External stakeholders said they were "very knowledgeable" about the following aspects of our business.

Employees said they were "very knowledgeable" about the following issues and programs:

Click here for a report on external survey results, and click here for a report on our community-specific survey findings for Boron, California. Borax hosted its first Stakeholder Engagement Forum in early 2004 to invite more direct feedback and rigorous evaluation. Click here to read the case study. For the remainder of 2004, the company will survey the community living near its refining and shipping operation in Coudekerque, France, to learn more about their perceptions of Borax, their interests and which issues matter most. The company will also conduct internal focus groups to determine how well employees understand the company's commitment to sustainable development, and to gather ideas for improving the program.

Consultation
While Borax was a mining industry leader in establishing a sustainable development program, we were certainly not the leading experts. So we sought them out, consulting a broad cross-section of regulatory agencies, environmental organizations, businesses and community leaders on both our program and our annual performance reports.

Borax's consultation efforts were limited to some degree, though, by when we sought advice. The company first developed its sustainable development program internally, determining how to measure its social, environmental and economic performance and what to report - and then asked for feedback. But the point of sustainable development is to ensure that what an individual organization does and produces today does not pose any limitations to future generations, or their environmental and economic resources.

Borax's target for 2003 was to have at least one consultation meeting with relevant stakeholders at each of its facilities. While we met that target, we set a more meaningful one for 2004: to measure our progress in achieving jointly defined goals - such as attracting new businesses to communities that rely heavily on our mining operations for economic support - rather than continuing to track numbers internally.

Sustainable Partnerships
By definition, a partnership is an association that benefits everyone involved. A sustainable partnership is one that has a lasting benefit. Borax has taken an active role in supporting communities since its inception, but our methods have evolved in keeping with our commitment to sustainable development.

In 2000, we benchmarked our approach to charitable contributions against those of mining and manufacturing companies and corporations in general. We established our contribution level at one percent of our pretax profits in time, in-kind services and cash, in keeping with the highest standard for corporate giving. Borax also established Guidelines for Sustainable Partnerships to delineate the types of social, environmental and economic programs we support. Click here for a list of partnerships at each of our operations.

In 2003, we met our goal to evaluate each of our community partnerships for alignment with our sustainable development principles. In 2004, we will establish specific objectives with our partners, and measure our performance accordingly.

Sustainable Employment
Borax works to develop employees' skills and marketability throughout the course of their careers. Through semi-annual performance assessments, employees and their supervisors develop training programs to build on existing potential and to address development needs critical to both career and personal growth. We also reimburse job-related education costs for employees, based on their academic performance.

From time to time, Borax's organizational structure requires restructuring to meet the needs of an increasingly competitive market. When jobs are eliminated, we provide free outplacement and career counseling services.