Argos ONE

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250 dominicanos serán beneficiados con el proyecto Ambientes Saludables en 2021

  • Esta iniciativa de Argos opera en Colombia, República Dominicana, Honduras, Panamá y Puerto Rico.
  • Con ella, Argos y Hábitat para la Humanidad buscan mejorar las condiciones de vivienda y habitabilidad de las familias.

 

Santo Domingo – Argos Dominicana, empresa productora y comercializadora de cemento y concreto, y Hábitat para la Humanidad República Dominicana firmaron un nuevo acuerdo para desarrollar el programa Ambientes Saludables 2021, con el fin de impactar a más de 250 personas por medio de la intervención de sus viviendas y la dinamización de la economía local gracias a la generación de empleos directos y a la compra a comercios locales.

 

En la actividad de firma del convenio ambas entidades presentaron los logros de las etapas anteriores y socializaron lo que estarán desarrollando durante este año. El acuerdo fue firmado por Gary De La Rosa, director general de Argos Caribe, y Cesarina Fabián, directora nacional de Hábitat para la Humanidad Rep. Dominicana.

 

 “Estamos muy felices y orgullosos de renovar el programa de Ambientes Saludables, por medio del cual continuamos fortaleciendo la relación empresa-comunidad y mejorando la calidad de vida de los comunitarios beneficiados. Este programa nos permite a la vez activar todo el apoyo de nuestro gran voluntariado corporativo por medio de la participación de los colaboradores en el proceso constructivo. Ambientes Saludables es uno de los programas más ambiciosos que desarrollamos como compañía por el gran impacto social que genera y por la alta inversión económica que involucra, por lo tanto, ponemos todo nuestro corazón y empeño en su realización”, expresó Gary De La Rosa, director general de Argos Caribe.

 

Para alcanzar el objetivo propuesto en este 2021, Argos ha venido trabajando de la mano con Hábitat Dominicana y los líderes comunitarios en las más de 100 solicitudes recibidas por parte de las familias que desean ser beneficiarias del programa.

 

“La sinergia entre Argos y Hábitat Dominicana ha permitido que, a través del tiempo, logremos impactar a tantas familias. Es una alianza que no solo se ha quedado en República Dominicana, sino que se han sumado otras voluntades para que podamos lograr mayores resultados y con estas acciones aportemos con los ODS 11 ‘Ciudades y Comunidades Sostenibles’ y el 17 sobre ‘Alianzas para lograr los Objetivos’. Una tercera etapa de este proyecto nos da impulso para que más familias tengan un lugar digno, saludable y seguro para vivir y que además aportemos a la comunidad a su reactivación económica tras los efectos ocasionados por la actual pandemia”, Cesarina Fabián, directora nacional de Hábitat Dominicana.

 

Sobre el programa Ambientes Saludables

Ambientes Saludables es un programa de Argos que busca mejorar las condiciones de vivienda y habitabilidad de las familias cercanas a la operación de Argos, mediante la intervención y mejoramiento de pisos, baños y cocinas. Actualmente, la compañía opera esta iniciativa en Colombia, República Dominicana, Honduras, Panamá y Puerto Rico.

 

Desde 2018 Argos y Hábitat para la Humanidad han trabajado hombro a hombro con el fin de contribuir a la reducción del déficit cualitativo de vivienda en República Dominicana y aumentar las condiciones de salubridad de las viviendas del municipio de San Gregorio de Nigua, provincia de San Cristóbal.

 

Para este año se espera alcanzar cerca de 5.860m2 construidos, lo que daría como resultado al cierre de la tercera etapa un acumulado de más de 700 personas impactadas y alrededor de 140 viviendas intervenidas. Para la etapa I y II contamos con el acompañamiento de más de 70 voluntarios y para este año se espera la reanudación del programa.

 

Descarga aquí algunas fotografías de la firma del convenio.

 

Cementos Argos

Argos opera en República Dominicana desde el 2009 bajo el respaldo de una trayectoria de más de 25 años. Su cartera de productos, además de la nueva línea de mezclas listas, incluye cemento, concretos y agregados, a través de los cuales forma parte activa del desarrollo económico del país. A lo largo de los años, ha dejado su sello en los proyectos más emblemáticos de infraestructura en el territorio.

En Dominicana, Argos cuenta una planta de cemento en San Cristóbal y dos plantas de concreto ubicadas en Santo Domingo Norte y Santo Domingo Este, respectivamente, las cuales están localizadas en puntos estratégicos del país para cumplir con unos procesos logísticos que favorezcan a la industria.

