BrownFlynn, a corporate sustainability consulting firm and the first U.S. certified trainer for the Global Reporting Initiative, recently partnered with the Institute for Sustainable Development.

Through this partnership, BrownFlynn will be able to provide its expertise in sustainability strategy and impact planning, goal setting, brand enhancement, stakeholder engagement, sustainability reporting and other internal and external communications to the companies and nonprofits that seek the Institute’s Green Plus certification.

“Aligning with Green Plus makes great strategic sense for BrownFlynn,” said Margie Flynn, co-owner of BrownFlynn.  ”It enables us to expand our resources for smaller organizations while providing a management certification process that challenges small business owners to adopt sustainability in a meaningful way.”

Chris Carmody, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development, stated in accord, “The team at the Institute for Sustainable Development is enthusiastic about partnering with BrownFlynn.  BrownFlynn’s experience working with larger companies will help Green Plus participants become more competitive.”

Look for upcoming posts about developments in sustainability that emerge from this mutually-valuable partnership.

To learn more about BrownFlynn, visit: www.brownflynn.com

To learn more about BrownFlynn Learning, their training and education division, visit: www.brownflynnlearning.com

• Barbara Jessie – Black, Executive Director, PTA Thrift Shop, and former Chair of the Foundation for a Sustainable Community
• Emily Klein, Senior Associate Dean and Lee Hill Snowden Professor of Geology at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment
• Henry McKoy, Chairman & CEO, Fourth Sector Bank
• Dwayne Pinkney, Associate Provost, UNC Chapel Hill
• Frank Phoenix, Owner Greenbridge Developments and Chair-Elect, Triangle Community Foundation
• Casey Steinbacher, President & CEO, Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, Chair-Elect, American Chamber of Commerce Executives
• Niklaus Steiner, Director of the Center for Global Initiatives at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

“The Institute’s will continue to be Triangle-led, but its programs are national in scope,” said Chris Carmody, Institute Executive Director. “We believe it’s critical to have a place at the table for stakeholders from around the country if we are to serve smaller employers, students and their surrounding communities effectively,” Carmody concluded. The Institute is partners with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives, a professional organization of 1,300 U.S. and Canadian chambers of commerce, to connect smaller employers with affordable, triple bottom line expertise. In addition, the Institute is partnered with 17 regional chambers of commerce in 11 states to offer special sustainability programming.

The Institute’s core staff comprises

• Chris Carmody, Executive Director
• Sarah Kate Fishback, Director of Operations
• Kirsten Hausman, Director of Client Relations & Communications
• Anne McKune, Director of Development & Strategic Partnerships
• Shana Starobin, Senior Fellow

(Please click here for Staff and Fellow bios)

Aaron Hurst, President and Founder of Taproot, is hoping that by posing the question to applicants, his foundation will put the environmental issue on the agendas of nonprofit boards and management, much the way foundations have helped to drive diversity and inclusion among staff and board members at nonprofits. “We are forcing the conversation at the board and staff level,” Hurst told me. “We can be change agents.”

When asked about their environmental policies, most of the nonprofits that have policies indicated that they had a basic statement, rather than an actual operating plan. How do for-profits fare compared to nonprofits? According to a study conducted by the Sustainable Enterprise Institute in August 2009, although more than half of the 1,000 largest publicly traded companies “have an environmental policy of some form,” they actually lack the “evidence of the systems, practices, and other infrastructure needed to implement and uphold a comprehensive environmental policy.” It is important to note that the nonprofits that Taproot serves have budget sizes that are a small fraction of the budgets of publicly traded companies.

Alan Iny, Principal, The Boston Consulting Group, who led BCG’s green team for the New York office, told me that the key is “awareness, communication, and education.” Iny has experience with nonprofits, both as co-leader of BCG’s social impact program, and as a former executive director of an arts organization. Iny says that among any group of ten people, a few who are passionate about the environment will lead the effort, a few will be mildly supportive, and the rest won’t care. The trick is for the passionate ones to make it easy for the ones who don’t care to participate in green-oriented office practices, and eventually perhaps realize how their actions are helping reduce waste and help the environment. Iny also notes the cost-savings.

Easy wins that Iny recommends include “setting default printers to print double-sided; reminding people to turn off lights and computer monitors at the end of the day, maybe even unplug electrical items; working with landlords or building managers to adjust heating, ventilation, and AC settings; selecting green vendors for office supplies; using videoconferences instead of travelling when possible, and taking trains and public transit when possible instead of flying; getting rid of disposable water bottles in the office, offering filtered water and reusable bottles.”

