SP Innovation Summit 2024

Event Details

The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) Innovation Summit is designed as an interactive event focused on building understanding of critical barriers impacting the sustainability of the automotive value chain and working towards practical solutions to accelerate innovation in support of industry sustainability priorities. We are expecting 400+ attendees at this year's event from across the automotive value chain.

SP's vehicle manufacturer and tiered supplier members are leading action on the next generation of ambitious environmental sustainability goals aspiring to advance positive environmental, economic and community impacts through their operations and value chains. The Summit agenda will focus in on new innovation and emerging trends related to industry sustainability goals, within key areas such as carbon neutrality, circular and sustainable materials, EV battery lifecycle management, and nature and water stewardship.

Venue: The Summit will be held at the Ohio Union, located on The Ohio State University campus at 1739 N. High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43210. Detailed directions and parking information for the venue may be found here.

Travel: Travel recommendations and links to a range of hotel partners located around the OSU campus may be found through the University Hospitality District.

Click here to learn more about the 2023 Summit.

Featured Speakers

We are pleased to highlight several of the featured speakers who will be joining us for the Summit.

Please watch this page for updates on the full slate of exciting speakers that will be joining us.

Kevin Butt

Sr. Director of Toyota Motor North America

Bill Combs

VP, Sustainability at Penske

Phil Cozad

Senior Staff Engineer / N.A. HazMat & Recycling Leader / N.A. LiB Recycling Leader at Honda Development and Manufacturing of America, LLC

Ahmed Elganzouri

Global Director, Sustainability and Energy of Magna

Fred Gersdorff

Sr. Manager at General Motors

Mitch Jackson

Chief Sustainability Officer at FedEx

Becky Martin

Sustainability Manager at Toyota Motor North America

Arlene Salvatore

Supply Chain Sustainability Manager at Ford Motor Company

Sarah Tea

Senior Circular Economy Engineer - Nature at General Motors

Laura Wagner

Manager EV Battery Sustainability & Recycling at General Motors

Alissa Yakali

Supply Chain Sustainability Unit Manager at Honda Development and Manufacturing of America, LLC

Kevin Butt is the Regional Environmental Sustainability director of Toyota’s North American Environmental Sustainability Programs. He is responsible for the development of Environmental Sustainability Programs and Regulatory/Legislative development for all of Toyota’s North American operations.

Prior to Butt’s current assignment, he was the general manager/chief environmental and safety officer for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing for all of Toyota’s Manufacturing operations. Prior to that assignment, Butt served as the assistant general manager of Body Production Engineering for Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc., (TMMNA). He was responsible for Body Engineering for all Toyota’s North American manufacturing operations. Body Engineering consists of Welding, Stamping, and Painting Operations.

Butt serves on several boards including the National Wildlife Habitat Council, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation, World Wildlife Fund National Council, North American Great Plains Advisory Board and the Yellowstone Park Foundation Board.

He has a Bachelors of Science degree in Environmental Science from Georgetown College.

Sponsors and Partners

Sponsor Opportunities

Sponsorship: We have limited opportunities available for companies that may have an interest in sponsoring the 2024 Summit.

Please reach out to Kellen Mahoney at kmahoney@navista.net to discuss potential opportunities.

SP Member Registration

Registration for employees of current SP member companies. Registrations will be approved following confirmation of corporate membership status.

Early Bird Price$350

Non-Member Registration

Non-member registration is open to all tiered suppliers within the automotive value chain, and other industry professionals by invitation.

Early Bird Price$650

Public Sector Registration

Registration for representatives of government, academic and non-profit organizations. Please be sure to use an associated email account (e.g., .org, .edu,.gov) when registering.

