2022 Wright Service Corp. Corporate Social Responsibility Report

2022 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT

LETTER FROM CEO

Wright Service Corp. (WSC) is a unique and complex family of companies in environmental services, with a number of sustainability initiatives taking place across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. As an industry leader, we wanted to utilize this report to tell our unique story – one of an evolving and innovative organization. Like any other company or organization, we continue to learn from our past and continue to make improvements for the betterment of our employees, clients and the communities we serve. As a 100% employeeowned company, our employees are at the forefront of every decision we make, and it is our employees who are behind the success of our family of companies.

Our roots in West Des Moines, Iowa, stem as far back as 1928 with Wright Outdoor Solutions. We continued to grow and add companies to our family; therefore, WSC was established in 1961 to support our operations. Today, our North American headquarters is home to more than 225 employees. We have added nearly 1,400 employees within the last calendar year, a 25.96% increase, with employees stretching across nearly all 50 states, five provinces and one territory. Our collaborative efforts have allowed us to overcome obstacles and open the door to new opportunities.

We have a responsibility to ensure best practices are in place to protect and improve all ecosystems, and to make positive environmental, social and economic impacts in the communities we serve. We will continue to implement additional environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, make changes to our processes, and improve our systems until we are a leader in these practices within our industry.

The last year brought many changes to our lines of business and leadership, but what it has not changed is my view of the shared vision, the strategy of our company, as we move forward. We identified and seized opportunities for strategic and operational improvement and revised our strategic priorities to give us focus and direction which led to an improved mission, vision and values.

A key to our success is ensuring that not only are our employees top of mind, but also safety. We have been able to attract, retain and reward the highest quality talent in the industry because we value safety. We train and develop our employees to ensure safe practices on the job and at home. Our employees are part of our family and as long as they go home safe each night, that means we have done our job as a company.

That is our approach to this sustainability reporting journey, our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) report. It’s our way of showcasing how we’re delivering the highest level of professional, safe and environmentally conscious services and solutions to the industry, public and the communities we work and live in. We are investing in our employees and enabling our family of companies to provide new and innovative services while adding mutual value to our stakeholders and clients.

This report will highlight the progress we have made and will continue to make regarding:

‒ Safety

‒ Employee Well-being

‒ Environmental Sustainability

‒ Community Engagement

I encourage you to read our third report on how our family of companies continues to be a leader in providing sustainable environmental solutions to the industries we serve that align with our core values of safety, family, integrity, excellence and stewardship.

Scott D. Packard Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

COMPANY OVERVIEW

The following pages highlight how we incorporate environmental sustainability into our project services and business operations using innovative processes, initiatives and technology.

HISTORY

Wright Service Corp. // Founded in 1961

A prominent leader in several environmental services industries and serves as the parent company. WSC has been employee-owned since 2002.

Wright Tree Service // Founded in 1933

Offering the entire package of vegetation management services, including integrated vegetation management, storm restoration, work planning and erosion control services to railroad and utility companies and their communities across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Wright Outdoor Solutions // Founded in 1928

Offering Central Iowa tree care, landscaping and maintenance, plant design and maintenance, lawn care, holiday lights and décor, snow and ice management, and mulch services.

CNUC // Founded in 1999

Assisting utilities in improving their utility vegetation management programs through inspection and auditing services, emergency response, consulting, and research, often combined with software and LiDAR solutions in North America.

Wright Tree Service of the West // Founded in 2008

Offering the entire package of vegetation management services, including integrated vegetation management, storm restoration, and work planning services to utility companies and their communities in the West Coast.

Sustainable Environmental Consultants // Founded in 2008

Providing innovative sustainability solutions for clients in sustainability risk management, agricultural engineering, and on-farm data quantification and verification.

Spectrum Resource Group // Founded in 1986

A reforestation, forest management and vegetation management solutions provider working actively in forestry, oil and gas, utility and community resource industries across Canada.

ArborCare // Founded in 1983

Providing commercial and residential tree and lawn care services through exceptional service in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Verdure Elements // Founded in 1981

Offering Greater Omaha, the most complete package of residential and commercial interior plantscaping, exterior seasonal color rotation and interior holiday décor.

Wright Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation // Founded in 2020

A nonprofit organization focused on fostering innovative solutions in renewable agriculture and vegetation management. The foundation funds projects that reduce carbon footprints and promote carbon positive practices.

Transcon Environmental // Founded in 1999

Terra Spectrum Technologies // Founded in 2008

A software development company that provides innovative, high-quality software specializing in geospatial data collection and workflow management.

An environmental planning and consulting firm with expertise working with utility companies, corporations, and agencies that develop or redevelop infrastructure for energy, communications, and mining.

ADDING TO THE FAMILY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Wright Service Corp. (WSC) Board of Directors is made up of three internal directors and five external directors as follows:

Scott Packard, Chairman and CEO of Wright Service Corp.

Austin Kennedy, President and COO of Wright Service Corp.

Jonathan Hicks, SVP and CFO of Wright Service Corp.

Terry McGonegle, Retired CFO of Wright Service Corp., outside director

Nancy Wright, outside director

John Bruntz, outside director

Dick Rue, outside director

George Milligan, outside director

Scott Packard

Scott Packard joined Wright Service Corp. in July 1998. Three years later, John R. Wright appointed Scott to President and COO. In October 2002, Scott took on the position of Chairman and CEO of Wright Service Corp. Scott began his career after graduating from the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Science in accounting. Since then, he has held a number of executive positions prior to joining the executive leadership team at Wright Service Corp. He served on the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) Board of Directors from 2003-2009 and as Chair in 2009. In September 2016, Scott became the first recipient of the Management Action Programs (MAP) Disciplined Leader Award. This award was conceived to recognize select leaders who have consistently exhibited the qualities of a disciplined leader. Scott is also a past chairman of Area 4 Iowa Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) and presently serves as Vice-Chair. He was recently named to the board of directors of Trees Forever.

Austin Kennedy

Austin Kennedy joined Wright Service Corp. as General Counsel in April 2013. Prior to joining Wright Service Corp., Austin was an attorney in private practice for seven years in Des Moines, Iowa, practicing in many areas involving employment law, immigration law and litigation. In 2019, Austin was promoted to General Counsel, Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President. As of January 1, 2022, Austin has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of Wright Service Corp. Austin graduated from Macalester College in 2000, where he received the Livingston-Patnode Award for his special contributions to the English Department. He then earned his law degree from Drake Law School in 2005. In 2015, Austin earned his Credential of Readiness from Harvard Business School’s HBX CORe program, which establishes competencies in business analytics, economics and accounting.

Jonathan Hicks

Jon Hicks joined Wright Service Corp. in 2008 as the Controller for Wright Outdoor Solutions. In 2010, he was promoted to Controller of Wright Tree Service (WTS) and in 2020 he was promoted again to Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Wright Service Corp. Jon graduated from Iowa State as a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Accounting degree in 2002. After graduating, Jon worked in various auditing and financial reporting roles within both public accounting and the private sector. Jon is a member of the Iowa Society of CPAs and the American Institute of CPAs. Jon is also a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society and is on the Wright Service

Corp. Board of Directors. Jon is a large advocate of Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) structured companies. He enjoys the culture created with it that allows employees the freedom to implement change and to leave their personal mark on the company. Jon enjoys problemsolving and having the opportunity to help guide the company at a strategic level.

Terry McGonegle

Terry McGonegle joined WTS as the Controller in June 1994. When the ESOP was formed in 2002, Terry was promoted to chief financial officer of Wright Service Corp. where he helped transition the company from a family-owned to an employee-owned and served as CFO until December of 2019 upon retirement. Terry started his career in public accounting and worked in the agricultural and construction industries before joining WTS. He has served on the audit committee for the Tree Care Industry Association, finance committees for both the Utility Arborist Association and Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund. Terry is also a past president of The Iowa-Nebraska Chapter of The ESOP Association.

Nancy Wright

Nancy Wright is a cum laude graduate of Drake University majoring in Business Communications. Following graduation, she had a long career in the Group Life and Health business, starting with Principal Financial as an underwriter and later selling group life and health insurance to Iowa school districts through Holmes Murphy & Associates. Other positions include Marketing Director for a major group medical carrier and Account Manager for

BOARD OF DIRECTORS continued

a national insurance brokerage. She was also active in the Iowa Health Underwriters as a board member for six years and president for two years. This involved working with state and national legislators regarding healthcare legislation. Nancy is currently retired.

Dick Rue

Dick is retired and served for 23 years as Senior Vice President & CFO and board member at ITA Group, Inc., a West Des Moines incentive marketing company. Dick has been a CPA since 1978 and was employed during his first five years after college in public accounting. He is a past member of the American Institute of CPAs, the Iowa Society of CPAs, Financial Executives International, where he was a past Iowa Chapter President and Board Member, and the ESOP Association. Dick’s experience includes serving on the UNI College of Business Dean’s Advisory Board, the President’s Advisory Board of Grand View University, the Board of Directors of Precision Pulley & Idler, six years as State Chairman of Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) for Iowa and two years as Chairman of the National ESGR Executive Advisory Subcommittee. Additionally, Dick is a former volunteer with the Iowa Gold Star Museum, United Way of Central Iowa and the Iowa Small Business Development Center.

