[Pollinator] Providence Business News: Pollinators and Business

[Ladadams at aol.com]

Focus: Business & The Environment 
Taking the scenic route to work 
 
PBN PHOTO / MICHAEL O'REILLY 
SINCE 2005, Fidelity Investments has sponsored a 'Wildlife at Work' program 
that gets workers involved in learning about and protecting the wildlife around 
their offices. Above, a stop on the Eastern Bluebird Trail at the Smithfield 
campus. 
 
PBN PHOTO / MICHAEL O'REILLY 
BOB MULKERN, a Fidelity employee and Wildlife at Work volunteer, checks a 
nesting box on the Eastern Bluebird Trail. 




By Bridget Botelho, Contributing Writer 
 
Fidelity Investments’ offices in Smithfield occupy about 10 percent of a 
500-acre spread that is mostly untouched woodlands, forest, wetlands, open fields 
and meadows. That’s why it was such a good fit for the Wildlife Habitat Council
’s “Wildlife at Work” program.  
Since January 2005, Fidelity workers have volunteered their time to educate 
themselves and help protect the wildlife on the campus. About 30 to 40 people 
are involved, and they set goals for each year and then meet once a month to 
work on them.  
This year the group decided to focus on bat conservation, trail 
identification on the campus, and National Pollinators Week, said Fidelity spokeswoman 
Robin Smith.  
The company learned about the program through Raytheon Co., Smith said.  
“Raytheon became certified and wanted to spread the word to other companies,”
 she said. “They ended up being a mentor for us. We learned a lot from what 
they were doing at their campus.”  
For Fidelity, having the program on its own campus can help attract and 
retain employees who are interested in wildlife protection and the environment, 
Smith said.  
“We try to provide opportunities for our employees to volunteer, though it is 
not required,” said John Muggeridge, Fidelity’s general manager in Rhode 
Island. “Work always comes first, but this type of program gives employees an 
outlet for their interests, and it is convenient because everything is right here 
on our campus.”  
The volunteers have set up an Eastern Bluebird Trail with eight nest boxes; 
there are now six birds and roughly two dozen eggs. Last year, the team 
successfully fledged 13 bluebirds, 18 tree swallows and six house wrens.  
In addition, a butterfly garden was installed in July 2005, and several bat 
boxes were installed in April this year, though they have yet to be inhabited.  
The group keeps a list of the animal species on the property – including 
deer, wild turkeys and various species of birds – on an internal company Web site. 
And the volunteers lead four “Woodland Walks” per year, bringing in experts 
to educate employees and volunteers about wildlife, conservation and efforts 
they can implement in their own back yards.  
Most recently, in late June, Scott Ruhren, director of conservation for the 
Audubon Society of Rhode Island, conducted a woodland walk throughout the 
campus for “National Pollinator Week,” an educational week designated by Congress 
to highlight the importance of pollinator species to agriculture.  
Though Fidelity only uses a small portion of the 500 acres it owns now, the 
company didn’t buy all that land because it loves nature. Fidelity is expanding 
on the land, and wetlands that cannot be developed will act as a buffer 
around the buildings there, Muggeridge said.  
“Some of the land is for future development, and some of it is wetlands which 
are not buildable,” said Muggeridge. “We do manage all of it, but really, 
the woods don’t require any work from us, and it doesn’t cost anything to our 
bottom line. We have a certified forester who comes by periodically to check 
for species and deadwood, and for the most part we keep everything in its wild 
state.”  
Fidelity’s master plan for the campus, approved in 1995, allows for the 
construction of up to five buildings on the site. The company opened the Smithfield 
Regional Center in 1998, and completed the construction of a second building 
in the fourth quarter of 2000.  
So far, there are two occupied buildings on the site (100 Salem St. and 500 
Salem St.). The third and largest building so far, a 577,000-square-foot, 
four-level structure at 900 Salem St., is under construction and is scheduled to 
have employees moving in by the third quarter 2008. A five-level parking garage 
is also being built to serve that building.  
Because Fidelity has shown care in preserving the habitat it owns, the 
Wildlife Habitat Council gave the investments giant a conservation award in January 
for its environmental stewardship and conservation education initiatives.  
The WHC, a nonprofit, non-lobbying group that works to enhance and restore 
wildlife habitats, presented the award at its 18th annual symposium, “Connecting 
People & Nature.”  
There are close to 1,500 Wildlife at Work programs running worldwide and 408 
achieved certification status last year, including Fidelity Investments. The 
WHC certifies about 140 programs per year, each for two to three years, said 
Vanessa C. Kauffman, director of marketing for the Wildlife Habitat Council  
To enroll Fidelity, a WHC biologist visited the Smithfield campus to look for 
biodiversity. The campus has been WHC-certified since last year, and the 
designation is valid for two years. After that, the company will have to re-commit 
itself to wildlife conservation to have its certification renewed. •

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Laurie Davies Adams
Executive Director
Coevolution Institute
423 Washington St. 5th
San Francisco, CA 94111
415 362 1137
LDA at coevolution.org
_http://www.coevolution.org/_ (http://www.coevolution.org/) 
_http://www.pollinator.org/_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 
_http://www.nappc.org/_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 

Bee Ready for National Pollinator Week:  June 24-30, 2007.  Contact us 
for more information at www.pollinator.org 

Our future flies on the wings of pollinators.



************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at 
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.sonic.net/pipermail/pollinator/attachments/20070724/0b148c96/attachment-0001.html