Standard Price$300

Registration Policies

The SP member registration rate is available to employees of existing SP member companies (see list at: https://www.supplierspartnership.org/spmembers/). Member registrations will be approved following confirmation of corporate membership status. Non-members who select the member registration rate will have their registration put on hold and will be rebilled at the appropriate non-member rate.
Non-member registration is open to all tiered suppliers within the automotive value chain, and other industry professionals by invitation.
Groups of three or more registrants from the same organization may qualify for a group discount of 20% off the listed SP member and non-member rates. Please contact us info@supplierspartnership.org to request a group discount code.
Non-profit, government and student registrants should be sure to include an associated official email account (.org / .edu / .gov) in their registration to qualify for the reduced rate.
All event registrations are non-refundable. However, we are happy to transfer your registration to a colleague at your request.
The registration fee does not include travel expenses, accommodations, parking fees or any other additional cost or service.
This event is closed to media.

Please note an automated email confirmation and receipt will be sent out from our registration partner upon registration. If you don't see an email confirmation in your inbox shortly after registering, please check your spam folder.

Registration Rate Schedule

Travel: Travel recommendations and links to a range of hotel partners located around the OSU campus may be found through the University Hospitality District. The closest airport is John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH), which is roughly 7 miles drive from campus.

About the Summit

About the SP Innovation Summit

Key Summit Themes

SP's automaker and tiered supplier members are leading action on the next generation of ambitious environmental sustainability goals aspiring to advance positive environmental, economic and community impacts through their operations and value chains. The Summit agenda will focus in on innovation and emerging trends related to key industry goals, within key areas such as carbon neutrality, circular and sustainable materials, EV battery lifecycle management, and nature and water stewardship.

Key Summit Themes

Decarbonizing Operations & Supply Chains: Exploring challenges and opportunities in effectively advancing industry decarbonization efforts within manufacturing operations and through the value chain on the path toward carbon neutrality.
Sustainable & Circular Materials: Exploringchallenges and opportunities in accelerating industry efforts towards a low-carbon circular materials economy via deep dives on specific product / material categories.
Nature & Water Stewardship: Exploring new initiatives and stakeholder expectations aimed at a wide range of nature-related risks and dependencies within the value chain, and new opportunities to drive positive impacts through nature-based solutions and water stewardship practices.
Sustainability Leadership Strategies & Emerging Issues: Exploring challenges and opportunities in integrating sustainability within the business and building capacity to adapt and innovate in face of rapid change.

Who Attends?

Throughout the Summit cross-functional teams from leading automakers, tiered suppliers, industry partners, government and academia will come together to understand key industry sustainability priorities, explore barriers to action / progress, and identify opportunities to accelerate efforts in support of long-term sustainability goals.

Attendees include a wide range of business and sustainability leaders from across the automotive value chain, including senior leaders in functions such as sustainability, EHS, ESG, engineering, procurement, packaging, and others.

Past attendees include organizations such as:

AGC Automotive Americas
AISIN
American Axle & Manufacturing
Arkema
Autoneum
BMW
Bosch
Cox Automotive
Cummins
DENSO
East Penn
Eaton
Ford Motor Company
General Motors
Glencore
Hankook Tire
Honda Development & Manufacturing of America
Huntsman
ICL Group
Lear Corp.
Lucid Motors
Magna International
Michelin
PPG
Rio Tinto
Stellantis
Toyota Motor North America
Toyota Tsusho America
U.S. Steel
U.S. DOE
U.S. EPA
Yamaha Motor
and, many others!

About SP

Since 2002, Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) has been the leadership forum for global vehicle manufacturers and their large and small suppliers to work together to improve the environmental sustainability and business value of the global automotive supply chain.

SP member companies from across the automotive industry are leading action on the next generation of ambitious environmental sustainability goals aspiring to advance positive environmental, economic and community impacts through their operations and value chains.

As members of SP, these industry leaders are coming together to work toward a shared vision of an automotive industry with positive environmental impact. SP's member-driven working groups facilitate best practice sharing and support increased industry collaboration related to short-term environmental sustainability needs and priorities, while promoting further alignment and action in support of long-term industry goals.

To learn more about SP's activities and membership opportunities, please visit: https://www.supplierspartnership.org/about-us/how-to-join/

Suppliers Partnership for the Environment

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Event Details