John Bruntz

Currently retired, John Bruntz was the Chairman and CEO of The Boulder Company, an industrial product distributor with operations in four states and serving an eight-state market region. He held the position

from 2014 to 2019. Prior, he was the CEO of The Wittern Group, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of automatic merchandising equipment and controlled access technology. He became the CEO in 1990 and began work for the company in 1985. He continues to serve on the company board of directors. John also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cementech, Inc., an ESOP company headquartered in Indianola, Iowa. Cementech is the market leader in the production of volumetric cement mixers. He is lead director of The Stelter Company, the country’s leading advisory firm for planned giving for colleges and universities, national non-profit organizations and major medical institutions. He is a licensed attorney who graduated from the University of Iowa, College of Law and has published articles in law journals in the areas of labor and employment law. He has been involved in numerous civic organizations including ChildServe, the YMCA of Greater Des Moines and the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

George Milligan

George Milligan is a 1978 graduate of Iowa State University, earning a B.S. in Economics with a minor in Industrial Administration (Business). From 1978 to 1985 he worked for Continental Grain Co. in various trading and management positions in four different locations. From 1985 to the present, he has worked at The Graham Group, Inc., and as its President since 1988. The Graham Group, Inc. is a diversified real estate development company and general contractor. He has been involved in many central Iowa charities and boards. He currently serves on the board of two public companies, United Fire Group, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and West Bancorporation, Inc., of West Des Moines, Iowa. Both are Nasdaq traded companies.

MISSION, VISION, VALUES

As a company, we felt a need to revisit our current mission, vision and core values. These provide a focal point that aligns everyone within WSC and ensures we all work toward a common purpose. These tenets guide our decisions, increase productivity and help us allocate resources effectively.

We have simplified our mission. While the impact and meaning are still complex, we have found that a focus on environmental stewardship and sustainability is the basic foundation we are trying to establish. There is power in purpose within our business. This drives action in everything we do as operating companies and you do as employees.

Mission

Vision - Our vision shows where we’re heading.

Values - Working toward our mission and vision – WSC is built on a solid foundation of our beliefs and core values.

We believe that people are the key to our success. The journey toward our vision is long and will constantly challenge the status quo. We must keep our minds open and seek new knowledge in everything we do. While we realize these statements can be powerful, they can be meaningless when they are not backed up by action. That is why we have formed three workgroups to continue down the path we started a few years ago and lead us to future success. Our three strategies include:

1. Profitable Growth

‒ Expand Market Segments Geographically

‒ Profitably Grow Environmental Services

‒ Develop New Products & Services

‒ Enhance Bottom Line Profitability

2. Risk Management

‒ Enhance Contract Administration

‒ Manage Supply Chain Issues

‒ Navigate Climate Change

‒ Minimize Cyber Security Risks

3. Infrastructure Development

‒ Transform Technology

‒ Recruit & Retain Talent

‒ Improve Merger and Acquisition Integration

‒ Effectively Communicate

ABOUT THIS REPORT

WSC Sustainability Report / CSR Mission Statement

WSC’s global campus is dedicated to supporting the well-being of our employees, our environment, and our community while reflecting the passion of environmental stewardship in the services the family of companies provides.

KPI Overview

WSC’s core Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be used to track the progress in key target areas for the WSC North American headquarters and will be used by each company in coming years to gauge progress. These will help shape goals to drive continuous improvement.

As an employee-owned company, WSC and its family of companies knows that our greatest strengths come from our employees. With a people-focused culture, we are committed to being an equal opportunity employer, creating an inclusive work environment where our employees are heard, respected and valued, and empowering our employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The result will be sustainable success and satisfaction for our employees and customers.

OVERVIEW OF COMPANY INITIATIVES

Safety

Safety is our number one value. Our employees are trained on a consistent basis to ensure best safe practices are in place and to mitigate any potential risks or hazards. Internal protocols are routinely reviewed and updated by our risk and safety departments with the latest trainings and procedures to ensure our employees can get home safely each and every night. Our employees follow the Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper motto, striving to achieve zero OSHA recordable incidents.

Employee Well-being

Our employees create a rich work environment. Our family culture is what makes WSC unique and attractive to the next generation of the workforce. This includes a safe, enjoyable, diverse environment that offers opportunity for professional growth within. As competition for talent grows, WSC is committed to offering an attractive workplace to retain and foster talent through our family of companies at all levels. WSC is proud to be employee-owned since 2002, and 100% employee-owned since 2006. Continued training, education and development, and our employees’ well-being are top of mind.

Environmental Sustainability

As a family of companies who are in the environmental services industry, we strive to protect and preserve all ecosystems. We continue to reduce our footprints and promote carbon positive practices at our offices and in the communities we serve. The WSC North American headquarters based out of West Des Moines, Iowa, underwent a remodel in 2020 and was completed in 2021 with environmental sustainability and economic sustainability in mind. This posed an opportunity with many working from home to remodel the existing buildings on the headquarters’ campus to accommodate the growing amount of support staff while also providing the infrastructure needed for the flexibility with the Work from Home Policy.

Community Engagement

WSC supports activities that benefit our employees and add value to the communities where we live and work. Through monetary and in-kind donations such as labor or education, we are able to support various causes and organizations that align with our values. We take pride in building and developing relationships with our employees, clients and communities.

6,783

Employees

396

SAFETY

Safety is our number one value. Our employees are trained on a consistent basis to ensure best safe practices are in place and reduce any potential risks or hazards. Internal protocols are routinely reviewed and updated by our risk and safety departments with the latest trainings and procedures to ensure our employees can get home safely each and every night. Our employees follow the Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper motto, striving to achieve zero Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordable incidents.

Our corporate office is highly trained to assist those in the field as it relates to our safety protocols. We also pride ourselves with a low incident rate for our industry and acknowledge employees that reflect our company standards.

Safety protocols and prevention are at the forefront of all of our decisions. Disaster protocols are in place as well as evacuation plans that are posted throughout the Wright Service Corp. (WSC) corporate office. These plans include a map of each area of the office with information on the location of AEDs, first aid kits, extinguishers, tornado shelters and assembly area.

Safety Employee Well-being Environmental Sustainability Community Engagement

1.86 INCIDENT RATE

ANNUAL INCIDENT RATE

All WSC companies track and report incidents. Accidents are tracked by company with goals established for reduction. These incidents and near misses are used in training materials to identify preventative actions to continue to enforce.

Our 2022 OSHA Incident Rate was 1.86 across our family of companies. Incidents are often broken down into the following categories:

- Property Damage

- Auto Liability

- General Liability

- First Aid

DART RATE

U.S. Aggregated Annual Rates

1.86*

- Lost Time

- Restricted Duty

- Medical

- Outage

Days Away/Restricted or Transferred Rate (DART) represents OSHA injuries or illness that results in days away from work, restricted duty, or transfer of duties. This is because only the more severe OSHA recordable injuries and illnesses are included in the DART rate which was 0.86 for 2022.

The WSC family of companies averaged 0.15* claims per employee in 2022.

*Aggregated with the U.S. presence. These values do not include the family of companies in Canada due to different calculations than OSHA.

Claims per Employee 0.15* 0.86*

Days Away/Restricted or Transferred Rate

TRAINING

CPR & First Aid

Seven WSC employees became CPR, First Aid and AED Certified in 2022. Field staff have weekly safety training and have the opportunity to obtain their CPR, First Aid and AED certifications.

First Responders

The WSC Legal and Risk Mitigation Department organized a first responders team with the goal of having trained employees onsite in case of emergencies. The team includes eight employees from different departments in the office and have designated areas they are assigned to within the building. They meet periodically, receive training, and are involved in the planning and performance of emergency drills.

A first responder is:

- Prepared to take action during emergencies.

- Expected to be available at the office on a regular basis.

- Required to work with the Legal and Risk Mitigation Department for evaluation and enhancement of the Emergency Action Plan.

- Expected to collaborate in trainings.

- Required to keep a CPR, First Aid, & AED certification; with additional training to be provided at company expense.

SECURITY

Cyber Security

Training by the Numbers

7 8

New First Aid, CPR, & AED Certified Employees

First Responders

WSC’s Information Technology (IT) Department is dedicated to cyber security and business continuity. In 2019, an Information Security team was created to improve our security posture and execute yearly strategic security roadmaps, updated annually; by doing so, this maintains and strengthens our company’s ability to protect company and client data. The team conducts an annual comprehensive security assessment in tandem with monthly vulnerability scans and remediates identified issues. Our SIEM platform, AlienVault, monitored 24/7/365 by ProCircular, is utilized to help improve our detection and prevention of attacks on our company’s equipment year-round.

