Event Review Archives - Page 5 of 7

WMSBF Hosts Special Briefing On Water Strategy

August 18, 2015/in Event Review, WMSBF News /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum hosted a special briefing on Michigan’s Water Strategy for its members and guests last Thursday at the Grand Rapids offices of Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc. Jon Allan, Director of the MDEQ’s Office of the Great Lakes, discussed the plan with local business and community leaders and listened to their concerns and suggestions.
His presentation is available for review here: Water Strategy PPT

Learn more about the Water Strategy and read its full text online here.
Comments on the draft are due to the DEQ by Friday, August 28, 2015.

WMSBF July Meeting: Sustainability at Spectrum Health and GR Bikes Launch

July 20, 2015/in Event Review /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum’s July membership meeting featured a discussion on sustainability issues at the region’s largest health care provider and the launch of the region’s first commercial bike-share program. It was held at Grand Valley State University’s new Seidman Center and presented by Spectrum Health.
Featured speaker was Steve Heacock, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs at Spectrum Health System, and President of Spectrum Health Innovations, L.L.C. View Steve’s presentation here: CSR July Presentation1
Jay Niewiek and David Bell of the newly formed GR Bikes shared plans for this month’s launch of the pilot phase of a bike share program in Grand Rapids. This private venture aims to leverage learnings from other bikeshare models with the technology that’s already in your pocket. A bike share program in Grand Rapids will equitably increase mobility, add to the vitality of the urban core, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
More information on GR Bikes will be posted as it becomes available.

June Meeting: Sustainability at Breweries and Wineries

June 18, 2015/in Event Review /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum’s 2015 Annual Member Meeting was a luncheon program examining sustainability issues in breweries and wineries held Monday, June 8 at Brewery Vivant. It was presented by 5 Lakes Energy.
Speakers included Walker Modic of Bell’s Brewery, Kris Spaulding of Brewery Vivant, and Liesl Clark of 5 Lakes Energy. The meeting will also introduce the 2015-2017 board of directors, honor volunteers and provide a brief overview of the organization’s 2014 performance.
Download presentations here:
Walker Modic, Sustainability Specialist, Bell’s Brewing: WMSBF_prezi
Kris Spaulding, Brewery Vivant: WMSBF 6-15 (1)
Liesl Eichler Clark, Founding Partner, 5 Lakes Energy: Final WMSBF

February Meeting Review

February 17, 2015/in Event Review /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum presented a luncheon on the Governor’s Recycling Initiative on Monday, February 9 at Grand Rapids Brewing Company in downtown Grand Rapids. This month’s meeting presented by Greener Grads and New Soil.
Steering the Governor’s effort on behalf of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is Matt Flechter, the DEQ’s Recycling and Composting Coordinator. His presentation is available here: WMSBF Flechter
The meeting also featured presentations from Brian Smith of New Soil and Gary Bond of Barfly Ventures (here) and Seth Yon of Greener Grads.
Smith’s presentation featured a portion of the video Story of Stuff, in full below.

Yon’s presentation featured this video:

Dr. David Titley Keynotes West Michigan Climate Resiliency Conference

February 17, 2015/in Event Review /by Two Fish

Dr. David Titley, nationally known expert in the field of climate, the Arctic, and National Security, keynoted the West Michigan Climate Resiliency Conference. Dr. Titley is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Meteorology at the Pennsylvania State University, and founding Director of Penn State’s Center for Solutions to Weather and Climate Risk. His talk focused on the importance of climate change as it relates to National Security and climate changes effect on the weather. He served as a naval officer for 32 years and rose to the rank of Rear Admiral.
During his keynote Dr. Titley presented that he views climate change in regards to people, water, and change. He posed the question to the audience if they believed in climate change. Dr. Titley responded that he does not believe in climate change, rather he is convinced by the evidence. He concluded with that he believes in America and when focus we have the ability to figure out problems that are too tough. He sees local communities across America working on solutions for climate change.

Presentations from January Meeting

January 14, 2015/in Event Review /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum’s January meeting was a luncheon on energy efficiency and internal green revolving funds featuring case studies from Calvin College and Spectrum Health. This month’s meeting sponsored by Consumers Energy.
Presentations available for review below.
Spectrum Health Energy Program – Jim Karas, Energy Management Coordinator, Sarah Chartier, Sustainability Coordinator, Spectrum Health. View here: Spectrum Health Sustainability FUnd and Energy Program (1)
Saving Money and Energy with Green Revolving Funds – Matt Heun, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Calvin College. View here: Heun CERF for WMSBF small (1)

Lean & Green Michigan Presentation

January 14, 2015/in Event Review /by Daniel Schoonmaker

At the December meeting Andy Levin of Levin Energy Partners and Lean & Green Michigan who will talk about his firm’s work to develop PACE financing in Michigan. PACE financing allows longer payback periods with lower annual amortization and better terms, making many energy projects financeable that otherwise would not be. A PACE district allows a property owner to use the property tax mechanism to finance energy improvements. The property owner voluntarily takes on a Special Assessment, which it pays off as part of its property tax bill. A fundamentally different arrangement than a traditional bank loan, Levin believes the financing package can transform an energy efficiency or renewable project from an engineer’s great idea that a company CFO will not approve into a clear bottom line winner for the company.
Levin has been an innovator and leader in state and federal energy, workforce and labor policy and practice for many years. Throughout his career, Levin has created new organizations, initiatives and programs that have had transformative effects on companies, nonprofits, unions, and thousands of individuals’ lives. He was previously leader of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth (DELEG), an organization with a one-and-a-half billion dollar budget and over 4,000 employees that combined functions of an Energy Department, a Labor Department, and a Commerce Department.
View his presentation here: Lean and Green Michigan West MI Sustainable Biz Forum 2014-12-08 (1)

