
WF FOOTPRINTS
6
excluding China in 2010, an awards
programme initiated by
World Leather.
NIKE TO SET UP SUSTAINABLE
BUSINESS AND INNOVATION
LAB
US sportswear brand Nike is setting
up a new project aimed at helping
start-ups focused on alternative
energy and promote more efficient
manufacturing.
The venture-capital offshoot is
called the Sustainable Business &
Innovation Lab and will also seek out
companies that promote healthy
lifestyles.
“Nike sees sustainable business and
innovation as an integral part of how
we can use the power of our brand,
the energy and passion of our people,
and the scale of our business to create
meaningful change,” reads a
statement from the brand. “The
opportunity is greater than ever for
sustainability principles and practices
to deliver business returns and
become a driver of growth, to build
deeper consumer and community
connections and to create positive
social and environmental impact in
the world.”
The effort is in its early stages and
has not yet made investments, which
would need to be approved by
management, according to Mary
Remuzzi, a spokeswoman for Nike.
Nike’s lab will primarily make equity
investments in young companies
focused on alternative energies. It will
also finance partnerships with
government and nongovernment
organisations.
MIZUNO CHAIRMAN RESIGNS
Masato Mizuno, chairman of
Japanese sports apparel, footwear and
equipment company Mizuno, has
announced his resignation as
chairman of the board and
representative director.
Mr Mizuno joined the company in
March 1966. He became president and
CEO of Mizuno Corporation in May
1988. He intends to continue his work
as an ambassador for the global
development of sports.
The Mizuno board appointed
executive VP Jotaro Ueji as a
representative director effective
October, to join the company’s other
representative director, president
Akito Mizuno.
NEW HQ FOR BROOKS SPORTS
Performance footwear and apparel
brand Brooks Sports has announced
plans to relocate its global
headquarters from Bothell,
Washington, to nearby Seattle.
Its new headquarters will be close
to Seattle's Burke-Gilman Trail, a
27-kilometre trail on a former
railway line that is now popular with
walkers, cyclists and runners. The
ground floor of the new Brooks
headquarters building will also
house a retail concept shop.
"We have an incredible
opportunity to create a new home
for our leading performance brands
that exemplifies who we are and
ingrains us in the local running
community," said Jim Weber,
president and CEO of Brooks
Sports.