CEO Says Climate Challenges Are Cummins 'Moment To Shine'
Cummins Inc. President and CEO Jennifer Rumsey says the climate challenges facing the planet and society will be the company’s “moment to shine.”
Speaking at Cummins’ Annual Meeting earlier this month, Rumsey said the company is well positioned to take a leadership role on climate action, helping customers in the transition to cleaner power sources.
PLANET 2050, Cummins environmental sustainability strategy, has product, facility and community goals timed to 2030 and aspirations timed to 2050. Cummins also has established Destination Zero, the company’s strategy to achieve its product decarbonization goals.
Together, they provide a path for Cummins’ aspiration to achieve zero emissions by 2050.
“Cummins has a history of turning challenges into opportunities, and this is a challenging time for our planet and society,” Rumsey said, speaking to the company’s shareholders and other stakeholders at the virtual meeting May 9. “I believe this moment of truth will be Cummins’ moment to shine as we face the need to decarbonize our planet and continue to serve the critical applications our customers perform.”
The company’s wide-ranging product portfolio powers customers engaged in everything from on-highway trucking, marine and rail, to agricultural and construction equipment as well as generators providing emergency power to hospitals, data centers and schools.
Rumsey, named President and CEO in 2022, said decarbonization is a growth opportunity for Cummins. She said four key focus areas are critical to the company’s plans for climate action while delivering strong earnings:
• Investing in innovation to power customer success.
• Understanding customers’ needs.
• Understanding how the company serves those needs today.
• Delivering the right solution at the right time to better serve customers moving forward.
Rumsey, a nearly 25-year Cummins employee whose past roles included Chief Technical Officer and Chief Operating Officer, said having the right people is critical to all of these focus areas and she has vowed to keep people at the center of everything the company does.
Cummins has consistently invested $1 billion or more annually in recent years to support research, development and engineering expenses. Rumsey pledged a continued commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion to create dynamic work environments where a variety of ideas and perspectives can be brought to bear on customers’ challenges.
She said Cummins will also keep investing in developing great leaders who can uphold Cummins’ Leadership Culture of “inspiring and encouraging all employees to achieve their full potential.”
Finally, she said Cummins will remain committed to building stronger communities, recognizing that any company is only as strong as the communities where it does business, and its employees live and work.
“We will leverage our expertise to develop more sustainable solutions that support our customers’ success, positively impact our communities and protect our planet for future generations,” Rumsey said. “We'll continue to realize growth and strong returns by executing this strategy and delivering results for all of our stakeholders.
“It's an incredible opportunity and a responsibility,” she added. “And as CEO, I believe there's no company better positioned than Cummins to make a positive impact.”