November Meeting on Sustainable, Local Food Purchasing

November 25, 2014/in Event Review /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum presented a luncheon program on local and sustainable food purchasing for businesses and institutions at its November monthly meeting. The meeting was presented by Unidine and Metro Health.
Hillary Bisnett, Healthy Food in Health Care Director for the Ecology Center, talked about statewide efforts to promote local food sourcing for Michigan institutions and farmers, including the Cultivate Michigan campaign, the new Michigan Farm to Institutions Network and other efforts.
Cultivate Michigan is designed to help ramp up Farm to Institution programs and track progress. It is a campaign of the Michigan Farm to Institution Network, a group of practitioners, supporters and advocates all sharing common goals to help Farm to Institution programs grow. The network is a statewide forum for learning and sharing that uses shared capacity to overcome the challenges of getting more Michigan food into institutions.
View her presentation here.
Alison Sutter, Senior Sustainability Consultant for Key Green Solutions, and Ryan Reynolds, Executive Chef for Metro Health Hospital, shared lessons from Metro Health’s efforts to make its food service operations more sustainable, and in tracking such efforts.
View Reynolds’ presentation here.
View Sutter’s presentation here.

Panel Discussion Highlights Opportunities and Barriers to Climate Resiliency in West Michigan

October 8, 2014/in Event Review /by Two Fish

The panel discussion on responding to climate change in West Michigan featured speakers with a local and international perspective. The discussion was led by moderator Nicholas Occhipinti Policy Director at the West Michigan Environmental Action Council.
Panelists included:

Alison Sutter, Senior Sustainability Consultant, Key Green Solutions
Mark LaCroix, Executive Vice President, The CarbonNeutral Company
Amy Deel, Membership Coordniator, Local First
Rick VanDellen, Sustainability Program Manager, Amway
Aaron Ferguson, Project Manager & Health Educator, Climate & Health Adaptation Program, Michigan Dept. Community Health
Haris Alibasic, Director, City of Grand Rapids Office of Energy & Sustainability

The discussion kicked off with the panelist briefly talking about what their organizations do and the challenges they face to climate resiliency. Haris Alibasic with the City of Grand Rapids said that the “biggest challenge for the City of Grand Rapids beyond the most obvious one’s are energy and managing our resources in the most sustainable manner”.
A recurring theme in the discussion was data driven decision making, and how extreme weather conditions make it easier for communities to see the need to make changes. Alison Sutter with Key Green Solutions provided the example of a hospital that took 15 hours to evacuate a hospital due to a power outage during Superstorm Sandy. The hospitals generators were in the basement, which had flooded.
The panel discussion looked at the greatest climate concerns for West Michigan and how the panelists are working to be change agents in the community.

WMSBF Celebrates Anniversary at Sold Out Triple Bottom Line Bash

September 25, 2014/in Event Review /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum celebrated its 20th Anniversary with the sold-out, first annual Triple Bottom Line Bash on Thursday, September 11 at the Bissell Treehouse at John Ball Zoo.
In 1994 a small group of like-minded companies launched an initiative that would allow local companies, colleges, governments and non-profits to share knowledge and collaborate on initiatives promoting sustainable business practices within their organizations and the region.
One of the first organizations of its kind in the world, West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum has served as a support network for two generations of triple-bottom-line practitioners, playing a critical role in distinguishing West Michigan as the nation’s unofficial capital of sustainable business, helping to popularize green building, sustainable product design, beyond-compliance practices and savings-driven sustainability.
The gala included a roast of Mayor George Heartwell as the main entertainment for the night, followed by recognition of the founding members, the West Michigan Sustainable Business Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, and the naming of the First Annual Sustainable Business of the Year.
Organicycle was named Sustainable Business of the Year. Read more about it here.
Hall of Fame Inductees included Heartwell, Fred Keller, Bill Stough, and Paul Murray. More information on the Hall of Fame can be found here.
The roast included performances by Grand Rapids City Commissioner Ruth Kelly, Rapid Growth Media Columnist Tommy Allen, Comedian Dave Dyer, DeVos Place Assistant General Manager Eddie Tadlock, WGVU Morning Show Host Shelley Irwin, Mackinaw Power’s Rich VanderVeen and Pop Scholars’ Andy Allen. Videos of the roast can be found below.
Thank you to sponsors ADAC Automotive, Direct Trade Coffee Club, Sustainable Research Group, Busy Beas Services, Steelcase, Holiday Inn Downtown Grand Rapids, Nichols, Environmental Resources Management, MiLocalFoodBeet, Consumers Energy, Amway, Local First, The CarbonNeutral Company, Aquinas College, Intertek, Cascade Engineering, Haworth, Integrated Architecture and Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber.
The program for the event, which includes the 2014 membership directory, can be downloaded here.
The Second Annual Triple Bottom Line Bash is tentatively scheduled for November 5, 2015.