 

Hábitat para la Humanidad República Dominicana

Hábitat para la Humanidad es una organización no gubernamental global, sin fines de lucro, que trabaja para lograr que cada persona tenga un lugar digno donde vivir a través de programas enfocados en microfinanzas para viviendas con el fin de minimizar el riesgo y aumentar la respuesta ante desastres. 

 

Hábitat empodera a las familias para crear fuerza, estabilidad y autosuficiencia a través de una vivienda. La institución ha realizado desde el inicio de sus labores en 1986 más de 32 mil soluciones habitacionales e impactado alrededor de 160 mil personas. empoderamos con vivienda.

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PIEDAD MONSALVE

Gerente de Comunicaciones
pmonsalve@argos.com.co
(57 4) 3198700

DANIELA VALLE

Directora de Comunicaciones
dvalle@argos.com.co

Atmospheric emissions

We are committed to reducing our emissions through actions that achieve more efficient processes and the implementation of abatement measures, contributing to good air quality in the places where we operate.  Our cement-, concrete- and aggregate-production processes generate punctual and scattered particulate matter (PM) emissions, as well as emissions of sulfur oxides (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the clinkering furnaces of the cement plants.

  • For society:  To contribute to mitigating the impact on air quality in the areas where we operate, acting responsibly and promoting relationships of trust with our Stakeholders.

 

  • For the company:  To develop more efficient processes that allow us to reduce our atmospheric emissions and contribute to responsible production, complying with local regulations in the countries where we operate and – in some cases – going beyond compliance with said regulations, contributing to the profitability of the business and preparing to face future challenges.

The “Emissions” pillar of our Environmental Strategy focuses on: Working on the adequate measurement, control and reduction of SO2, NOx and particulate-material (PM) emissions generated by our production processes in the cement business and on the prevention and mitigation of our dispersed emissions of particulate material (dust), originated mainly by the activities of transportation, transfer, unloading and storage of materials in the cement, concrete and aggregate processes. The foregoing, through operational control, optimization and renewal of emission-control systems to achieve continuous improvement.

Industry positioning

We position ourselves as strategic allies for the development of the territories where we are present, directly and through the empowerment of our value chain.  We do it through the construction of housing and sustainable infrastructure that enables the closing of socioeconomic gaps, the generation of employment, the improvement of the quality of life and the reduction of the impacts generated.

  • For society:  To sustainably respond to the growing demand for housing and infrastructure of the world population with the aim of improving people's quality of life, interconnecting regions and developing innovative solutions. 

 

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    For the company:  To be strategic allies of the actors in our value chain in order to maintain the Company's leadership in the market, ensure its competitiveness over time and increase the generation of sustainable value.

We are committed to the role we have as a Company in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda goals, the consolidation of territorial development plans where we operate, and the economic reactivation of the countries affected by the pandemic. Therefore, we focus our efforts in the development of sustainable housing and infrastructure projects that contribute to closing socioeconomic gaps, generating employment under safe conditions, environmental protection, and investment in improving people’s health systems and quality of life. 

Our work unfolds in three large lines:

 

Cities for everyone:

 

With nearly 54% of the world  population living in urban areas, the pandemic made inequality of those who live in the cities of the world

manifest. Nearly 90% of the COVID-19 cases are concentrated in the urban

centers that have, among others, challenges associated with access to basic services and decent housing conditions. For this reason, we work together with our value chain to develop projects that benefit the lessfavored population, facilitate access to housing, and promote development in

the areas of influence.

 

Interconnected cities

 

The need to connect urban areas with rural areas to expand the coverage

of basic services, such as health, has been a priority of developing countries

since before the pandemic. Therefore, during 2020, we continued working on creating innovative solutions that allow us to be present in the large projects of the countries and territories where we are present.

 

Intelligent cities

 

In recent years, the acuteness of the effects of climate change became the

risk of greatest impact to the world. Therefore, in the global stage, a need

has grown to transition to a low-carbon economy, an opportunity that becomes more relevant amid post-pandemic recovery scenarios and the effort we are making as a Company to generate new business models that respond to environmental and social challenges. For this reason, our Climate-Change Strategy includes actions aimed at mitigating the impacts associated with our productive processes, adapting our operating model and innovating from the identification of optimization opportunities.

Supplier management

Supplier management is a fundamental pillar of our Supply Chain Strategy; it seeks to build and strengthen relationships with strategic allies who have the ability to contribute to the Company in terms of efficiency, productivity, customer service and innovation.  For this reason, we carefully select our suppliers, transfer knowledge to promote their development, promote good practices and recognize those who are an example of sustainable, innovative, safe and responsible management.