A security awareness program was launched in May of 2020. Employees undergo training to spot ‘phishing’ scams and other malicious emails or attacks. These fraudulent requests are sophisticated and can use known company contacts to lure others into sending funds to illegitimate recipients or compromise confidential data and information. On a monthly basis, employees are tested internally and if the employee fails, they are required to go through additional training and, in some cases meet, with human resources (HR) and IT for performance improvement. As scams are ever-changing, training and tips are provided to arm our employees with the knowledge to be a digital Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper and ensure we protect our family of companies and their employees.

HIGHLIGHTS

- Conducted a Tabletop Exercise to Prepare for Any Security Emergency

- Rolled Out BitWarden Password Manager

- Weekly Trivia During Cyber Security Awareness Month in October

- Deployed the KnowBe4 Learner App to All Company Mobile Devices

- Made Improvements to Our Security Posture with Our vCISO Project and Extended Through 2025

- Check-in Kiosk in Lobby for Visitors

In 2023, WSC will continue to implement tools and training for increased company preparedness and due diligence against increasing cyber security risk.

SAFETY GOALS

Security: In 2022, ensure company participation and improvement by 10% or 500 hours of additional security awareness training.

Training: Establish annual tracking of CPR, First Aid, and AED training, and certifications for the WSC headquarters in 2023.

Security: In 2023, monthly vCISO and Executive meetings will be conducted to ensure company goals and controls are met while mitigating cyber security risks.

Security: In 2023, ensure WSC participation and improvement of 3% or 100 hours of additional security awareness training.

Security: Incorporate Transcon into SAT and testing programs through Information Security in 2023.

EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING

Our employees create a rich work environment. Our family culture is what makes Wright Service Corp. (WSC) unique and attractive to the next generation of the workforce. This includes a safe, enjoyable, diverse environment that offers opportunity for professional growth within. As competition for talent grows, WSC is committed to offering an attractive workplace to retain and foster talent through our family of companies at all levels. WSC is proud to be employee owned since 2002, and 100% employee owned since 2006. Continued training, education and development, and our employees’ well-being are top of mind.

Our small company beginnings still ring true with the company culture at the corporate office. A Culture Club, comprising of a Wellness Committee, Community Involvement Committee, Special Events Committee, Employee Ownership Committee and Charitable Giving Committee educate and/or host events for staff at our corporate office and Wright Outdoor Solutions (WOS), a local subsidiary. There are also instances where those events, if held in a digital or virtual format, are open to all employees throughout North America.

Safety Employee Well-being Environmental Sustainability Community Engagement

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

WSC takes pride in its employees and their diverse backgrounds. A world map was placed in the café for each employee to put a push pin on their hometown. This helps us and our visitors recognize the global roots of our company.

We have employees across North America, including 46 states, one territory and eight provinces in Canada. Our total workforce under our umbrella increased by 25.96% in fiscal year 2022, and by 21.03% at WSC alone. The top regions our workforce is in include the Midwest (41%), Southeast (18%) and Southwest (16%).

With the introduction of a Human Capital Management (HCM) system in the summer of 2021, WSC has continued to improve digital infrastructure, workplace processes such as recruiting and onboarding, and track workforce demographics that we’ve reported on the following pages.

Employee Distribution

Employee distribution numbers are based on fiscal year 2022, meaning October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2022. As of September 30, 2022, WSC had 236 corporate office employees, a 21.03% increase. During that time, WSC had 81 new hires. In total across the family of companies, we had 6,783 employees, a 25.96% growth from the previous year.

Each company’s individual report will release company specific demographics, but we’ve provided headcount totals of each below. Employees were encouraged to self-report gender and race/ethnicity information using Workday by the HR department through a campaign. 99.97% of this information is now on file. These numbers do not include contingent employees who are recognized as employees contracted by outside vendors.

EMPLOYMENT HEADCOUNT BY COMPANY

GENDER ETHNICITY GENERATIONAL DISTRIBUTION

demographics for WSC only compared to all employees to include subsidiaries in the U.S. and does not include contingent employees.

CULTURE

The WSC Culture Club combines the forces of employee committees so that we can support each other’s initiatives and unite in our goal to create a community-focused culture for the WSC and WOS employees. The Culture Club meets monthly and consists of up to two employee representatives from each of the below committees, a WOS representative, and a Culture Club chair. A representative from each committee, the chair and CEO meet on a quarterly basis to review each quarter’s budget and spend. Involvement in the Culture Club is all volunteer based. In 2022, Culture Club had a total of 37 active members. Committees include:

the committee planned several cleanups so WSC could adopt a nearby street, Raccoon River Drive. In addition to cleanups, opportunities have included building goodie bags for senior living homes, toy and food drives, packing meals and more.

WELLNESS – The committee’s mission is to lookout for the health and well-being of our employees through a number of initiatives and programs including a wellness portal, educational videos and events, a community garden and more.

To provide opportunities for remote employees to participate in the company’s wellness program and stay healthy, the committee added content those who work from home could utilize. Also, lunch and learns were relaunched and made available to remote employees, as they were live streamed or recorded for those who couldn’t attend in person.

CHARITABLE

GIVING

– A newer committee responsible for the oversight of WSC’s charitable giving including determining yearly strategy and budget for charitable giving, considering and approving contribution requests, and tracking contributions throughout the year.

The committee ensures that all WSC donations, sponsorships and company volunteer activities are coordinated and aligned with our values and business goals, foster long-term partnerships and are within our budget and resources.

EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP – The committee’s mission is to contribute to the success of our family of companies by advancing and strengthening our culture of ownership through education and communication. Members often present to divisions throughout the company the benefits of being an employee-owned company and hold Employee Ownership Month festivities. Subcommittees include the historian, education/communication and ownership/contest to focus efforts and expand membership to more field staff.

Through the employee community garden, WSC was able to donate produce grown by our employees to the Food Bank of Iowa. The community garden provided us with an abundance of lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers that were available to employees throughout the summer.

Community Board

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT – The committee provides opportunities for employees to get involved in our communities using their volunteer hours. Often times, they will collaborate with other committees such as charitable giving to assist in getting volunteers for sponsored events. In 2022,

SPECIAL

EVENTS

– The Special Events Committee is responsible for planning and executing exciting and meaningful events for WSC employees. This committee works to promote inclusivity in the office through holiday celebrations such as, but not limited to, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Pride Month, in addition to hosting the company summer picnic and end of fiscal year party. Their goal is to bring people together, fostering a sense of community and promoting the values of our organization.

Facilities added a community board for employees to use for non-workrelated personal announcements and events outside of the café. The new board will give employees the opportunity to share information with their fellow employees.

Translation Program Committee

As we strive for continual improvement, we realized a need for consistent, high-quality professional translations for our workforce, customers and clients. Through a process of evaluating multiple vendors, our Translation Program Committee of eight employees, found a translation service company who met all of our needs, now and into the future.

CULTURE continued

They provide Spanish and French-Canadian translations, and many more. Employees are able to request translations through our shared services department liaison for items such as and not limited to:

- Internal communications – brochures, postcards, newsletters

- Recruitment advertisements

- Procedures/training materials – operations, compliance, software

- HR materials – policies, forms/applications, benefits

- Public-facing or external use documents

- E-learning content

- Video and closed captioning/subtitles

- Websites

The liaisons handle the process of submitting requests to our vendor and provide estimates before submission. A full policy and a company glossary were provided to the translation service company to ensure branding and consistent translations – both can be found on our company intranet.

Translations by the Numbers

192,318

Words Translated by Vendor

182

Documents Translated by Vendor

Ethical Standards

WSC’s employee handbook outlines several employment policies, procedures and practices. This contains equal opportunity employment policies, a code of conduct policy, business ethics statement, a harassment policy and a protection against retaliation policy. Management and human resources staff have an open-door policy as well to report incidents and provide suggestions to improve the workplace.

EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION

Employee Appreciation and Mission, Vision, Values Month

At the end of July, the CEO announced August would be WSC’s first-ever Employee Appreciation and Mission, Vision, Values Month during his quarterly HQ Broadcast, a live broadcast made available to corporate office employees and management across our family of companies.

The month is dedicated to keeping employees informed and bring visibility to the revised company mission, vision and values. This was done with email communications throughout the month, added signage throughout the office with a graphic displaying it including a framed poster visible outside of the employee café, on the TV screens throughout the office and on WSC’s intranet. Employees were given eco can coolies made out of 80% recycled plastic PET bottles with the values printed on them to keep it top of mind.

Employees were encouraged to connect with the mission, vision and values by supporting the company’s new strategies, and show their passion and enthusiasm for the organization. They could show their support by updating their email signature with new guidelines or utilize LinkedIn banner graphics that were emailed out.

