Please describe the innovative energy saving technologies or practices you have incorporated into your business and how they have affected your business operations?
As assistant director of public affairs at CBIA I assist our operations internally and externally. I was asked to be a resource for our internal green team which looked at energy, paper and water use as well as how we engaged other employees to participate. The team also looked at ways to become more efficient when coordinating off-site events and working closer with vendors and supply chains to develop sustainable solutions.
Externally, I am a member of the Connecticut Energy Workforce Development Consortium’s steering committee, a new group of energy industry stakeholders that is administered by the CBIA. The consortium’s mission is to define the industry’s needs as it relates to work force development, build awareness of the demand for energy personnel in the state, generate a sense of excitement around the industry, improve training programs to closely align classroom learning with workplace requirements, and create pathways to continuing education, certification and employment for high school and college graduates.
I also sit on the Advisory Board for the Academy of Engineering and Green Technology (AoEGT) at Hartford High School. The mission of the academy is to get students excited about math and science while tinting the learning process green, inside and outside the classroom. Launched in the fall of 2008, this year, students will be working on exciting projects that will provide enhanced learning in various areas of sustainability.
I also administer CBIA’s On-line Green Business Resource Center. This resource shares news and stories about the environmental economic activities engaged in by member companies.
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As a green advocate, what long term effect do you hope to bring about through your efforts?
The growing green economy will really blossom in the next two years as the effects of ARRA/Stimulus funds and advances in technology are felt. Because of these and other factors, great opportunities lay ahead for Connecticut’s economy. My role is to help organizations better understand how to lower costs, eliminate waste and create value to be more competitive in this new economy. I might help a company during a ‘lunch and learn’ kick-off their green initiatives. I help generate ideas about what to do and how to do it. Ultimately, though, it’s really up to the company leadership and employees to carry out its green mission. Through this process, the hope is that organizations become more efficient and successful in retaining and creating jobs. That’s the key long term goal. Jobs create wealth and wealth creates sustainable communities.
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What drives you to advocate on behalf of energy conservation, sustainability and related green issues?
I’ve worked at CBIA for over 20 years and have worked with all sorts of businesses. I’ve seen their costs rise tremendously during this time. At CBIA, and as a green business blogger, I’ve seen a vast majority of companies taking steps to become better environmental stewards and more socially responsible. There are some really great stories going on in Hartford and throughout Connecticut and I’m driven by making sure someone is telling them. I’m driven, also, by helping students prepare for careers. This makes my work on the Board of AoEGT particularly rewarding. Having an opportunity to bring green knowledge experts into classrooms and working with students on projects outside the classroom and watching them get turned on by their work is a great reward for me.
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What advantages exist for your customers and clients to do business with a company that operates in an environmentally conscious way?
There are many advantages for companies that incorporate sustainability into their operations, workforce and supply chains. There is a growing ‘buy green’ marketplace out there and, increasingly, if companies want to stay competitive they have to participate. For instance, if you are a small or medium-sized business that supplies a larger business, you will have to comply with their eco-standards. If you don’t meet their standards of green excellence you don’t get the business. Additionally, reports indicate that companies that implement these types of strategies like to do business with like-minded business. There really is no down-side to it.
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Position: Assistant director of Public Affairs, Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA); also, managing director, AuctorVerno/buildingctgreen.com
Location: Hartford, Bloomfield
Category: Policy/Advocacy (Individual)
Adam, with students from the Academy of Engineering and Green Technology at Hartford High School during a tour this past spring of Aetna’s Customer Center. The center recently received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
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