A number of organizations provide tool kits for nonprofits to go green. The Institute for Sustainable Development, headed by Chris Carmody, helps smaller employers–for-profits and nonprofits. Pat Tiernan, Executive Director,Climate Savers Computing, partners with TechSoup, to help nonprofits to reduce energy consumption.

Jean Hocker, consultant in land conservation and nonprofit governance, and former president of the Land Trust Alliance told me that she is sympathetic to nonprofits already being burdened by so many responsibilities. At the same time, Hocker says that environmental and conservation organizations need to be held to a higher standard with regard to having environmental policies. She also notes that people in the nonprofit sector would seem to be more waste conscious by the nature of their work. That resonated with me as I considered my clients who work at food banks, help people in Haiti, and provide healthcare to people in underserved communities around the world.

The Taproot Foundation’s environmental question will get attention. I know from my work with nonprofit boards that when a foundation raises an issue, it gets the executive’s attention and often the board’s attention as well. In actuality, most nonprofits are already highly cost-conscious, which tends to be pro-environment (see Iny’s list above). With a little help from the tool-kits and how-to’s that TechSoup and others provide, and learning from each other, nonprofits can create policy statements and operating plans for internal use and to communicate to their constituents.

Yes, it’s one more thing for nonprofits to deal with, but being green is also integral to the larger purpose of making the world a better place, which is the ultimate mission of all nonprofits.”

www.gogreenplus.org

Cleveland, October 14, 2009-

Green Plus™ is a three-part program to help smaller enterprises improve their performance through becoming more sustainable. In the first stage, employers take an online assessment which evaluates their management, environmental, employee and community engagement practices. In the second stage, participants become part of an online network and can receive advice from other business owners and university-based content experts on how to improve their sustainability performance. Employers with exceptional scores across the Green Plus™ assessment’s People, Planet and Performance sections may be Certified Green Plus™, recognizing their specific efforts and providing exposure to their current and potential customers and business partners in communities throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“COSE’s endorsement and support of the Green Plus™ process, is focused on helping small businesses take the first steps to greater profitability through sustainability,” said Steve Millard, President and Executive Director of COSE.

Green Plus™ has been adopted as the official small and medium sized enterprise sustainability program of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE). The program is available at a substantial discount through participating chambers of commerce throughout the U.S. and Canada in the 1,300 chamber ACCE network. The program costs $550, but will be available to COSE members with five or more employees for $350 and to COSE companies with four or fewer employees for $75.

“There are many great home-grown sustainability efforts already going on in our region,” said Millard. “Green Plus™ gives our members the opportunity to both learn new practices and share their own knowledge across North America – while also opening up new business opportunities,” he added.

For more than ten years, COSE has been a provider of electricity and natural gas savings options to small and mid-sized businesses, helping them to save money and becoming a stronger partner for small business energy management efforts.

Additionally, COSE has been designated by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio as the small business energy efficiency administrator for the First Energy Service territories.  In this role, COSE is working to find efficient and effective ways to improve and lower the energy demand of small businesses, resulting in additional profitability for small firms.

Green Plus™ was developed by the North Carolina Research Triangle based Institute for Sustainable Development — a combined effort of universities and chambers of commerce to provide smaller employers with affordable tools to improve their triple bottom line sustainability. The Green Plus™ model was developed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business in 2007. UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University developed online sustainability tools for small business that were tested in Ohio and North Carolina throughout 2008. COSE was the Institute for Sustainable Development’s partner in beta testing the Green Plus™ program with Ohio businesses.

“Smaller enterprises employ most North Americans and are the key engine of new job creation,” said Chris Carmody, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development. “Large employers have benefited greatly from their sustainability efforts. Green Plus™ was created to give small employers the same opportunities to save and make money while going green and being sustainable,” Carmody continued. “COSE’s ongoing advocacy and innovative programs for smaller employers makes it the ideal Green Plus™ partner,” Carmody concluded.

Green Plus™ is not a product-specific certification program, but a broad small business sustainability certification. Employers currently participating comprise professional firms, restaurants, hotels, landscapers, printers, designers, small manufacturers and others. Green Plus™ is also designed to help non-profit organizations that want to improve their sustainability.

COSE member, The Taylor Companies was recently recognized as the first Ohio Certified Green Plus™ business on September 28, 2009 for its exceptional practices business, environmental and community practices. More on Taylor Chair’s certification can be found at www.gogreenplus.org. Other COSE members are beginning to participate in this program from the legal, landscaping and non-profit sectors.