The WSC LinkedIn published posts throughout the month of August to promote the mission, vision and values, and show our appreciation for employees.

Peer Recognition Program

Corporate office staff were able to recognize their peers and colleagues in August during Employee Appreciation and Mission, Vision, Values Month through the Peer Recognition Program that was launched. Those nominated demonstrate our core values of safety, family, integrity, excellence, and stewardship. Nominated employees and those who submitted nominations were entered to win prizes. Nominators could submit more than one nomination, giving them a higher chance to win.

There were two ways nominations could be submitted:

1. In-person: Printed forms were placed on a whiteboard in the office connector to be filled out. Completed forms were displayed on the whiteboard, visible for employees to see and read.

2. Online: Remote employees had access to use a fillable form and submit via email.

The completed form was then printed and displayed on the whiteboard on their behalf.

100 nominations were submitted, with participation from nearly all departments and nominees from every department. Five nominators and five nominees were randomly selected, one for each value. “Donna has made every effort to make me feel welcome, even as a new employee,” said File Clerk Donna White’s nominator. “She’s gone above and beyond to include me in introductions to different employees. She has truly made me feel like a member of the family.”

The winners were able to select a gift box from a collection of curated gifts from a local gift shop, Happy DSM.

Employee Owner of the Year

The WSC Employee Owner of the Year award serves as recognition for an employee within the WSC family of companies who is an outstanding citizen, exhibits the characteristics of an employee owner and the values of our company, and makes contributions in the best interest of the company.

The Employee Ownership Committee reviewed all the nominations and selected six nominees to move forward through the judging process. A judging panel consisting of management across companies ultimately selected WSC Field Data Solutions Delivery Lead Sarah McFadden to be named this year’s Employee Owner of the Year.

She is currently the co-chair of the Employee Ownership Committee and carries out our mission, “To contribute to the success of our family of companies by advancing and strengthening our culture of ownership through education and communication.” The committee has grown to 20 members and now includes sub-committees to better support our goals of outreach and engagement. The Committee includes perspectives from across our family of companies and works to improve understanding of what it truly means to be an employee owner. Sarah has developed a Central Iowa Networking Committee which consists of other employee-owned businesses in the area to build a community where all employee-owned companies can get together to network and share ideas outside of conferences.

EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENT

Learning Management System

Lunch and Learns

FOR MANAGERS:

- Hiring Manager Resources Folder

UNIVERSITY

Wright Service Corp. University (WSCU) is a learning platform that documents and tracks online training. WSCU creates the opportunity to reach every employee in the company who has a company email for training and continued learning. Topics include management, leadership, customer service, productivity, tools, tips and more. The Training and Development Department have increased course offerings significantly in the Learning Management System (LMS). More than 8,000 LinkedIn Learning courses are available to employees. In addition, new employees will be assigned training on WSCU to review topics such as:

‒ Harassment and discrimination

‒ Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

‒ True Colors

‒ Customer service

‒ Timesheet tracking

‒ Retirement savings, and enrolling in a 401(k) or Roth

‒ Accessing the company clothing and apparel store

Lunch and learns were reintroduced in May, hosted by the Training and Development Department once a month. They focus on content in the areas of business knowledge within our family of companies (finance, strategic planning) and interpersonal skills that improve operational performance.

Onboarding and Orientation

The Training and Development and HR Departments team up to support a two-part new employee orientation for all corporate office employees. In a new employee’s first week, they learn about our family of companies: history, company structures, training available on WSCU, and employee policies, resources and benefits. The second session takes a deeper dive into the WSC culture, including learning about the mission, vision, and values, the ESOP, and being provided information about personal and professional goal setting.

A companywide onboarding and orientation initiative allowed for the Marketing and Communication, Human Resources, and Training and Development Departments to collaborate starting with reviewing and analyzing the current processes and resources for WSC employees who support our shared services. By the summer, new hires started receiving branded welcome gifts – coaster, mug, notebook and pen. Resources were added or updated on the WSC SharePoint:

- Office Tour Talking Points – information to provide on department locations, history of items in the office, general use and more

- Email Templates – one to send additional information to their new hire prior to their first day and another to send to the office staff as a welcome

- Onboarding Checklist Template – a guide for the manager in planning out the first few days for their new hire

FOR NEW EMPLOYEES:

- New Hire Guide – history, overview of companies, management and department structure, culture, employee development, sustainability initiatives, benefits, links to additional resources and industry terminology

- Company Directory – general contact information

- Benefits Flyer – high-level overview of benefit offerings

True Colors

The True Colors® Personal Awareness & Success training guides participants through concepts of selfawareness and effective communication. This fun, interactive workshop helps individuals better understand themselves and others. It creates a common language, providing a foundation for genuine relationship building and honest dialogue. Four employees are certified True Colors facilitators. In 2022, 117 employees across our family of companies received a total of 271 hours of True Colors training.

Individual Development

The Training and Development Department offers companies and

departments with individual development options based on needs and desires. Additional leadership and professional development training programs and mentorship opportunities are available for employees.

WSC Mentorship Program

The Training and Development Department seeks to create a pool of interested mentors and mentees for pairing based on interests, skills, and experience. We aim to serve as guides to get employees started on a successful learning relationship. The Mentor Hub on the Training and Development SharePoint page contains a wealth of information for those looking to begin a successful mentorship. Future mentor-focused gatherings are on the horizon.

Women of Wright

The first Women of Wright Workshop was held in June. Our goal is to connect, educate, and empower women in our family of companies by providing a community that can inspire and strengthen the voice of women in the industry.

We had 18 employees participate in the workshop and eight employees on the planning committee.

LEAD Program

The LEAD Program is the preeminent leadership development program offered by WSC. The program currently takes place over the course of 18 months and consists of:

‒ Participation in a mentor program ‒ Capstone project and presentation

Executive Leadership Development Program

WSC provides the Executive Leadership Development Program (ELDP) to higher-level managers or recently appointed executives within our family of companies via nomination by an executive. Participants are ambassadors for our family of companies, demonstrate leadership in their daily interactions, and are deeply committed to personal growth and development. During this three-year program, participants complete a detailed 360 assessment, then receive results and interpretation from a leadership coach with support from their appointed executive sponsor. They use the opportunities from their 360 to create an individual development plan that includes coursework from a variety of providers, mentoring, coaching and job shadowing.

Participants are nominated by leaders within the WSC family of companies. Nominators advocate for their nominee by illustrating that person’s leadership capabilities through real-life examples. Nominations are carefully reviewed and selected by the committee. Whether selected or not, getting nominated indicates that their leader believes in the employee’s leadership ability.. Since the program’s inception, 61 employees have graduated from the program. The current cohort is comprised of 28 employees.

In 2022, there were eight ELDP graduates. These individuals represented five companies within our family of companies. Participants culminated the program by providing a detailed capstone presentation to the Wright Board of Directors and Executive Team, demonstrating the impact of their applied development on the organization in the areas of process improvements, efficiency gains, advanced effectiveness, human resource enhancements, and revenue saved or earned.

Tuition Reimbursement

Tuition reimbursement is available to WSC employees pursuing further education aligned with their current or future career goals.

WELLNESS

WSC provides both full-time and part-time positions with a benefits package that far exceeds the industry standard. Employees receive comprehensive benefits such as health insurance, wellness incentive programs, life insurance, disability, vacation and sick time, bereavement, identity theft protection, traditional pre-tax and Roth 401(k) retirement plan options, and employees are part of profit sharing through an ESOP.

Health Insurance

WSC offers medical with prescription coverage, dental, and vision insurance to all eligible non-union employees. Plans are offered either as individual or family. Family plans are not limited to number of dependents. WSC pays a portion of these insurance fees to provide competitive premium rates for employee’s insurance packages.

2,561 employees in the U.S. and Puerto Rico were enrolled in health insurance with the company, 192 of those were WSC employees.

In 2022, WSC and its U.S. subsidiaries saw a 29.54% increase from 2021 in the number of those enrolled in health insurance.

Plan types changed slightly with employee only plans increasing by 2%, now at 57%, and 43% being family plans.

services, financial consultation, and eldercare resources.

Those in need can visit a doctor on their smartphone, tablet or computer from virtually anywhere and offered at no cost. Doctor on Demand offers no cost, virtual doctor visits with board-certified doctors who can treat most common medical conditions and prescribe medication.

Total Rewards Survey

The Benefits Team conducted a total rewards survey in May 2022. All full-time, non-union employees across all U.S. companies were encouraged to participate. Email communications were sent to 2,400 unique email addresses. 600 people participated in the survey and submitted responses.

HIGHLIGHTS

- The benefit change or new idea with the most appeal was “additional paid time off benefits” (i.e., vacation, holidays, floating holidays).

