Opioid Crisis Becomes Corporate Responsibility Issue

WASHINGTON, September 26, 2017 /3BL Media/ - The heroin overdose death of an employee’s son and pleas for help from Maryland’s governor prompted the CEO of a multibillion-dollar defense contractor to join the fight against opioid abuse.  Now the corporate leader wants help from other big businesses.

Roger Krone, chairman and CEO of Reston, Va.-based Leidos, will join Clay Stamp, senior emergency manager and and advisor to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, at COMMIT!Forum, Oct. 10-12 at MGM National Harbor, just outside Washington. The event is open to corporate responsibility and sustainability professionals and their business partners.

“Our industry is fortunate to include responsible corporate citizens that do incredible work in our communities,” Krone wrote in a call to action on fighting the opioid epidemic, published on the Leidos blog. “I hope our peers will join us on this journey. Let’s leverage our resources to advance this cause. As an industry and as a society, let’s come together and talk about the changes that are needed. That’s exactly what Leidos will do.”

In 2016, heroin and opioid overdose was the cause of the death for approximately 2,000 people in Maryland, more than murders and traffic deaths combined, according to state officials.  Nationwide, the epidemic is infiltrating almost every community, rich and poor.

The opioid epidemic hit home for Sean Hindman, an employee of Leidos, when his 30-year-old son died of a heroin overdose. When Hindman discovered that many fellow employees and industry colleagues also had lost loved ones to the epidemic, he issued a challenge to CEO Krone to take a stand and dedicate company resources to the battle.

Krone accepted, and today Leidos, with 32,000 employees worldwide and $10 billion in revenue, and Maryland are working together to battle the growing and deadly health issue.

Krone will discuss Leidos’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis in an interview titled, “The Opioid Epidemic: A Call to Action,” at COMMIT!Forum, presented by the Corporate Responsibility Association and CR Magazine. 

Stamp, the former Ocean City emergency management chief for nearly three decades, will join Krone at the session to discuss the governor’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Maryland to combat the epidemic, and relate why private-public partnerships dedicated to this issue matter. 3BL Media Editorial Director John Howell will moderate the session.

In March, Hogan pledged an addition $10 million to deal with the crisis, and last month state government officials initiated the launch of a multi-faceted effort comprising opioid addiction prevention, enforcement efforts by the police and courts, and treatment to help reduce instances of overdose.

Leidos is responding through by employee support and awareness programs, building partnerships with non-profit organizations and aiding the efforts of The Chris Atwood Foundation and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s 360 Strategy. The company also anticipates utilizing its technology and business relationships to help create positive change.

Krone is a finalist for CR Magazine’s Responsible CEO of the Year award for his work on employee development, support for communities where Leidos employees live and work, and solving challenging and controversial global problems. The award winner will be announced at the COMMIT!Forum CEO Awards Dinner on October 12.

Structured around the theme, “Brands Taking Stands,” the 2017 COMMIT!Forum event is an opportunity for attendees to network, discuss, and foster their professional development. In addition, more than 50 speakers, panelists, and interviews from a wide range of industries will engage in discussion and debate around sustainable business operations, prioritizing corporate responsibility goals, combining sustainability and profitability, brand and reputation management, sustainable and diverse workforce recruitment and retention, and many more important topics.

About COMMIT!Forum

COMMIT!Forum (http://www.commitforum.com) is an annual gathering of corporate responsibility and sustainability practitioners with emphasis on networking, case studies, new research, and compelling presentations from companies committed to making progress against an ambitious environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda. The event is produced by the Corporate Responsibility Association and CR Magazine.

CONTACT: Dave Armon of the Corporate Responsibility Board, +1.802.444.0177 or darmon@crboard.com