WMSBF News Archives - Page 2 of 6

WMSBF honors David Rinard with 2018 President’s Award

October 24, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Aaron Bouwkamp

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum (WMSBF) selected David Rinard as its 2018 President’s Award winner at its Annual Meeting. The President’s Award recognizes a professional for their contributions to the WMSBF’s growth and development.

“I was honored to receive the WMSBF President’s Award. To be recognized for having contributed to an organization that I believe so strongly in is more than I could have imagined,” Rinard says. “When a few of us had conversations many years ago about the possibility of creating an organization like the forum, we hoped it would be a success. I don’t think we ever could have imagined that it would be the influential force that it has become.”

Before retiring earlier this year, Rinard served as Director of Global Environmental Performance for Steelcase Inc., leading the department that oversees the company’s environmental initiatives and performance. He managed implementation of Steelcase’s corporate environmental strategy, including regulatory compliance, sustainability, environmental outreach, and responsible conduct programs. Rinard began his career with Steelcase in 1979. Throughout his time there, he also directed ground water programs, superfund activities, and in-house consulting on compliance programs.

“We honored David with this year’s President’s Award for his length of service on the board and its leadership,” says Daniel Schoonmaker, executive director, West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. “He was always a voice of wisdom and the model of leadership—a consistent fixture at WMSBF for 20 years.”

A WMSBF Board member from 1997 through his retirement in October 2018, Rinard most recently served as secretary of the board. During his tenure with the organization, Rinard served twice as board president and was inducted into the WMSBF Hall of Fame in 2015.

“I’ve enjoyed getting to know so many people who have grown from colleagues to true friends. It’s a little hard to step away from being actively involved but it is time for the next generation of leadership to take over and continue growing the organization,” Rinard says. “It is an honor and I thank everyone who gave me the opportunity to be a part of something so special.”

Catalyst Partners is 2018 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year

October 15, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum honored Catalyst Partners as its 2018 Sustainable Business of the Year last week at its Fifth Annual Triple Bottom Line Bash at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts.

WMSBF to Honor West Michigan’s Sustainability Leaders

October 3, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum will celebrate sustainable business next Wednesday, October 10 at its Fifth Annual Triple Bottom Bash at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, presented by Consumers Energy.

The Bash will honor five local companies with the West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year Awards; two professionals with West Michigan Sustainable Business Hall of Fame Induction and Future Hall of Fame Award; and three local businesses with Leadership awards.

Honorees

One of these five finalists will receive the West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year Award, selected annually by a vote of the WMSBF membership, honoring the local company that best represents the values of the triple-bottom line.

Building + Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA), which, in 2018, updated its ANSI/BIFMA Furniture Sustainability Standard to more closely align with LEED Rating System credit language and its associated LEVEL® Certification Program.
Cascade Engineering for a corporate culture that values every employee; increasing use of post-consumer and post-industrial recycled resin in manufacturing; and spending zero dollars on landfill costs over the past six years.
Catalyst Partners for providing clients assistance with LEED, WELL, Living Building Challenge, Enterprise Green Communities and BREEAM certification and committing to achieving net-positive energy use at its Grand Rapids headquarters before 2030.
Steelcase for dedication to material health, material optimization and reutilization, renewable energy, water stewardship and social fairness. Steelcase has helped its customers divert millions of furniture items from the landfill.
The Gluten Free Bar for commitment to food safety, community, living wages and zero-waste. GFB has achieved a 90% waste diversion rate; donated more than 20,000 bars to hunger-relief organizations; and pays employees at least 20% more than the area’s average living wage.

2018 Sustainable Business Hall of Fame inductee Norman Christopher, executive director for the Office of Sustainability Practices at Grand Valley State University, helped establish sustainability as GVSU’s seventh value; wrote Sustainability Demystified! A Practical Guide for Business Leaders and Managers; and served on the Michigan Climate Action Council and United States Department of Commerce Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee. The Sustainable Business Hall of Fame is a lifetime achievement award that recognizes extraordinary contributions to the growth of sustainable business in the West Michigan area over the course of a career.