- The top 5 most important total rewards were:

- Paid Time Off

- Health Insurance

- 401(k) Retirement Wellness

Program

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a professional and confidential, short-term counseling service available to the employee and their immediate family. This is a company paid benefit and offered to the employee at no cost. Immediate telephone access to a counselor is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Resources include up to three sessions for in-person appointments per separate issue per year, legal

Total Rewards Survey by the Numbers

75%

of participants were below age 45

59%

of participants are married/partnered

56%

of participants have children

- Base Pay

- ESOP

WSC and WOS employees have access to and are in enrolled into a wellness program, implemented by Mercy, a Des Moines hospital, called Navigate Wellness. Through this portal employees are eligible to earn reward points for completing different activities and challenges throughout the year. The activities and challenges are either individual or group challenges, which also include wellness event participation, watching or attending

educational wellness lunch and learn sessions on topics like nutrition and eating well, reducing stress, importance of sleep, exercise, financial wellbeing, community involvement, and more. Free annual biometric health screenings are available at the corporate office through Mercy in late February. At the start of fall flu shots are available onsite, and open to employees and their families.

Healthy Options

The corporate office micro mart offers food and beverages at the convenience of the workplace provided by Company Kitchen. In collaboration with Company Kitchen and our Wellness Committee, the item’s price tag is labeled with a red, yellow, or green to indicate the healthiness of the option. This program includes criteria supported by the latest nutrition research in line with both government and expert nonprofit guidelines.

The Wellness Committee continues their education efforts to inform employees of their purchasing decisions and its various impacts on their health and well-being. The goal is to provide additional green “healthier” options and see those selections increase over time. 6% of purchases fell within the green category.

Getting Active

Adjacent to the building is a 3-acre area where a meandering concrete 0.28-mile walking trail was incorporated. This small acreage is dedicated to native habitat. See more in the biodiversity section.

A bike rack is available to employees to store their bikes if they choose to ride before or after work, or during their lunch break. The remodeled building now includes female and male locker rooms with two showers each to allow employees to shower after a workout. They also include 12 lockers to store personal belongings.

LONGEVITY

Every March, we celebrate our employees who reached milestones (5, 10, 15, and so forth) in their years of service within our family of companies. 344 employees reached milestones and were acknowledged totaling 2,810 years of service.

344

EMPLOYEES REACHED MILESTONES

Retirees

2,810

TOTAL YEARS OF SERVICE FOR THOSE 344 EMPLOYEES

AND U.S. SUBSIDIARIES

23

339 EMPLOYEES RETIRED IN 2022 YEARS OF SERVICE FOR THE 23 RETIREES

Employee Ownership

WSC has been a proud employee-owned company since 2002 and 100% employee-owned since 2006. Through shared ownership, WSC’s ESOP helps promote a positive, unique organizational culture and supports company success. The ESOP is also designed to assist our employees with their retirement and provide them with a financial stake in the company. For our customers and partners, we are empowered to provide exceptional service and innovative solutions.

LONGEVITY continued

The ESOP enables employees to directly affect profitability and value and see the results. The ESOP has also allowed the company to protect jobs and support the communities we work in.

Only non-union employees who are at least 18 years of age, worked for the company for one year totaling at least 1,000 hours are eligible to enter the plan. Employees are automatically enrolled in the ESOP after meeting the qualifications on April 1 or October 1, following their 1-year anniversary date with the company.

EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP COMMITTEE

With new employees constantly joining the company, many new to an ESOP company, and others entering the plan, the Employee Ownership Committee provides ESOP educational training. They encourage divisions to host annual training conducted by committee members. WSC and committee members continue to support the ESOP community through donations to the Employee Ownership Foundation and with the development of a Central Iowa networking group. Committee members continue to participate in the Iowa/ Nebraska Chapter of The ESOP Association events and conferences, and national conferences. WSC remains on the list as one of the largest employee-owned companies in the U.S., according to the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) coming in at 26.

October was Employee Ownership Month, and the Employee Ownership Committee celebrated all month long. New in 2022, digital and printed bingo cards were distributed to engage and educate employees on all things employee ownership. The committee hosted a Golden Ticket Broadcast where more than 200 employee owners joined to learn more about the ESOP and Deferred Share Unit (DSU) plan. A DSU plan was established for Wright Canada Holdings, Ltd. (WCH) and its subsidiaries to provide similar benefits to our Canadian employees.

ESOP By the Numbers

VESTED - WSC ONLY

Retirement

WSC offers a comprehensive 401(k) retirement savings plan with the same eligibility requirements and entry dates as the ESOP.

WSC has a Safe Harbor Match Program to the 401(k) offering, matching 100% of the first 3%, plus an additional 50% of the next 2% employees would contribute to their retirement savings. The matching funds are placed in the ESOP account. Meaning, employees should contribute at least 5% annually to receive the full company match. These company-matched contributions are 100% vested.

The Automatic Enrollment Program is an automatic 3% pre-tax 401(k) enrollment process for all eligible employees which increases contributions from salary pay by 1% each year until 10% is reached with an opt-out available. This was enacted to ensure employees were taking steps for their financial security in the future.

401(K)

401(K) CONTRIBUTIONS

Comparison of the number of active and eligible participants, and the percent vested. Upon six years, a participant will become 100% vested.

Numbers are out of 150 employees who are contributing. 86% of those contributing are receiving full-match potential. *Numbers can change daily.

Numbers are out of 2,467 employees who are contributing. 56.75% of those contributing are receiving full-match potential. *Numbers can change daily.

EMPLOYEE WELL-BEING GOALS

2022 Accomplished Goals

Diversity & Inclusion: Increased reporting capabilities on workforce demographics in 2022 with Workday.

Education & Development: Continue to gauge interest and feedback from employees to determine topics – hosting lunch and learns every other month.

Education & Development: Develop a formalized process and similar resources to roll out to subsidiary companies, one company/group at a time depending on size.

Education & Development: Gather data that will inform a sustainable leadership development strategy that supports the growth of our Family of Companies.

Employee Well-Being: Conduct a survey for total reward offerings and preferences to employees.

Diversity & Inclusion: Analyze employee gender and race/ethnicity information to establish benchmarks and goals for annual diversity growth.

Diversity & Inclusion: Host a diversity, equity and inclusion week at the corporate office through Culture Club.

Education & Development: Increase online training hours by 10% in WSCU.

Employee Well-Being: Roll out of Project One Source Program via the Workday platform for efficient integration of company data storage and processing, employee records management, and improvement of employee procedures which will include the reduction of paper.

Employee Well-Being: Continue to provide employees with more benefits education through regular newsletters, plan enrollment resources and new hire summaries.

Education & Development: Increase engagement in online learning by continuing to offer courses chosen through survey feedback, employee recommendations, and leader input. We continue to package courses into manageable sizes through programming like “Learn in Less” and “FiveMinute Fridays.”

Wellness: Wellness Committee to see an increase in the green options offered in the micro mart compared to the red in 2023.

Wellness: Conduct a survey in 2023 sponsored by the Wellness Committee to better inform wellness offerings and impacts.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

As a family of companies who are in the environmental services industry, we strive to protect and preserve all ecosystems. We continue to reduce our footprints and promote carbon positive practices at our offices and in the communities we serve. The Wright Service Corp. (WSC) North American headquarters based out of West Des Moines, Iowa, underwent a remodel in 2020 and was completed in 2021 with environmental sustainability and economic sustainability in mind. This posed an opportunity with many working from home to remodel the existing buildings on the headquarters’ campus to accommodate the growing amount of support staff while also providing the infrastructure needed for the flexibility with the Work from Home Policy.

Safety Employee Well-being Environmental Sustainability Community Engagement

ENERGY

Prior to the remodel, the headquarters had many energy efficiency actions implemented. An estimated 50% of the lighting was on a motion activated setting. Thermostats were also set on timers to decrease air conditioning energy in the summer months and reduce heat in the winter after typical workday hours. The building now has 100% LED lighting, 95% motion activated with vacancy switches and on a lighting control system, and the heating and cooling system on an efficiency timer to optimize energy and cost savings.

The existing state-of-the-art high-efficiency HVAC system was enhanced with additional zones and reworked for optimized employee comfort. Since the building now has many large glass windows on the exterior, WSC worked with a local contractor, Baker Group, during the remodel to optimize energy use in our infrastructure.

The two electric vehicle (EV) charging stations allow for four vehicles to be charged at the same time.

As the workforce is adjusting to post COVID-19 working conditions, more employees worked from the office location and more visiting employees traveled into the office in 2022.

Another local service provider, MidAmerican Energy Company, has a goal of being net zero by 2050. In 2019, they produced 61.3% of annual energy needs with renewable energy and increased to 83.6% in 2020, and then 88.5% in 2021. MidAmerican has also reduced their CO2 emission by 58% since 2005.

In addition, the Information Technology (IT) Department takes steps to reduce energy consumption with the devices they select for office and field staff use. The corporate office has three Canon copiers and five Lexmark printers. The Canon copiers are ENERGY STAR® certified. The default settings are established for energy efficiency and manufactured for low energy use.

