The Institute for Sustainable Development has announced its finalists for the 2011 Green Plus North American Sustainable Enterprise Awards. The Green Plus Awards recognize organizations not only for their environmental efforts, but for their success in balancing strong business, community and environmental practices. Paying attention to business performance and community involvement as well as to minimizing environmental impact is often referred to as triple bottom line sustainability.

The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony, presented by GlaxoSmithKline, on Friday, February 25 at North Carolina Research Triangle Park Foundation headquarters.

Click here to purchase a ticket to the Green Plus North American Sustainable Enterprise Awards.

In addition to competing in its category, each organization is eligible to win the Green Plus People’s Choice Award.

Click here to vote for one organization to receive the Green Plus People’s Choice Award.

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2011 North American Sustainable Enterprise Awards Finalists

Research Triangle Park Foundation Sustainable Enterprise of the Year

• Counter Culture Coffee
• Irregardless Cafe and Catering
• The Taylor Companies
• TS Designs
• Wenger Feeds

Green Plus Sustainable Enterprise of the Year (50 Or More Employees)

• iContact
• High Construction
• Hughes Pittman & Gupton LLC
• Lube Stop
• The Umstead Hotel & Spa

Wells Fargo/Wachovia Small Business of the Year (3 to 50 employees)

• EcoLogic Solutions
• Environmental Solutions Group
• Laser Plus
• Pantek
• Pharamaceutical Calibration Services (PCI)
• Wingswept
• Yes! Solar Solutions

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Green Plus Sole Proprietor / Home Based Business of the Year

• Abigail Seymour Photography
• Conestoga dpi
• Communication Matters
• jke Marketing & Communications
• Yurich Creative

The Redwoods Group Non-Profit or Social Enterprise of the Year

• Builders of Hope
• Bull City Forward
• Cosmic Bobbins
• Entrepreneurs for Sustainability
• Urban Tree Connection
• The Scrap Exchange

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Purchase Your Ticket to the Awards

The awards ceremony will be on Friday, February 25 from 7:30-9:30am at Research Triangle Park Headquarters in the North Carolina Triangle Region.

About the Institute for Sustainable Development and Green Plus
The Institute for Sustainable Development partners nationwide with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives to bring Green Plus, its business improvement program, to smaller enterprises in the U.S. and Canada. The non-profit was founded in the North Carolina Research Triangle in 2007 by a unique partnership of academic, business and philanthropic leaders. Early partners included Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Greater Durham Chambers of Commerce, and the Fenwick Foundation.

Institute founders recognized that while many large companies were integrating sustainability into their operations, saving money and improving their reputations, most Americans were employed by businesses with 50 or fewer people, and these smaller employers had neither the time nor the financial resources to pursue sustainability. In the fall of 2007, the Institute engaged the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at UNC’s Kenan Flagler School of Business to develop a business plan to address this problem. This plan led to the development of Green Plus, a program to educate, network and recognize smaller employers in their efforts to achieve triple bottom line sustainability.

The Institute for Sustainable Development

www.gogreenplus.org

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The Institute for Sustainable Development is proud to announce the two newest Green Plus Certified businesses: The Irregardless Café & Catering, Raleigh, NC and Yes! Solar Solutions of the Triangle, Cary, NC.  Both businesses are members of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and were announced at the Chamber’s Green Plus Recognition luncheon at the Irregardless Cafe on Monday, September 20.  They have both been participating in the Green Plus program since the beginning of the year and each is an example of a truly triple bottom line approach to sustainability.  ”Having a business that promotes alternative energy and a sustainable lifestyle, we wanted to make sure we walked the walk as well as talked the talk,” said Kathleen Miller of Yes! Solar Solutions. “A day will come when it will not be a choice whether or not to practice sustainable business, and the Green Plus process was an easy, affordable and thought- provoking road map on how to become one.”