  • For society:  To develop our suppliers, promote transparent practices and responsible conduct, to improve the productivity and competitiveness of our society and support the construction of a better future.

 

  • For the company:  To seek to add value throughout the Company's supply chain, from the purchase of goods and services to the delivery of products to clients.  Through the mitigation of risks and potentiation of opportunities, the implementation of good contracting practices and service excellence, we create relationships of trust and turn suppliers into business allies.

Our management is divided into five stages:

  1. Identification: We determine the goods and services required for our operation and the category to which they belong, according to our Category Tree. This groups our suppliers into macro-categories which – in turn – are subdivided into two more specific levels.
  2. Pre-Selection: We validate the suitability of suppliers through due diligence and review aspects of sustainability and financial health to ensure long-term relationships.
  3. Negotiation: We select suppliers with high standards, considering technical, economic, sustainability and service aspects.
  4. Retention and evaluation: We carry out knowledge-transfer processes with those suppliers with growth potential.
    • We characterize our suppliers as critical suppliers or with potential risk in sustainability.
    • We measure the management of critical suppliers through performance evaluations in terms of quality, service, occupational health and safety, having constant feedback and identifying key factors for their development.
    • We apply the Sustainability Index to suppliers with potential sustainability risks, to identify challenges, opportunities, and to develop joint action plans in environmental, economic, social and Human-Rights matters.
    • We implement additional controls and development plans to suppliers belonging to categories where the greatest potential risks have been identified. This is how, for example, we develop road-safety strategies for our logistics suppliers; with mining suppliers, we carry out a more rigorous pre-selection process, and with contractors, we have special controls on occupational health and safety.
    • We have a Transparency Line for Stakeholders to report possible improper actions and to implement the pertinent corrective actions. 
  5. Recognition:  Every two years, through Growing Together (Creciendo Juntos), we recognize the suppliers that have shown outstanding performance in innovation, sustainability, health and safety and development and comprehensiveness.

 

Additionally, we have:

 

Contracting manual: transparent action framework that guides the negotiation and contracting of our suppliers to allow the process to be agile, make use of best practices and carry out adequate risk management.

 

Code of conduct for suppliers: in which we define the principles and behaviors that we expect from our allies in terms of respect for human rights, protection of workers, environmental management, business ethics and responsible business practices.

Ethics and compliance

We are convinced that ethics and integrity are fundamental and non-negotiable; that is why we live by these principles, integrating them into our operations, processes, and strategy, thus generating value responsibly for our business, our Stakeholders, and for society.  Through the Global Governance and Compliance Program, our ethics and business conduct system, we seek to promote that our actions are consistent with the pillars of corporate culture and integrity as the guiding principle of our business activity.

  • For society:  To promote transparent, competitive, and sustainable business environments that strengthen trust and ethics in business, generating positive impacts for the market and society.

 

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    For the company:  To promote that our actions are consistent with the pillars of culture and that integrity is the inspiring principle of all members of the Organization.  This is how we consolidate ourselves as a competitive, reliable company in the eyes of investors and other Stakeholders.

We have voluntarily adopted a self-regulatory framework that confirms our commitment to business ethics as a way to promote transparent practices that contribute to the development of competitive environments. This framework* incorporates mandatory principles of ethics and conduct:

 

 

For the proper implementation and application of these guidelines, the strengthening of the ethical culture, the prevention and control of incorrect actions, our Board of Directors approved the Global Governance and Compliance Program (GGCP, in Spanish). The program structure incorporates international best practices to evaluate compliance programs, such as ISO 37001, ISO 19600 and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) guidelines. The program has the following scope:

 

 

Likewise, it systematically groups together the activities carried out to promote integrity in the Company's actions, its employees, and members

of the value chain, which allow the updating and permanent strengthening

of the program. Operating Scheme:

 

Efficiency and productivity

We materialize our Corporate Strategy through actions aimed at the efficient use of resources, the improvement of our financial flexibility and the maximization of income generation and business profitability.  We focus on the application of efficient, safe production processes and circular economy models, on the diversification of energy management models and on the efficient management of the supply chain.

  • For society:  To provide solutions and products that meet the needs of our clients through the responsible, appropriate use of resources and the incorporation of raw materials and alternative energy sources.

 

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    For the company:  To guarantee business sustainability, optimize working capital and capital investments, reduce costs and the level of indebtedness, and mitigate risks regarding the availability of resources necessary for our operation and the emergence of new business realities, environmental requirements and new regulations.

Creamos valor construyendo relaciones sólidas que transforman el futuro de la sociedad

Creamos valor a través de nuestro compromiso con el desarrollo responsable y transparente de nuestras actividades.