WSC HQ Total Annual Gas Consumption

Expenses include monthly base service fees such as service availability/transport fees, taxes, demand charge, etc., plus the cost of electricity and gas. Energy cost varies month to month based on demand for us as well as demand in the area.

According to the EPA, if all imaging equipment in the United States was ENERGY STAR certified, we could save more than $32 million in electricity costs and prevent 596 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions every year – equal to the emissions from more than 57,000 vehicles.

Source: Canon

WATER WASTE

Restrooms have hot water recirculation lines installed to provide hot water quicker, and all fixtures are low flow and automatic to use less water. A Kinetico water system, a reverse osmosis water treatment system that works with a water softener to filter 99% of contaminants from our water supply for drinking and ice making is present at the corporate office. This efficiency also reduces natural gas usage to heat water.

WSC HQ Total Annual Water Consumption

WSC reduces, reuses, and recycles at the corporate office to minimize our waste footprint.

Reduce PLASTIC

In an effort to reduce the use of plastic water bottles at the corporate office, employees are encouraged to use water bottle filling stations, or boxed water for large meetings and events whenever possible. The office has three drinking water fountains equipped with a water bottle filling station that reduced 8,018* plastic bottles in 2022.

In the micro mart, no plastic water bottles are available for purchase due to our company’s commitment. Instead, a Bevi machine was installed in that same area. The machine not only dispenses water but up to four flavored still and sparkling water options. Flavors were voted on by the office and can be switched upon request. Since that installation in June of 2021, 32,681** bottles have been saved.

In total, 29,888 plastic bottles were saved through reusable water bottles and cups at the Bevi machine and bottle filling water stations, an 83.78% increase from the previous year. The number does not include the use of the reverse osmosis water taps.

In pursuit of our reduced plastic waste initiatives, the office has reusable silverware, plates and bowls became available in the café and pantries. When possible, during catered meetings and events, compostable cups, plates, and silverware are used.

The office continues to utilize compostable pods contributing to our compost program to reduce plastic waste. Kauai Coffee is our coffee supplier for the pod machines. Kauai Coffee, located in Hawaii, is the U.S.’s largest coffee grower and are dedicated to social and environmental sustainability.

The café area also has a large whole bean grinding coffee machine. WSC selected a local coffee supplier, Blk & Bold, the first Black-owned nationally distributed coffee brand that also achieved B Corp status. BLK & Bold pledge 5% of its profits to initiatives aligned to sustaining youth programming, enhancing workforce development, and eradicating youth homelessness.

PAPER

In 2019, the office started to track total paper purchased and where most of the paper was being used in the office for various processes. An increase in paper made with a higher portion of post-consumer recycled content was used.

Expenses include monthly base service fees such as taxes, sanitary sewer service, sewer availability, stormwater management fee, etc., plus the cost of water used. A gallon of water in 2022 cost an average of $0.00535 from West Des Moines Water Works.

Based on bottles saved from the Bevi machine.

*Based on 20 fl oz/ bottle **Based on a 12 fl oz/bottle

Accounts Payable by the Numbers

386

Total Successful Transitions

Reuse

WSC has provided branded reusable cups and mugs to corporate offices employees over the years to reduce the amount of plastic waste from water bottles or coffee cups. New hires are given a reusable cup on day one as part of the onboarding/orientation initiative.

At the headquarters, a 3-stream waste collection system is utilized to encourage employees to sort their waste into either landfill, recycle, or compost. These everyday decisions cause employees to think beyond the bin, think of reclaiming value from waste to reduce their individual footprints together with the company, a joint effort for us to be successful in our sustainability goals.

Total Requests

37

2,250 Returned Mail/Undeliverable

In 2022, the Accounts Payable Team worked to transition check vendors to Automated Clearing House (ACH) to minimize paper check distribution.

The Marketing and Communications Department outsources highquality printing projects. The first digital edition of the company’s biannual newsletter, The Wright Perspective, was published in the spring/summer of 2020, decreasing the paper used by 95%, using 221 pounds of paper. This is an estimated reduction of 9.5 tons of CO2e.

A small quantity is still printed and mailed to employees upon request. In 2022, 293 newsletters were printed. The 2022 editions used 181 pounds of paper. This is about an 18.1% decrease in weight from 2021.

In addition, the company continues to utilize Workday with its digital processes. Workday reduces an estimated average of 805 pounds of paper annually which would equate to reducing 2.3 tons of CO2e annually.

The IT Department purchases and redeploys electronic devices that are in good working order to reduce the amount of electronic waste we will produce over each device’s lifetime while also savings on device costs. 356 devices were redeployed.

356 DEVICES WERE REDEPLOYED BY THE IT DEPARTMENT

A local Iowa company, GreenRU, repurposes our organic wastes to create nutrient rich soil compost materials and keep a portion of our waste out of the landfill reducing our environmental footprint. Our Training and Development Department created a brief interactive game called Stop. Think. Sort. to optionally play on WSCU after watching an educational workshop led by GreenRU to inform employees about the company and our compost program.

5% EMPLOYEE CAFÉ REDUCED FOOD WASTE FROM 9% IN 2021 TO 5% IN 2022

REDEPLOYMENT BY MODEL TYPE:

‒ 211 Standard Laptops

‒

‒

‒

‒

‒

‒

10,500 lbs 23,141 lbs

10,560 lbs

Total: 44,201 lbs

Recycle

Through TerraCycle, the recycling efforts at the headquarters accept batteries, small electronics, and office supplies utilizing e-cycle bins with one located in each wing. WSC did not host a clothing drive to recycle branded clothing and instead will host one on a two to three year basis, depending on the need.

We continue to discard of sensitive information with the use of secure shredders located through the office by utilizing with a local secure document recycler, The Shredder. This information is not currently captured into our waste assessment.

In 2022, 182.24* total pounds of e-waste recycled with a local certified recycler, Midwest Electronic Recovery. Since implementing the program, we’ve recycled 6,236.24 pounds of electronic waste.

31.80

pounds of office supplies

6,234 LBS OF ELECTRONIC WASTE RECYCLED SINCE IMPLEMENTATION

MIDWEST ELECTRONIC RECOVERY RECYCLING

pounds of batteries

39.05

32.55 pounds of small electronics

Disclaimer: We did not have enough electronics to send to the facility in 2022 and stored that to be recycled in 2023. Cellphone weight based on iPhone 13 (2021) of 6.1 oz (173 grams).

BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity is important to our family of companies that provide a variety of environmental services. Although biodiversity is limited in the workplace, office plants add to our biodiversity as well as out exterior features.

WSC supports industry groups that value biodiversity such as the U.S. Compost Council, the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum, various vegetation management associations, the Arbor Day Foundation, and more.

Biophilia

Even though our footprint is small, we understand the value of plants for the office interior. They improve air quality, absorb pollutants, reduce airport dust, and absorb background noise, creating a positive environment for our employees and guests. WOS supplies the corporate office with plants placed throughout the office from the lobby, offices, workstations, common areas, café, connector and other areas throughout the office. They also provide landscaping work and a different seasonal arrangement for our front desk in the lobby each week.

Employee Community Garden

The community garden has 34 plots filled with 68CY of Lounsbury’s garden mix which is a mixture of topsoil, sand, and compost. The Wellness Committee oversees the community garden and assigns plots to employees in early spring. The plots provided by WSC each have an irrigation system to assist with watering, and a garden shed to store tools and garden materials. The community garden utilizes the compost program throughout the season to dispose of wasted produce and plants. As mentioned previously, the Wellness Committee was able to donate produce to the Food Bank of Iowa and had lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers available to employees throughout the summer.

Landscaping

At the remodeled headquarters, 70 trees were planted of 29 different species with an estimation to have the potential to sequester 66.2 tons of carbon a year. (Source: A medium growth coniferous or deciduous tree, planted in an urban setting and allowed to grow for 10 years, sequesters 23.2 and 38 lbs of carbon respectively Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator - Calculations and References | US EPA)

A total of 857 trees, conifers, shrubs, perennials & grasses were planted during the WSC renovation in 2021.

Trees: 70 planted, 29 species

Conifers: 33 planted, 15 species

Shrubs: 162 planted, 26 species

Perennials: 392 planted, 22 species

Grasses: 200 planted, 7 species

LANDSCAPE DESIGN OBJECTIVES:

‒ Provide native trees and plants that will fit into the natural theme of the design and that will provide a natural food source and cover for migratory songbirds.

‒ Provide a deer resistant (tolerant) tree and plant palette.

‒ Ensure that we do not have a monoculture of trees/plants. As pests and diseases emerge in the future, it is important that we choose a wide variety of plants. This prevents massive loss of specific plants if a new pest should appear in our area.

‒ Seasonal interest – select trees and plants that will offer interest through all seasons: spring flowers, summer shade with

BIODIVERSITY continued

different leaf sizes and textures, fall color and winter interest with interesting bark or overall plant structure.