The Raleigh Chamber’s Recognition Luncheon was widely attended and drew a diverse group of business owners there to hear keynote speaker Jim Fryling of The Redwoods Group and recognize small businesses who are dedicated to sustainability and going through the Green Plus program.  Among those recognized were Certified Green Plus Businesses: Hughes, Pittman & Gupton, Triangle Community Foundation, and the Umstead Hotel and Spa.  The following Green Plus Movers were also recognized for their progress through the program: Accentuate Staffing, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, iContact, Raleigh Radon, Revealed Design, and Springleaf Strategies.

“The Green Plus certification process generated unexpected benefits for us,” said Anya Gordon of the Irregardless Cafe & Catering.  ”Despite the fact that the Irregardless Cafe has been dedicated to local, sustainable practice since it was founded 35 years ago, the certification process challenged us to formalize our strategic planning process . . . [and examine] all aspects of the business through the ‘sustainability’ lens, from the Cafe’s landscaping to the building’s roof – expanding our view beyond the restaurant’s menu and the recycling of waste. “

The luncheon’s keynote, Jim Fryling of The Redwoods Group, spoke about sustainability and what his organization sees as his obligations to the communities they serve.  The Redwoods Group is a privately held, socially responsible, commercial specialty insurance provider based in Morrisville, NC.  The Redwoods Group is also Green Plus Certified — click here to read a profile on the Redwoods Group.

About Irregardless Cafe & Catering, Raleigh, NC (http://www.irregardless.com)

The Irregardless Café and Catering is a Raleigh institution.  The longest family-owned restaurant in the community, it was also the first vegetarian restaurant in the Triangle.  It is a superb example of triple bottom line sustainability and its owners, Anya and Arthur Gordon, are dedicated to supporting their community through their business.  The Café regularly hosts local musicians and artists as well as science discussions.

Local food is a priority at the Irregardless Café, but their dedication to their employees is unparalleled.  For example in 1994 the restaurant was victim of a fire and underwent nine months of renovation and restoration.  During that time, full time employees were kept on in exchange for volunteering with local nonprofits.

About Yes! Solar Solutions of the Triangle, Cary, NC (http://www.yessolarsolutionsnc.com)

Yes! Solar Solutions of Cary provides turnkey clean energy solutions for businesses and residential homes alike. Owners, Steve and Kathleen Miller, are long time residents of the Triangle and opened the only North Carolina branch of Yes! Solar Solutions in order to meet the growing clean energy needs of the community.

Dedicated to raising awareness around clean energy and helping people realize a solution, the team at Yes! Solar Solutions participates in community activities, hosts informational events, and works with businesses and home owners alike to take advantage of the incentives around making the change to solar energy.  Yes! Solar Solutions was also the inaugural partner of the Green Plus Partner Discounts – a program which provides discounts and incentives to Green Plus businesses from other businesses in the network.

Three small businesses from the landscaping, restaurants, and IT sectors discussed how sustainability in general and Green Plus in particular help them improve operations, save money, and become better environmental and community stewards. The businesses included Bland Landscaping, the Chapel Hill Restaurant Group, and iContact. The Triangle Success Forum is an annual forum hosted by Triangle area chambers of commerce and other strategic partners to generate discourse and find solutions to the region’s growth-related challenges.

This year, Green Plus presented at the event, along with Duke Energy and Progress Energy.

If you can’t view the video above, click here to see it on YouTube.

Join local leaders at the 2009 Triangle Success Forum to hear the business case behind going green. Learn how your business can become more sustainable and see a positive bottom line impact, impact, and hear from three Triangle businesses (Chapel Hill Restaurant Group, Bland Landscaping, and iContact) who have used Green Plus to improve their sustainability and their bottom line and earn customer recognition for their efforts. The Triangle Success Forum is a presentation of the Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, and Durham chambers of commerce.

The program fee is $35, and includes a full breakfast.

Going Green to Get the Green will take place at the Research Triangle Park Headquarters and Conference Center, located at 12 Davis Drive, Research Triangle Park, May 12 from 8 – 11:15a.m.

RSVP by May 6 to Kathryn Wright at 919.664.7090 or kwright@raleighchamber.org.

www.gogreenplus.org