CN and America in Bloom launch greening projects in the U.S.

CN (Canadian National Railway Company) and America in Bloom today announced their new partnership and the launch of a new sustainability program in the United States supporting community greening projects along the CN rail corridor.

The CN EcoConnextions From the Ground Up program in the United States aims to create sustainable community greening and beautification projects that will contribute to a community’s environmental, economic, social, and health benefits. From the Ground Up also provides opportunities for CN and the communities along its network to work together towards shared goals of environmental stewardship.

“CN is proud to bring this innovative program to promote tree planting in communities along the CN network to the United States,” said Claude Mongeau, CN president and chief executive officer. “We have been amazed by the From the Ground Up projects we’ve seen across Canada and look forward to extending that record of success to cities and villages across the U.S.”

Marvin Miller, America in Bloom’s immediate past president and program coordinator, added, “From our experience with more than 200 towns across America, we know that quality landscaping is a necessity rather than a luxury, and that green spaces and plants create places that people are proud to call home.”

This year, CN will be opening the program to the United States with a limited scale launch to assess community interest along the rail corridors. CN serves the cities and ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the metropolitan areas of Toronto, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Chicago, Memphis, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America.
 
Selected municipalities, townships, other local governments and locally active nonprofit groups in communities neighboring CN rail lines in the US are being invited to apply. CN's EcoConnexions From the Ground Up program will provide grants of up to $25,000 to communities amongst that group based on their project’s ability to match CN's grant, level of community engagement and the long term sustainability of the plantings.