‒ Block or enhance views – block unappealing views and enhance beautiful views through tree and plant placement.

‒ Provide sustainable pollinator habitat and food source for honeybees, butterflies and other wildlife.

Arboretum

Incorporated into the 3-acre area where the employee walking trail is the future home of a pollinator space project. This small acreage was dedicated to native habitat, and therefore WSC partnered with the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund (BBHF) to participate in their pollinator habitat program called Seed A Legacy. The BBHF’s project on campus grounds will establish a highquality pollinator habitat to ensure that honeybee and monarch butterfly populations thrive. The BBHF works with landowners, conservationists, scientists and beekeepers to design and build healthy and sustainable pollinator habitats.

A cover crop seeding of oats was utilized to protect the soil surface and for weed suppression. In November, the corporate office staff at the headquarters hand-seeded the space by dedicated department area for frost seeding for a 2022 spring germination. One a low native prairie mix dedicated to the bee pollinator species and a tall native prairie mix for butterfly pollinator species. By planting two separate mixtures, WSC will be providing abundant lush and dense forage with the clover mix, which can also be used as a prescribed fire break. The monarch mix contains slower growing wildflowers that will provide nectar resources for monarchs and other pollinators, and a place for monarchs to lay eggs.

GROWING PROCESS

Spring 2022 was the first growing season. As expected, the habitat was full of weeds. The native plants were growing roots and not much was seen above four to five inches. Mowing by WOS played an important part to reduce the weed load.

In its second season in 2023, a few blooms from early establishers will start to appear. By 2024, a higher number of plants will begin to bloom. The seed mixtures are custom designed to include species that bloom at different times and have various colors and flower shapes.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

Waste: Establish TerraCycle program for used branded clothing following a clothing swap event for employees.

Waste: IT Department to start tracking in 2022 cellphones recycled. Data was not available for 2020 or 2021.

Waste: Capture amount of paper recycled from our secure shred company, The Shredder, from sensitive information as this is not currently captured into our waste assessment.

Waste: Capture amount of food product wasted from the Café. This data was not available for the 2021 waste assessment.

Recycle: IT Department to implement program to begin tracking redeployment of handheld technology like iPads.

Waste: IT Department to work with printer maintenance service contractor on ink cartridge recycling options.

Waste: Maintain 5% or lower food product waste from the Café.

Recycle: IT Department to implement program to begin tracking redeployment of cellphones.

Resource Use: Begin a GHG Inventory (following the GHG Protocol and Corporate Standard). 2022 will serve as the base year.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Wright Service Corp. (WSC) has been embedded in our central Iowa community since 1933. WSC supports activities that benefit our employees and add value to the communities where we live and work. Through monetary and in-kind donations such as labor or education, we are able to support various causes and organizations that align with our values. We take pride in building and developing relationships with our employees, clients and communities.

Safety Employee Well-being Environmental Sustainability Community Engagement

CONTRIBUTION

WSC recognizes the important role that charitable, non-profit organizations play in the communities where we live and work. To align with our values and mission, we strive to provide financial contributions and volunteer support to causes/organizations that support public safety, sustainable communities and environments, champion education and innovation within the vegetation management industry and our communities and support the health and well-being of families.

A charitable giving policy was established in 2020 to outline qualifications that must be met for all giving efforts. In 2022, a new Culture Club committee was created to take the funding and decision making to the employees with oversight from the Chairman and CEO, WSC President and COO, and Marketing and Communications Department. This four-person volunteer committee is comprised of women from four different departments, experience and passion for giving back to our communities. To align with the WSC mission and core values, the company’s charitable giving focuses in six areas:

‒ Health and well-being

‒ Innovation and education

‒ Sustainable environments and communities

‒ Industry (labor/agriculture/arboriculture)

‒ Disaster recovery

‒ Veteran support

Although WSC contributes monetarily to organizations and causes, brand recognition often goes toward subsidiaries such as Wright Outdoor Solutions or Wright Tree Service in the markets they serve in Iowa.

Beyond monetary donations, each WSC full-time employee has eight hours of paid time per year to use toward volunteering for a company-sponsored event, or a charity or non-profit of their choice. Participation in these company-organized activities is usually coordinated by either the Charitable Giving Committee due to a sponsorship or the Community Involvement Committee. 2022 activities and events included:

‒ 10th annual sponsorship and participation in the Meals from the Heartland Annual Hunger Fight

‒ Hosted our 5th annual American Red Cross Community Blood Drive

‒ Festival of Trees and Lights

‒ Tour des Trees

‒ Courage on the Court

‒ Food Drive

‒ Toys for Tots

‒ Adopt-a-Family

‒ Roadside Cleanups

‒ 5k Run/Walks

‒ Golf Outings

Highlights

in financial contributions for the 2022 fiscal year

69

gifts and gift cards provided

$302,022 Total

bulk meals packaged during the Annual Hunger Fight

38

119

1,692 toys collected and $340 donated online for Toys for Tots items donated to the Urbandale Food Bank

CONTRIBUTION continued

Iowa Resource for International Service Peace Day

Red Cross Blood Drive in the Summer of 2022. We had 36 donors, and 27 were employees. 38 units

Two families were adopted for the holidays. Our office had over 30 employees donate 60 gifts and 9 gift cards.

20 volunteers split between two days during the Annual Hunger Fight packaged a total of 47 boxes of meals, the equivalent of 10,152 meals!

Coaches vs. Cancer Charity Golf Classic and Golf FORE! The Kids supporting ChildServe, an Iowa-based organization improving the health

This year for our holiday gift we went with Beantown Blankets who have a buy one, gift one program. We were able to donate 300 blankets to three different local shelters in Des

Safety Employee Well-being Environmental Sustainability Community

6 WSC riders and 10 first aid station volunteers for Tour des Trees

5k. Wright Outdoor Solutions was a sponsor.

were collected.

and well-being of children.

Moines.

38 toys collected and $340 donated online for Toys for Tots

WSC employees cleaning up trash along Racoon River Drive at the location of our Adopt-a-Road 2nd Annual Fighting Through Kinship 5K

119 items donated to the Urbandale Food Bank

WRIGHT FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

The Wright Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation (WFSI) exists to foster innovative sustainability initiatives that make a positive impact on our planet. WFSI wants to find solutions to the complex challenges facing our world today. The Foundation’s vision is to facilitate positive action toward sustainable and innovative solutions in agricultural and environmental sectors that reduce carbon footprints and minimize risk for our communities.

In 2022, WFSI announced the grantees for its second grant cycle, focused on improving the tree canopy and best regenerative agricultural management practice adoption in the Midwest. WFSI has awarded a total of $200,000 to five organizations in Iowa and Minnesota including: Friends of Des Moines Parks, Trees Forever, University of Northern Iowa Foundation, The Nature Conservancy and Land Stewardship Project. Project updates from three recipients are noted below from their 2022 work using their 2021 and/or 2022 grant funds.

Trees Forever

Grantee Trees Forever has used funds to support three programs including Planting Hope, TreeKeepers, and Growing Futures.

Planting Hope aims to restore the tree canopy in derecho-affected areas. With additional funds from an anonymous donor, Planting Hope grants were awarded for tree planting in eight derecho-affected Iowa

communities and for two public tree distributions. A total of 1,393 trees were planted with another 236 planned for spring 2023.

TreeKeepers form the core of Trees Forever’s volunteer operations. Through virtual training in spring and in-person fall training in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, Trees Forever prepared 114 new TreeKeepers in 2022. Over three evenings, TreeKeepers learned the essentials for tree planting and care and were inspired to become advocates for trees in their home communities and beyond. They also participated in a winter pruning workshop this past December to become more knowledgeable on the topic and to help with city-led pruning activities.

Growing Futures employs teens and provides them with beneficial professional development to prepare them for the workforce upon graduating high school. In 2022, Growing Futures programs in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids employed more than 40 local youth and planted more than 3,000 trees along street rights-of-way. Additionally, these crews completed more than 14,000 watering visits for trees in their care. Upkeep and wrapping of two vans and trailers was an estimated $13,792 in-kind donation on top of the equipment donation itself.

Friends of Des Moines Parks

Volunteers assisted the Friends of Des Moines Parks during their tree planting event in May. The project was funded by a grant from the Wright Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation. The event — aimed to help improve Des Moines’ tree canopy — took place at Easter Lake Park along the Easter Lake Spine Trail with the trees dedicated to the late John Harsch, a founding member of the foundation. With over 50 volunteers, including several of our own employees, 120+ trees were planted in no time!

Land Stewardship Project

Our 2022 grantee, Land Stewardship Project (LSP), had a packed season full of farmer-to-farmer soil health education events. LSP held 25 field days, workshops, and pasture walks on member farms between May and October, attended by more than 800 farmers interested in adopting and expanding regenerative practices on their land. This lineup included expert speakers Gabe Brown, Allen Williams of Understanding Ag, LLC - Experts in Regenerative Ag, and compost bioreactor pioneers Dr. David Johnson and Dr. Hui-Chun Su.

