Being a family business, social commitment is second nature to us. We not only operate around the globe as a Group – we also want to be a reliable and responsible partner to the communities in which we operate. We promote social development at our German locations and worldwide through cooperation, partnerships, and donations.
Some examples of STIHL’s commitment:
2024 was another year of extreme weather: In spring, heavy rainfall led to catastrophic flooding in Brazil, and in early summer, rivers in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and elsewhere burst their banks after heavy rainfall. STIHL acted quickly and with solidarity in both situations. In the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, almost 450 employees were directly affected. The plant in São Leopoldo was spared, allowing the social building to be used as emergency accommodation for more than 130 people at times. Volunteers from the workforce helped out as well as doctors, nurses, and a vet. Our site donated personal protective equipment and cleaning agents for the clean-up work, in which a number of employees actively participated, both in the homes of colleagues and in public places. The STIHL Advisory Board and Executive Board decided to provide emergency aid totaling 800,000 euros, 500,000 euros of which was for employees and 300,000 euros for donations in kind to local authorities. STIHL also donated equipment to aid organizations. The “STIHLers help STIHLers” fundraising campaign at the founding company raised a further 45,000 euros for the Brazilian flood victims. There was also support from China, where our colleagues organized a charity bazaar and donated the proceeds.
The floods in Baden-Württemberg also directly affected many of our employees. “STIHLers help STIHLers” collected almost 40,000 euros in employee donations, which the company matched to double the amount to 80,000 euros. Our employees were able to report flood damage by email, and a committee checked all requests and ensured that donations were distributed fairly. We also allowed our employees to take paid leave to deal with the aftermath of the floods. STIHL has supported volunteer fire departments and the technical relief organization in the affected region with equipment worth 40,000 euros.
There were also severe storms in Spain, particularly in the Valencia region and other southern parts of the country. STIHL donated high-pressure cleaners, water pumps, chainsaws, and protective equipment with a total value of 27,500 euros to support the police, civil defense, and military emergency unit on the ground.
STIHL and Diakonie Stetten have a long-standing partnership. On the occasion of the 175th anniversary of Diakonie (a major social welfare organization in Germany), we expanded our engagement further in the reporting year. STIHL has donated 15,000 euros to the Wildermuthhaus children’s home, where children and young people with multiple disabilities live. We have been working with Diakonie for more than 25 years. In the organization’s Remstal workshops, employees with disabilities perform simple assembly and packaging tasks for STIHL.
STIHL Brazil has been working with local recycling cooperatives for ten years now. People from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds come together in these cooperatives, supplementing their income by collecting and sorting paper and plastic waste. In the municipality of São Leopoldo, more than 120 families belong to the cooperatives. They generate 85 percent of their annual income with waste from the STIHL plant and also make a contribution to the circular economy.
Our chain plant in Wil, Switzerland, was also involved in numerous initiatives to promote employment opportunities in the reporting year. In close cooperation with HPV Uzwil-Flawil, an organization that provides special education services, STIHL provides work for the Buecherwäldli sheltered workshop. Staff at the workshop perform some of the tasks at the HPV’s own facilities, with others being performed at the STIHL plant. STIHL offers trainees with disabilities at the Brüggli integration company internships with subsequent permanent employment. Our chain plant participates in Lift, a project that empowers academically challenged high school graduates to enter the working world, and works with the city and the regional employment center in Wil to help unemployed individuals find new jobs. In addition, we have established a partnership with a secondary school for girls to encourage future female apprentices to enter technical professions. On request, STIHL employees visit elementary schools in the region to answer questions about finding an apprenticeship and to help with preparing for job interviews.
In 2024, STIHL China in Qingdao pooled various social initiatives under the joint slogan “Power to Green.” Our employees have cleaned up some of the city’s streets in events known as “City Walks.” They have also collected money for charities in charity runs. Employees used an app to record the distances they had covered, and the donation amount grew with every kilometer. STIHL also donated used computers to schools in a disadvantaged neighborhood. The social commitment of our site was recognized in the reporting year with the “Excellent Organization Award for Charity Activity” from the Chengyang District.
STIHL Tirol has a multiyear partnership with the world’s first SOS Children’s Village in Imst, Austria. We sponsored the flooring for two newly constructed buildings in 2020. In the reporting year, the Children’s Village then asked us to make the outdoor area more attractive. Our site has supported the purchase of three raised beds, two park benches, and a lawn mower.
The STIHL distribution center in Dieburg was once again on the road for a good cause in the reporting year. With their annual charity run, colleagues from the center raised more than 4,300 euros this time and donated it to the Dieburg water sports club. STIHL uses the money to support courses ranging from baby swimming to programs for people with disabilities. STIHL teams from Dieburg and Waiblingen once again participated in this year’s J. P. Morgan Corporate Challenge in Frankfurt. The proceeds from the world’s largest corporate running event support the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the German Disabled Sports Youth Association (Deutsche Behindertensportjugend).
In 2024, STIHL’s magnesium diecasting plant in Weinsheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, extended its partnership with the Special Olympics Rhineland-Palatinate for another two years. We have been supporting this organizer of sporting events for people with disabilities since it was founded in 2004. Among other things, apprentices at our site manufactured the hand torch, which is an important part of the ceremony at the Special Olympics in Rhineland-Palatinate. STIHL Weinsheim is also aware of the special importance of sport for people with disabilities from an even longer-running collaboration. For more than 40 years, we have been cooperating with Westeifel Werke, whose employees carry out assembly and sorting work for STIHL.
The ZAMA Group is committed to supporting local communities at its sites in the Philippines and the United States. Together with other companies from the local industrial park, the HSE (health, safety, environment) managers from ZAMA Philippines visited elementary and middle schools during the reporting year. During the visits, they talked to the pupils about waste separation, hygiene, and emergency preparedness and distributed meals and hygiene kits. ZAMA’s company in the United States raised donations for four local organizations in Franklin, Tennessee, in the fourth quarter of 2024: the fire department, the Special Olympics, a veterans’ association, and the Fraternal Order of Police, a charity organization for various law enforcement agencies. At the annual “Food Drive,” employees collected food that was then distributed to people in need by a charitable church organization.
