Kubota Officially Opens Doors for New Western Distribution Center in Elk Grove
Kubota Tractor Corp. celebrated the grand opening of its 45-acre Western Distribution Center in Elk Grove, Calif. The new facility replaces Kubota’s former facility in Lodi, Calif., to better meet the increasing need for more Kubota equipment for the company’s Western Division dealers and customers. Kubota has invested more than $70 million to bring the new facility online and has expanded to more than 100 employees over the past year, with plans to continue that growth in the coming years.
The 631,465-square-foot facility is built on sustainable principles in keeping with the company’s global mission to use technology to optimize efficient operations. The facility will house offices, training classrooms and a distribution network for farming, construction and turf equipment, as well as repair parts destined for Kubota dealers and customers throughout the West, ultimately catering to the evolving needs of Kubota’s diverse customer base.
“We began more than 50 years ago as a tractor company for small farmers, and today Kubota’s equipment can be found in every rural landscape, suburban neighborhood, and urban cityscape in America,” said Shingo Hanada, president, Kubota Tractor and Kubota North America Corporations during Tuesday’s grand opening ceremony. “In fact, you often see our iconic orange equipment on flatbed trucks going down Highway 99 or up I-5 on their way to build or shape someone’s American dream. We are committed to expanding our product lines and building needed infrastructure to better meet the needs of customers and dealers throughout the West.”
Bobcat and Employees Donate More Than $175,000 During Annual Fall Giving Campaign
Bobcat Co. and its employees recently held their annual fall giving campaign, garnering more than $175,000 in donations to nonprofit organizations in 17 states. To support its employees in their philanthropic pursuits, Bobcat matched employee donations dollar for dollar (up to $3,000 per person) to further amplify employees’ generosity. Employees were eligible to select any organization with a 501(c)(3) status to donate to.
“We are thrilled we could further our employees’ donations and help them give back in a way that was personally meaningful to them through our fall giving campaign,” said Tina Amerman, Bobcat director of people programs. “We continue to see strong participation in this annual event and have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to positively impact a wide variety of local organizations.”
Additionally in 2023, Bobcat donated $5 million to support a new engineering facility at North Dakota State University and partnered with the National Recreation and Park Association with $250,000 in grants to help create sustainable community park and recreation areas throughout the U.S. In addition, Bobcat supports educational STEM programs through its annual grant program and serves as the lead sponsor for the Bobcat North Dakota Open, donating more than $1.2 million since 1984, in support of The Village Family Service Center’s community outreach services.
Stihl Honors Winners of 2023 Hearts of Stihl Program
Stihl named the winners of its 2023 Hearts of Stihl program, an initiative to care for the environment through the preservation of America’s state parks. The 2023 winners, representing the nation’s six state park regions, were each awarded a $20,000 grant to help fund sustainability, recovery, conservation or environmental education programs.
“The Hearts of STIHL program is an extension of our commitment to socially responsible environmental stewardship,” said Roger Phelps, Stihl corporate communications manager. “We’re honored to support America’s State Parks and work with the men and women of this year’s park awardees, as they care for these American treasures.”
The grants are managed by the America’s State Parks Foundation, ensuring that all funding will support environmental efforts and educational programming. More than 32 parks applied for the 2023 grant. Started in 2021 and inspired by the staff of America’s State Parks, Hearts of Stihl seeks to support programs, which prioritize responsible forest management practices, sustainability, recovery, conservation and environmental education programs.
Below are the recipients by region and key areas of activity for their projects:
- Northeast: Delaware Seashore State Park: Delaware: Shoreline and management program for nature preserve and historic cultural site
- Southeast: Tishomingo State Park: Mississippi: Renovation and enhancement of nature education center; trail maintenance and forestry management
- Central: Prairie State Park: Missouri: Invasive tree species removal and native tree planting program
- North Central: Twin Falls Resort State Park: West Virginia: Expansion of conservation education program; establishment of wildlife habitat fishing pond
- Northwest: McCroskey State Park: Idaho: Planting of 20,000 trees on 60 acres of forest; re-seeding of six acres of native Palouse prairie habitat
- Southwest: Ridgway State Park: Colorado: Park modifications and improvements to become International Darks Sky Place (IDSP) certified; purchase of telescope public IDSP programs
Electric Sheep Acquires 2 More Landscaping Business
Electric Sheep, who is creating the first large-scale outdoor maintenance company powered by artificial intelligence and robotics, announced today two new acquisitions of landscaping businesses: Westar Landscaping and Caliscapes. This makes four landscaping businesses that Electric Sheep has acquired in recent months.
Electric Sheep is an outdoor maintenance company powered by artificial intelligence and robotics. It acquires traditional outdoor service providers and progressively transforms operations by deploying its proprietary AI software and robots. Electric Sheep has grown revenues eight times since implementing this model and has a growing pipeline of interested businesses that can enable the company 10 times growth in 2024.
“The ESR business model of acquiring landscaping businesses and improving their margins by augmenting workers with automation is radically innovative, and a sustainable, rapidly scalable way to build moonshot robotics,” said Pieter Abbeel, Professor in AI and Robotics at UC Berkeley, co-founder and chief scientist at Covariant, and long-time Scientific Advisor to Electric Sheep. “As this model scales, ESR is poised to build an RL factory to train AI agents for sustainable outdoor work. I'm excited to support their mission.”
