BIZ BITES
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
MAY 8, 2008

Waltos Group rep. named Big Brother of the Year
Paul Castillo, a financial representative with The Waltos Group of Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, has been named California’s Big Brother of the Year. He’s also been nominated for the national title. Castillo has been mentoring a local 12-year-old, Victor, for four years.
“Paul has had a tremendous impact on Victor’s life,” says Gus Valdespino, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County. “He’s a great role model for our other adult mentors.”

Castillo will be honored at two events.
On May 30, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County will recognize his contributions during its 50th anniversary celebration at the Disneyland Hotel. He’ll be the first recipient of the Joe MacPherson Big Brother of the Year award, named for the nonprofit’s longtime supporter and community leader.

Then, in September, Castillo will be recognized as California’s Big Brother of the Year during the organization’s national conference in Las Vegas.

Sole Technology treads lightly on the environment Sole Technology, parent company of etnies, éS, Emerica, ThirtyTwo and Altamont apparel, wants to become carbon-neutral by 2020, and the company hopes to recycle 70 percent of its internal waste by 2010. Currently, it recycles 57 percent.

The goals were announced after the release of the company’s first corporate eco-audit, which studied Sole Technology’s carbon emissions, waste, consumption and water usage over the course of seven years. The audit found that last year, the company produced 40,000 tons of CO2 – 58 percent came from footwear manufacturing and the emissions from coal-burning sources, and electricity.

The eco-audit also found that 95 percent of the company’s water usage comes from apparel development, which is a concern across the industry. But the company has installed waterless urinals and dual-flush toilets to reduce usage.

In addition, etnies has installed 616 solar panels, now uses water-based cement manufacturing and company-wide recycling, and created the etnies SEED Project, a sustainable footwear collection.

The efforts reflect company owner and CEO Pierre Andre Senizergues’ commitment to preservation and sustainability.




Back to top