Photos are from the Allen Williams field day on the farm of Jordan and Rachelle Meyer in Caledonia, Minnesota.

MEMBERSHIPS REPUTATION

WSC is proud to be members and support the following local and national organizations.

‒ Iowa Sustainable Business Forum – connects Iowa businesses to continuously improve practices that positively impact people, planet and profits.

‒ West Des Moines Chamber – a network of community and business leaders in West Des Moines.

‒ Iowa/Nebraska Chapter of The ESOP Association – more than 130 ESOP companies and professional service providers with a mission to help ESOP companies excel by providing their members with educational and networking opportunities.

‒ Des Moines Performing Arts – part of a dedicated group of community and business leaders that value Des Moines Performing Arts and their tradition of providing world-class entertainment, education, and cultural activities.

‒ Hoyt Sherman – provides quality programming year-round. The membership helps keep entertainers including live music, comedy, spoken word, big band and more returning to the historic theater.

The National Center for Employee Ownership updates an Employee Ownership 100 list each year – recognizing the nation’s largest companies that are at least 50% owned by an ESOP or other broadbased employee ownership plan. WSC is the 26th largest employeeowned company in the United States.

26

Social Media

TH

Social by the Numbers (compared to 2021)

62%

Increase in Followers

LARGEST EMPLOYEEOWNED COMPANY IN THE UNITED STATES

138.5%

Increase in Impressions

WSC recognizes that social networking platforms can be powerful digital communication tools for sharing ideas and exchanging information. We are committed to using social media to promote its brand and maintain communications with current and prospective employees, customers, business partners, vendors and suppliers, and the general public. WSC is focused on ensuring that its use of social network platforms serve its need to maintain its brand identity, integrity, and reputation while minimizing risks to the company, its customers, and employees. Employees who post to social media should be mindful that their online activities do not violate our social media policy.

WSC uses LinkedIn to share updates about our family of companies to employees, clients and the community. By the end of 2022, 1,698 people followed the company page, a 62% increase from 2021. Throughout the year, the WSC LinkedIn page posted 68 times and garnered 90,126 impressions, 27,266 engagements, 24,451 post link clicks, and averaged a 30.3% engagement rate.

720.3%

Increase in Engagement

875.7% 244%

Increase in Post Link Clicks

Increase in Engagement Rate

YOUTH INTERACTION

Industry Leadership

Employees in our family of companies author and submit articles to industry publications throughout the year, such as the Utility Arborist Association’s Utility Arborist Newsline. WSC has an internal editorial committee who brainstorm topics and determine subject matter experts to write articles.

In addition, many employees are active members of industry and professional organizations. We encourage our employees to get involved in the industries and communities we serve, and it is also a requirement for our LEAD Program participants. These groups will be highlighted in individual company reports.

WSC’s Contract Administration Manager serves on the board of the Iowa/Nebraska Chapter of The ESOP Association.

Vendors

Policies such as Supplier Code of Conduct and Supplier Diversity Policy that our suppliers or service providers are required to follow were finalized. We seek out those that share our vision and follow a similar mission to reach our goals. We strive to work with local providers in our community. We understand that those we choose to work with will uphold our reputation in the community and with our current and future clients.

Corporate Communications

We continue to utilize the 13 TV screens throughout the building. The Culture Club and departments have the opportunity to create their own screens for approval to inform employees of company or

department news, events, reminders and important dates in history. These have also included progress on the compost and recycling program, EAP information, and days or months of recognition with educational information like Black History Month and Women’s History Month and more. It is an additional way to communicate with employees beyond email communications.

Bring Your Kids to Work Day

The Wellness Committee organizes the Bring Your Kids to Work Day event at the corporate office. In 2022, 34+ employees and 52+ kids participated.

Coloring Contest

The Employee Ownership Committee has had a yearly coloring contest since 2018. Employees were encouraged to ask someone close to them to draw a picture of him or her, their favorite employee, doing what they believe the employee does at work. First place winners received a gift card to enjoy dinner and a movie with their family. Here were 2022’s entry winners.

“Blue smiley is Grammy, an upside down tree, and the brown wright service building. Grammy’s work is important because she’s working. I want to see Grammy.” Age 3-4 Winner

YOUTH INTERACTION continued

“ When disaster strikes, the company is there to save the day. Moreover, Kaari is there to market the services and share with the world what good the company has done. No matter the problem, Kaari is there to help. Saving Trees. Saving You.” Age 16+ Winner

John Wright Memorial Contest

In 2022, we held our 17th annual John Wright Memorial Contest. The contest honors the memory of both John L. and John R. Wright.

It is designed to further the understanding of the importance of trees among the children and grandchildren of Wright Service Corp. employees. There are four divisions with first, second and third place prizes for each. In total, $2,575 was awarded and distributed amongst the winners in each division.

DIVISION 3: 6TH - 8TH GRADE

DIVISION 4: 9TH - 12TH GRADE

John Wright Memorial Scholarship Fund

“My dad and his team are lifting wood into a pile. He is giving water to all his friends because it is hot. Another friend is climbing to trim a tree.” Age 7-9 Winner

“Look at the drawing and read the sentence with the matching number. 1. Training and development helps wright, by creating a base for the company to build on, much like tree roots. 2. Tree staking is similar to teaching or training the trees so it may properly grow as a tree, similar to how the training and development team trains others to develop as an employee. 3. Tree branches represent how a tree, or a company can grow with what is there to support it.” Age 10-12 Winner

DIVISION 1: PRE-K - 2ND GRADE

The John Wright Memorial Scholarship Fund was established in 2008 to create a substantial scholarship fund to help college students interested in commercial arboriculture achieve high academic goals and support the arboriculture industry. The scholarship is administered by the TREE Fund, awarded $5,000 to a student annually.

Job Fairs

We also participate in job fairs in the communities we serve throughout North America where our recruiting team was able to increase exposure of our family of companies to the next generation of leaders. In the future, the recruiting team plans to partner with high schools throughout North America to engage and educate students on career paths in environmental services.

DIVISION 2: 3RD - 5TH GRADE

“My Grandpa cutting down a tree. It’s important because there are powerlines and the power is going out.” Age 5-6 Winner

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GOALS

Contribution: Continue to increase opportunities for employees to partake in company sponsored events through the Culture Club to increase total volunteer hours by 10% in 2022.

Youth Interactions: Create a program to track career fairs attended.

Youth Interactions: Increase exposure to our family of companies through events such as career expos and presentations at schools.

Youth Interactions: Develop a formal internship program for WSC.

Reputation: Create a Wright Service Corp. sustainability website to showcase our Corporate Social Responsibility journey.

Vendors: Implement Vendor Code of Conduct and Supplier Diversity Policy.

Vendors: WSC will track and report diverse spend on vendors and partners for our headquarters to better understand community impact areas and opportunities for investment.

CLOSING

The Wright Service Corp. (WSC) family of companies and our employees strive to live out our values and will continue to improve our sustainable practices to ensure a safe and bright future for our employee-owners. We’re committed to a better world for all, by investing in the communities we serve through innovation, integrity and teamwork. We want to ensure that the decisions we make today make a positive impact on our employees, clients, community and the environment.

APPENDIX

An evaluation utilizing the EcoPractices® platform, a proprietary tool created and owned by Sustainable Environmental Consultants, a Wright Service Corp. (WSC) subsidiary, in partnership with WSC. This report is intended to showcase the sustainability journey of WSC, dedicated to recognizing their responsibility toward their mission, vision and values for their employee owners, partners, clients, and the public.

This Corporate Social Responsibility Report will be further expanded upon in the coming years to comply with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards.

GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVES (GRI) APPENDIX

Safety Employee Well-being Environmental Sustainability Community Engagement

Safety Employee Well-being Environmental Sustainability Community Engagement

3-3

GRI 408: Collective Labor Location

3-3 Management of material topics

Code of Conduct

408-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor Supplier Code of Conduct

GRI 409: Forced or Compulsory Labor Location

3-3 Management of material topics Supplier Code of Conduct

409-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of forced or compulsory labor Supplier Code of Conduct

GRI 411: Rights of Indigenous Peoples Location

3-3 Management of material topics

Statement

GRI 413: Local Communities Location

3-3 Management of material topics

413-1 Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments, and development programs

Giving Policy

Report pg. 36-43

GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment Location

3-3 Management of material topics

Code of Conduct

GRI 416: Customer Health & Safety Location

416-1 Assessment of the health and safety impacts of product and service categories

GRI 418: Customer Privacy Location

Code of Conduct; Employee Handbook; CSR Report pg. 12

407-1 Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk

Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct

3-3 Management of material topics

Report pg. 14

Report pg. 14 418-1 Substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data