Alcoans Take ‘Action’ in Norwegian Community

When the team at Alcoa’s Mosjøen, Norway, facility learned that the organizer of a local football tournament for people with disabilities was bowing out, it had one emphatic response: Du kan stole på oss!

That means “You can count on us” in Norwegian, and Alcoa Mosjøen has proven time and again that it is there to support the Halsøy Tigers, the local sports team for people with disabilities. For several years, it has supported the team, its coaches and volunteers with funds through Alcoa ACTION grants. Employees at Mosjøen also fielded their own team to participate in the annual Lions Cup football tournament.

Now Alcoa Mosjøen is the official organizer of that tournament, which has been renamed the Alcoa Cup in the company’s honor. It is taking place this year in April, one year after Alcoa launched its global ABLE (Alcoans Moving Beyond Limited Expectations) inclusion group.

“This is an important step in building ABLE as something tangible,” said Jan-Ivar Myrflott, the ABLE leader at Alcoa Mosjøen.

ABLE's mission is to create a work environment that promotes genuine and sustainable inclusion for people with disabilities, to raise awareness and to ensure that everyone feels accepted, valued and treated fairly. It is committed to helping people with disabilities widen their career expectations.

“ABLE is about seeing the value that different people with different experiences add to Alcoa, whether they have visible or invisible, or physical or psychological, challenges,” said Alcoa Mosjøen Operations Manager Jesús Maroño. “An extension of this is also to contribute to a positive change in attitude -- that all people are valuable in their own way, and that also applies outside the gates.

“In a small town like Mosjøen, the smelter and the town are two sides of the same coin. When Alcoa proudly carries its values, it resonates and contributes to positive changes in attitude.”

Jan Strand, a gatekeeper at Alcoa Mosjøen who works tirelessly to give back to his community, helps train the Halsøy Tigers. He holds the record at Mosjøen for most participations in ACTION grants.

“All of the initiatives made possible with Alcoa’s financial support return the most important currency in the world – smiles and laughter,” he said.