For more information on Green Plus™, please see www.gogreenplus.org.

About COSE

COSE is one of Ohio’s largest small business support organizations, striving to help small businesses grow and maintain their independence. Comprised of more than 17,000 member companies, COSE has a long history of fighting for the rights of all small business owners through group purchasing programs for health care, workers’ compensation, or energy; advocating for specific changes in legislation or regulation to benefit small business;and, providing a forum and resource for small businesses to connect with and learn from each other. (www.cose.org)

The day long program was set up by the two organizations to showcase positive leadership in sustainability by chambers of commerce around the country. Participating chambers included the

• Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
• Bridgeport (CT) Regional Business Council
• Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Waco (TX) Chamber
• Greater Columbia (SC) Chamber of Commerce
• Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

The day long session, titled “Enterprise at Home for Progress at Large“, illustrated examples of innovative sustainability leadership in economic development, public policy, planning, and small business assistance by local and regional chambers (please see the Partners for Livable Communities  summary of innovative sustainability program by chambers around the United States).

Some chambers, including Bridgeport, Columbia, Indianapolis and Waco, set a strong example in their own communities to encourage better environmental stewardship. Waco, for example, is believe to be the first chamber of commerce to build a LEED certified building (Gold).

Others discussed how they utilized their brand as a sustainability – conscious community to attract new companies to their regions. The Chattagnooga Area Chamber presented a very compelling case study of how its sustainability efforts brought Volkswagon and related suppliers to its community.

Finally, others developed scalable programs to help chambers broadly calculate and reduce their carbon footprint – such as the Greater Kansas City Chamber’s Climate Prosperity Project.

Adam Klein, Vice President of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber (CHC) of Commerce, appeared with Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) director Chris Carmody to discuss CHC’s incubation of the ISD and the development of the Green Plus program – a small business assistance, education and certification program designed to scale across North America. The Green Plus program was titled, “Democratizing Sustainability: Bringing Main Street into a Sustainable Economy.”

Green Plus is the official small and medium sized enterprise sustainability program of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. The ACCE has 1,300 North American Chamber of Commerce members representing 1.2 million businesses. The ACCE also manages the Ford Foundation Fellowship for Regional Sustainable Development that trains chamber of commerce executives and economic development officials in integrating sustainability into regional development strategy.

Rogers Lowell

“We are really impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit in North West Arkansas and look forward to working with these and other Rogers – Lowell Chamber members,” said Chris Carmody, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development. “Each launch in a new territory also expands the value of the network for our current participants and the value of the Green Plus Certification for those who do ultimately qualify for certification,” Carmody concluded.

Green Plus offers small businesses cost effective, practical training in saving and making money as they become more green and sustainable, access to a network of like-minded businesses, and possible certification and brand support for their efforts. Sole proprietors and home based businesses may sign up through their (participating) chamber for $75; businesses with four or more employees pay $350 if their chamber is a member – a discount of $200 of the the normal price.

“(Green Plus) creates a meaningful certification program with a lot of checks and balances,” said Bethany Stephens, Senior Vice President of the Rogers Lowell Chamber of Commerce.

Information sessions for interested businesses will be conducted by Chris Carmody, director of the Green Plus program and the Institute for Sustainable Development in the North Carolina Research Triangle.

Chris will present in person at the information session on Aug. 26 from 8:30-9:30 a.m. at the Rogers Lowell Chamber.

A second information session by teleconference featuring Chris will be held on Sept. 3 from 3-4 p.m. Both sessions will be conducted at the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.

For additional information on this innovative program or to enroll your business, contact Beth Stephens at 479-619-3192 or beth@rogerslowell.com.

Partnership To Make Green Plus™ Available to 1.2 million U.S. & Canadian Businesses

The American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) announced today that it will partner with the North Carolina Research Triangle based Institute for Sustainable Development to offer Green Plus™, a program to help small businesses succeed while becoming stronger stewards of the environment and their communities.

Businesses participating in Green Plus™ are evaluated on their business, environmental and community engagement practices, receive university-based coaching, access to a national business network, and may be Certified Green Plus™ upon achieving high scores across three categories. Green Plus™ certification is not industry or product specific, but instead is a recognition program that works across sectors for small businesses in any industry.

“Small and medium sized businesses are critical employers and engines of new job creation – and often have the fewest resources to pursue sustainability. Today, they are under more pressure to demonstrate positive stewardship of their environment and communities,” said ACCE President Mick Fleming. “Green Plus™ will help America’s chambers of commerce lead on these issues and give their members a competitive edge in changing times,” Fleming concluded.

