GOLFZON Wins Grand Prize and Chairman’s Award of the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership at the ‘2023 K-ESG Management Awards’

• GOLFZON systematically implements ESG management activities through the establishment of an ESG Committee
• Pursuing a sustainable future with local communities and stakeholders under the management philosophy of ‘sharing and consideration’

GOLFZON Co., Ltd. (Co-CEOs Park Kang-soo and Choi Deok-hyung) announced on the 26th that it had won the Grand Prize and the ‘Chairman’s Award’ of the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership at the ‘2023 K-ESG Management Awards’ held in the Grand Ballroom of The Plaza Hotel Seoul on Monday the 25th.

The ‘2023 K-ESG Management Awards’ is an award hosted by The Dong-A Ilbo K-ESG Evaluation Committee, presented to companies and institutions that have practiced exemplary ESG management—such as environmental management, the creation of social value, and securing sound governance—and contributed to spreading a sustainable management culture.

GOLFZON, Korea’s leading screen golf company, is creating sustainable value through systematic ESG management activities that take into account a wide range of stakeholders, including local communities, business owners, shareholders, and partner companies. In October 2021, it established an ‘ESG Committee’ with the goal of practicing ESG management and has achieved tangible ESG management goals by formulating its ‘2030 ESG Mid- to Long-Term Goals and Strategy.’ Its performance in achieving these ESG management goals was highly regarded, earning it the honor of winning the Grand Prize and the ‘Chairman’s Award’ of the Korea Commission for Corporate Partnership at the ‘2023 K-ESG Management Awards.’

The GOLFZON ESG Committee has solidified its ESG management framework by obtaining various external certifications, including △ the Environmental Management System (ISO 14001), △ the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (ISO 45001), △ the Information Security Management System (ISO 27001), and △ the Personal Information & Information Security Management System certification (ISMS-P). It also continuously participates in environmental conservation activities such as the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Zero Seoul Action Group and the upcycling of discarded screens.

The core of GOLFZON’s ESG management activities is ‘shared growth,’ and GOLFZON is devoting its full efforts to a variety of win-win management activities to support its business owners. To help business owners who suffered flood damage from concentrated heavy rains last year, it fully covered the costs of parts replacement and labor for 49 stores in the affected areas. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it carried out 44 rounds of disinfection support projects to prevent infectious disease at around 3,700 stores nationwide, and provided interest-free emergency living support loans for business owners.

In addition, GOLFZON continuously implements franchise welfare policies such as a franchise fee waiver policy supporting new GOLFZON Park franchisees, communication programs through regional business owner councils, an exit support project for business owners to preserve the asset value of closing stores, a policy in which headquarters fully bears nationwide marketing and consulting costs, a 50% discount on green fees at affiliated golf courses, congratulatory funds for children’s college admission, and financial support for family events.

For shared growth with partner companies, it established a ‘Standard Manual for Operating Subcontracting Transactions’ to ensure fair trade among partners, and introduced a win-win payment system to ease partners’ credit burdens. It is also promoting a ‘Financial Burden Relief Policy’ for partners’ imported items, which adjusts purchase prices when exchange rates for imported raw materials rise, as well as ‘G-Partners,’ a year-end event program for partner company executives and employees.

Meanwhile, GOLFZON Newdin Group has been promoting a variety of social contribution activities in the areas of golf, IT, culture, and sharing through the launch of its social contribution brand ‘Swing Your Dream.’ As part of this, through its ‘EduCare Zone’ project supporting the education of children and adolescents, it provided basic learning and creative, convergence education opportunities for a total of 324 children last year. Joining forces with regional representatives of GOLFZON Park franchisees in 11 regions nationwide, it carried out a support project for abused children, and provided approximately 20,000 meal kits through a meal kit support project for children in meal-vulnerable groups during weekends and school vacations.

Choi Deok-hyung, Chairman of the GOLFZON ESG Committee, said, “I believe the driving force that has allowed GOLFZON to grow has been the interest and engagement of all the local communities and members connected to the company,” adding, “Because GOLFZON’s sharing management and the practice of ESG management are essential conditions for shared growth and sustainable growth, GOLFZON plans to continue advancing company-wide ESG management together with all of its executives and employees for shared growth with our environment, local communities, shareholders, and business owners.”