Johnson Outdoors : Minn Kota®/Cannon® Location Rolls Up Sleeves for Clean Earth Challenge

It's called the Clean Earth Challenge, an initiative formed between Johnson Outdoors and the National Wildlife Federation to encourage outdoor lovers everywhere to get outside and help clean up the environment. The goal of the Clean Earth Challenge is to pick up one million pieces of trash and debris that litter our beautiful land, oceans and waterways.

Johnson Outdoors Fishing group facilities in Alpharetta, Georgia; Eufaula, Alabama; Little Falls, Minnesota; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Mankato, Minnesota all took part in their own cleanups. Johnson Outdoors divisions for Camping, Watercraft, and Diving also led their own Clean Earth Challenge events.

This kind of stewardship is nothing new for Johnson Outdoors. Johnson Outdoors founder, Sam Johnson, was very serious about environmental conservation and sustainability and demonstrating environmental stewardship.

On June 21, 2022, at the Minn-Kota®/Cannon® headquarters in Mankato, Minnesota, volunteers from all Minn-Kota and Cannon departments-from administration to manufacturing-took part in the local clean-up at nearby Red Jacket Trail Park which includes Red Valley Lake and Trail. The 42-member volunteer team made an incredibly positive impact on the local park near the office.

Paula Brooks, Human Resources Manager for Minn-Kota/Cannon in Mankato, Minnesota, and one of the organizers of the Clean Earth Challenge, remarks: "There's a park just outside the city limits called Red Jacket Trail Park. Part of the park is alongside the river, there are extensive hiking trails, and a beautiful lakeside area. We actually cleaned up all three areas of the park over the course of the day."

Brooks continues: "It was a super fun event. We had a great mix of office employees, management, production and distribution, and people really got into the clean-up. The efforts included Johnson Outdoors Chairman and CEO Helen Johnson and other members of the Johnson Outdoors management team who travelled to Mankato to join in the Clean Earth Challenge efforts. It was a very hot day, but everyone just stayed focused and in a short time, we had the place looking very good with everyone's help."

For Minn-Kota and Cannon, the commitment to a clean Earth, environmental stewardship, and sustainability isn't just something that happens one day a year.

Brooks explains: "For starters, we have eliminated all single-use plastic bottles at the Mankato facility. We have also found more environmentally-friendly ways to deal with our scrap from manufacturing and production. Additionally, we just built an extension to our building and did everything we could to make sure we used sustainable materials and processes, where even the smallest effort helps reduce the resources that we use."

Connor Leipold, Corporate Strategic Branding Manager, Johnson Outdoors, concludes: "With the Clean Earth Challenge, we're trying to communicate Johnson Outdoors' core values of environmental conservation and the importance we place on that value. We firmly believe that the more people get outdoors the more they feel the need to protect the environment that we love to be a part of."

Show Your Support

You can take the lead of Johnson Outdoors employees and do your part to take the Clean Earth Challenge where you live. Simply visit the main Clean Earth Challenge website to learn more about how you can help!