The partnership will make Green Plus™ widely accessible to the 1.2 million businesses represented by the ACCE’s chamber of commerce members, building the brand value of Green Plus™ certification for smaller enterprises and creating a stronger network through which participating businesses can develop leads and share expertise with one another.

ACCE and its foundation will be the key marketing channel for Green Plus™ nationwide, and will engage its chamber executive members in ongoing improvement and expansion of the program. Green Plus™ will be ACCE’s lead sustainability training, networking and certification program for small and medium sized enterprises. Through Green Plus™, the Institute for Sustainable Development will work with its chamber and university partners to prepare small enterprises for new trends in business, the environment and corporate social responsibility.

“Retail customers and large private and public sector purchasers are increasing requiring smaller enterprises to be conscious of their environmental impact and community engagement,” said Chris Carmody, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development. “As these kinds of standards become the norm, American small business will need affordable assistance in meeting them,” Carmody concluded.

Established in 1914, ACCE is the only national association uniquely serving the professional development needs of individuals managing chambers of commerce throughout the United States and Canada.ACCE has 1,250 chamber of commerce members. The mission of ACCE is to support and develop chamber professionals to lead businesses and their communities.

The Institute for Sustainable Development is a non-profit partnership of higher education, business and philanthropic leadership. The Institute’s mission is to combine university expertise with business leadership to assist small and medium sized enterprises in meeting sustainability challenges. Institute partners comprise the Duke University’s Center for International and its Nicholas School of the Environment; University of North Carolina’s Center for Global Initiatives and its School of Social Work; the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Greater Durham Chambers of Commerce; and business and philanthropic leaders GlaxoSmithKline, Lenovo, and the Fenwick Foundation. Currently, the Institute has Green Plus™ partnerships with the Cary, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Greater Durham, Morrisville and Greater Raleigh Chambers of Commerce and with the Lancaster (PA) Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In 2007, Tony Waldrop, Vice Chancellor of Research and Economic Development at UNC Chapel Hill, commissioned the development of a business plan to assist small and medium sized businesses nationwide in becoming more sustainable. After the plan was developed by the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business, the Institute worked with chambers of commerce and smaller enterprises in the Midwest and southeast to beta test the Green Plus™ tool and build a university and peer-training network.

(July 6, 2009 – North Carolina Research Triangle) The Institute for Sustainable Development appointed a new Director and announced its new staff, including two Senior Fellows.

Chris Carmody, a social entrepreneur who was hired by the Institute in 2008 to launch its Green Plus program, will direct the programs of the Institute overall. Carmody has an MBA from Case Western Reserve University and 20 years experience in non-profit management and public policy. As Director, he will oversee the development of public-private sustainability programs to share with communities in the U.S. and globally.

“In Green Plus, the Institute has done a great job in providing a sustainable small business certification and education process,” Carmody said. “Our vision moving forward is to make sustainability truly accessible to organizations regardless of their size or means, and to share the unique stories of business as they pursue the triple bottom line,”Carmody concluded.

Green Plus was created to help small employers – businesses and non-profits – assess their sustainability in terms of organizational performance, the environment, and their engagement of their employees and communities. Exceptional performers in across all three categories of People, Planet and Performance are recognized as Certified Green Plus businesses.

The Institute named two Senior Fellows: Aaron Nelson and Shana Starobin. “The North Carolina Research Triangle community should be very proud of its leadership role in helping businesses and communities toward triple bottom line sustainability,” said Aaron Nelson. “This is the right team to take the Green Plus effort to other regions and other countries,” Nelson concluded.

Nelson is currently the CEO of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce and Executive Director of the Foundation for a Sustainable Community, which conceived of and incubated the Institute’s Green Plus program. In 2008, the Foundation was recognized with the National Siemens Sustainable Communities Award - an award of Siemens and the Business Civic Leadership Center. Nelson will provide advice on strategic partnerships between the Institute, chambers of commerce and other business membership organizations.

Shana Starobin, a social entrepreneur and PhD student at Duke University, was also named Senior Fellow. Starobin will coordinate the development of the Institute’s Sustainability Enterprise Clinic, its national Sustainability Fellows program, and will oversee the development of new online tools to educate smaller enterprises on issues of sustainability.

Kirsten Hausman, who served as a Program Director for the Foundation for a Sustainable Community, was named Director of Client Relations and Communications. Anne McKune, who served as Associate Director of the Foundation, will continue as Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships.