Image by John Rubbo
Thomson Reuters employees and dignitaries took the latest step to restoring 10 acres of their Eagan, Minn. campus into native prairie grass and wild flowers.
Peter Warwick, president and CEO of Thomson Reuters, Legal, joined by Eagan, Minn. mayor Mike Maguire, representatives from the National Audubon Society, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Thomson Reuters, Legal, employees and their children, cast the first seeds yesterday for what will become the first 10 acres of native prairie restoration on the company’s 292 acre headquarters.
Employee volunteers and the building facilities team have been working to restore the land for more than a year and expect to see full growth of native prairie in the a few years.
Warwick reinforced the company’s stance on environmental stewardship.
“We believe as a corporation around the world that we have to be a good guardian of the environment in which we operate,” said Warwick. “Nothing sums up better our commitment to the future and being environmentally responsible than the prairie project you see here.”
The Audubon Society of Minnesota served as consulting partner on the project. Glenn Olson, senior vice president of the National Audubon Society, attended the seeding and said, “The work that Thomson Reuters is doing is going to impact what other corporations can do as a model of good stewardship in their communities.”
In addition to physical beauty, native prairies filter phosphorous and nitrogen from the soil and offer an ideal nesting ground for migratory birds.
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Community | Company Current |
Comments (1) |
Share
Members of the University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center were on the the Eagan, Minn. campus of Thomson Reuters, Legal, yesterday to demonstrate the wonders of wild birds of prey as part of Green Week activities. The raptor center specializes in the medical care, rehabilitation, conservation, and study of eagles, hawks, owls, and falcons.
But birds of prey aren’t the only feathered friends on the Eagan campus these days.
Two dozen wooden bird houses, four wood duck houses and three chimney swift towers (like the one above) were constructed by employee volunteers as part of the company’s Green Team efforts. The Eagan campus now has more than 40 birdhouses available for these migrating birds.
Watch Legal Current for more information about other Green Team efforts at the Legal headquarters this week including restoring a 10-acre prairie and planting a community garden.
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Advocacy | Community | Company Current |
No Comments |
Share
On May 21, bicycle enthusiasts around the U.S. celebrated National Bike to Work Day. With increasing attention being paid to this not-so-new method of commuting, we thought we’d get some insight from some of our employees who regularly bike to work.
Richard Baum, director, IP Marketing, is an avid outdoorsman and has been commuting to work by bicycle for the last five years. Baum said his 19 mile round-trip commute not only saves money in car repairs and gas, but it also has serious benefits for his health.
“I notice a big difference in my conditioning when I ride to work. For example, my cholesterol typically goes down at least 10 percent when I’m regularly biking,” says Baum.
Baum occasionally runs across interesting things on the commute. “Once I came across a large snapping turtle that was crossing the road to get to a pond. I stopped to take a picture of it before getting on my way.” Baum recalled. “I wouldn’t have been able to see that if I were in my car.”
Sarah Ditzler, an office manager at our 1 North Dearborn Chicago office, is the team lead for a city-sponsored “Bike to Work Week,” June 12-18.
Thomson Reuters Professional employees in Chicago can participate and compete for the highest percentage of employees who biked to work in their category and division.
Each participating employee will track their bike trips and the team leader will submit the total to the Active Transit group. The team with the most miles wins!
“We have 11 employees signed up so far,” Ditzler said. “Everyone seems really engaged and ready to take on the challenge.”
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Community | Company Current | Events | Voices |
No Comments |
Share
(Back: Matt Magnuson, Jim Simonet, John Bauman. Front: Randy McGlocklin)
In the entire state of Minnesota, there is only one youth sled hockey team, which enables individuals with disabilities to play hockey using specialized equipment.
Thomson Reuters, Legal, Employees Matt Magnuson, a production coordinator; and Randy McGlocklin, a lead software engineer, volunteer as coaches for the team and recently received noteworthy support from two colleagues. (more…)
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Community | Company Current |
No Comments |
Share
Today, Thomson Reuters, Legal announced it has named Sharon Sayles Belton, former mayor of the city of Minneapolis, as vice president, Community Relations and Government Affairs.
In her new role, Sayles Belton will direct government affairs activities, focusing on key issues that impact the legal businesses of Thomson Reuters as well as its customers and employees. In addition, she will lead the company’s community outreach efforts through Community Relations and sponsorships to ensure greater connectivity between individual programs/activities and the company’s mission, values and goals.
Read the full news release here.
Posted by John Shaughnessy in:
Community | Company Current |
No Comments |
Share
Last week, a group Thomson Reuters employees in Eagan, Minn. – including myself – got together to make the campus of the Legal headquarters a place to call home for bluebirds, chimney swifts and wood ducks.
Two dozen wooden bird houses were constructed by employee volunteers as part of the company’s Green Team effort to promote sustainable practices.
The Eagan campus already has 20 bluebird houses along its walking trail. When installed later this month, these houses will more than double the housing options available for these migrating birds.
Other Green Team efforts at the campus this year include restoring a 10-acre prairie and planting a community garden.
You can read more about the effort in a feature reported today in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Richard Baum
Director, IP Marketing
Thomson Reuters, Legal
Posted by Richard Baum in:
Community | Company Current |
Comments (2) |
Share
Financial donations poured in for disaster relief efforts after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti in January.
Law students across the United States were able to take part in a unique program that saw their WestlawRewards points transformed into cash for the American Red Cross.
WestlawRewards is a program that allows law school students to accumulate points by using Westlaw and participating in legal research training courses and contests. Much like miles in a frequent flyer program, the points can be redeemed for a wide range of items, including small kitchen appliances to discounts on bar review courses.
For every 250 points a student donated, Thomson Reuters, Westlaw’s parent company, contributed $5 to the American Red Cross.
Law students generously donated more than seven million points, translating into more than $140,000 for disaster relief. The average donation was about $22; the largest donation was $645.
Learn more about WestlawRewards online.
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Community | Company Current |
No Comments |
Share
(Photo courtesy: Fox 9)
On Oct. 24, more than 7,000 girls attended KMSP-TV Fox 9’s Girls & Science event at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Thomson Reuters was a proud sponsor of the event.
Leading science and technology companies from the Twin Cities metro area came together to demonstrate how science and technology affect everyday life.
At the Thomson Reuters booth, several hundred girls had the chance to create their own Web sites. At other booths, girls experimented with weather-prediction technologies with Fox 9 meteorologists, explored human biology with St. Jude Medical, and learned about the latest in energy technologies and science from Flint Hills Resources.
Twelve women from Thomson Reuters’ technology organizations volunteered at the event.
“Having a presence in the local community is really important,” said Elizabeth Psihos, president and chief technology officer, Westlaw Business. “As a woman technologist, I have a personal interest in seeing young girls become excited about and educated in the science and technology fields.”
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Community | Company Current | Events |
No Comments |
Share
Laureen Abdulla-Stumps had never spent much time with a John Grisham novel or movie based on his books before she entered a West contest this year to select a name for one of the characters in one of his upcoming stories. Well, she won that contest. So, she now plans to get caught up on her Grisham reading as soon as she can.
I talked with Abdulla-Stumps, a litigation specialist in Case Assignments at Bank of America in San Francisco to find out what name she picked. She chose “Dana” in honor of actress and activist Dana Reeve who died of lung cancer in 2006 and was the wife of actor Christopher Reeve. (Hear Abdulla-Stumps talk about choosing the name Dana in this audio clip.)
Abdulla-Stumps is hoping the character of “Dana” makes it on more than a few pages in a Grisham novel but understands that’s his call in the end. We don’t know at this time what book the name will be included in.
The Name Your Character contest from West’s Corporate & Nonprofit group was part of West’s support for The Innocence Project, which Grisham also promotes. In fact, his nonfiction book The Innocent Man tells the true story of a case involving Dennis Fritz (who we interviewed during a visit to West) and Ron Williamson.
West has worked closely with The Innocence Project of Minnesota, which provides pro bono investigative and legal assistance to prisoners trying to prove their innocence.
We’ll let you know when Grisham’s book with “Dana” is available.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Community | Company Current |
No Comments |
Share
Employees at Thomson Reuters in Eagan took part in the second-annual Got Talent? Competition in support of the “Because We Care” Employee Giving Campaign.
Employees showcased their talents for the chance to have $5,000, $3,000 or $1,000 donated to the charity of their choice. The field of 12 acts was narrowed down to five finalists whose performances were judged by nearly 600 employees to determine a winner.
Finishing in third place was Pete Mohs, principal publishing specialist, who wowed the crowd with an acoustic guitar performance. A $1,000 check will be donated in his name, from the company, to VH1’s Save the Music Foundation.
Our second-place finisher was Aishwarya Sundar, software engineer, who braved the stage to perform dances of India. A check for $3,000 will be donated in her name to GiveIndia.
And our first-place finisher was Sue Denkinger, senior director, Customer Operations, who secured a $5,000 donation in her name to The Arc. Sue sang a medley of Hank Williams songs while playing the guitar. Check out a video replay of Sue’s performance here.
Along with the company match, this year’s Eagan-campus Employee Giving Campaign raised almost $2.2M for nonprofit organizations around the world.
Posted by Nicole Hansen in:
Community | Company Current | Video |
No Comments |
Share
Thomson Reuters, Legal, President & CEO Peter Warwick offered his perspective on the company’s approach to the current economic reality in a panel discussion, “Adapting and Thriving in a Challenging Economy”, at the Minnesota Venture & Finance Conference.
The launch of WestlawNext brings a significant advancement in the way professional legal research is done.
A discussion about online privacy and “The End of Forgetting,” with law professor Jeffrey Rosen.
