Carlson School and Wells Fargo launch Sustainability Initiative

$250,000 grant supports research to help increase consumer demand for ’green’ products

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (12/14/2011) —The University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management has received a $250,000 grant from Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) to help develop the Sustainability Initiative at the Carlson School. The Sustainability Initiative will sponsor and conduct research on the consumer behavior associated with the purchase, use and disposal of environmentally beneficial products and processes.
“Nearly 98 percent of all funding for sustainability initiatives goes toward developing new technologies,” said professor Akshay Rao, the General Mills Chair in Marketing at the Carlson School and head of the Sustainability Initiative. “To make sure there is a viable market for new ‘green’ technologies, we must understand underlying consumer beliefs and behaviors associated with the adoption and use of those technologies.”

With the support of corporations such as Wells Fargo, the Carlson School is creating a research program to help corporate strategists and decision-makers design and implement more effective sustainability strategies based on reputable consumer research.

“The Sustainability Initiative will help drive consumer understanding and demand for energy efficiency and other such efforts that can improve our communities, our environment, and our society’s competitiveness in the new ‘greener’ economy,” said Jim Henney, senior vice president of Enterprise Customer Insights and Analysis at Wells Fargo. “We’re proud to be the first corporate sponsor of the Sustainability Initiative and support the Carlson School’s leading efforts. We encourage other leading corporations to do the same.”

About the Carlson School of Management
Established in 1919 and based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota is a recognized leader in business education and research. Its focus on experiential learning, international education and maintaining strong ties to the business community exemplify the school’s commitment to excellence. about the school can be found at www.carlsonschool.umn.edu.

About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. In 2010, the company invested a record $219 million in grants in 19,000 nonprofits, and team members contributed more than 1.3 million volunteer hours around the country. , visit: www.wellsfargo.com/about/csr.

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• Last modified on December 14, 2011