The Future Hall of Fame award winner, Matthew VanSweden, is an integrative designer with Catalyst Partners. VanSweden is Michigan’s foremost expert on the Living Building Challenge, as exemplified by his best known work, the Saginaw Chippewa Indiana Tribe’s tribal college in Mt. Pleasant. He also created and installed eight pop-up parks across Grand Rapids that served events ranging from SiTE:LAB and Kendall College of Art and Design to TEDxGrandRapids. The award honors an emerging professional whose work deserves wider recognition.

Leadership Award Winners

Circular Economy Leadership Award: Goodwill of Greater Grand Rapids, for processing more than 24 million pounds of unsold retail store material donations annually into reuse and recycling markets — a landfill diversion rate of more than 80%.

Climate Leadership Award: Steelcase for promising to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and cut energy use by 25% by 2021; continued investment in 100% renewable energy equivalent to its global electricity consumption; and 20% reduction in global energy since 2010.

Social Responsibility Leadership Award: Spectrum Health for investments in improving patient care; building and renovating facilities; and providing health education and programs, bringing hundreds of millions of dollars into its communities.

The Triple Bottom Line Bash is the premiere annual event of the local sustainable business community. Taking place from 6 to 9 pm, it will this year feature UICA’s fall exhibit “Coming Home,” entertainment, dinner from San Chez, a local beer and wine bar, and prize packages.

The event is sold out, but a waiting list for tickets is available. Learn more at wmsbf.org/bash.

Matt VanSweden is 2018 Future Hall of Fame Honoree

September 6, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Aaron Bouwkamp

Matt VanSweden of Catalyst Partners has been selected as this year’s recipient of the West Michigan Sustainable Business Future Hall of Fame Award.

As a firm, Catalyst Partners exists to create spaces in which all species can flourish. As an Integrative Designer, Matt focuses his work on equipping design teams with the right tools at the right time necessary to solve the right problems; optimizing the design process with chaos, order, and a bit of humor. His design work is equal parts alchemy, art, and adventure.

Among other things, Matt is the state’s foremost expert on the Living Building Challenge, which is the current epicenter of his professional work. Matt loves the number three (3), enjoys engaging the wilderness in the wherever, and lives with his wife and three children in Grand Rapids.

The award honors an emerging professional whose work deserves wider recognition. Past recipients include Eric Saigeon, Brock Rodgers, and Sarah Chartier. This year’s selection committee included Kris Spaulding, Gayle DeBruyn, Eric Saigeon, Autumn Sands, Sara Meyer, Tom Newhouse and Mark LaCroix.

It will be presented at the 5th Annual Triple Bottom Line on Wednesday, October 10 at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. Learn more about the event here.

His best known work is the Saginaw Chippewa Indiana Tribe’s tribal college in Mt. Pleasant, the Living Building Challenge project completed in 2014 when he was in a similar role at Integrated Architecture.

“That project manifested much of my career aspirations, the relentless pursuit of restorative ecological design,” he said. “It was a transformative project continues to influence me to this day.”

He also created and installed eight temporary pop-up parks across Grand Rapids in collaboration with almost 60 companies, individuals, and organizations for events ranging from TEDxGrandRapids to SiTE:LAB to Kendall College of Art and Design.

“While the execution varied for each park, I’ve presented constant themes of urban agriculture, food justice, inclusivity, urban mobility, circular economies, and water conservation,” he said.

To date, all the parks have been temporary installations. Sometimes dubbed “pop-up parks,” suggesting that they “pop up” only for a relatively short time. These parks are not meant to serve as permanent solutions but rather to invite the user to re-imagine ways in which we can utilize urban spaces at a scale more appropriate to humans and at speed more appropriate for pedestrians which are accessible to everyone.

He recently graduated from Kendall College of Art & Design, where he was the recipient of the Excellence Award, the highest honor a student can achieve.

“As a college drop-out, finding myself starting a family at the young age of twenty-two; I had to endure a decade of poverty and hard work before the opportunity to finish the undergraduate degree I started twelve years prior presented itself,” he explained. “In 2013, at the age of thirty-one, I found myself in a conference room with the then president of KCAD, Dr. David Rosen to talk about an intercollegiate living-learning space I had envisioned.

After the meeting, Rosen was intrigued to learn that Van Sweden had yet to earn a degree. He offered him a scholarship to attend the school in pursuit of a B.F.A. in Collaborative Design.

“I don’t have large, grandiose projects to proclaim,” Van Sweden said. “I’m not the loudest advocate or the best fill-in-the-blank. I hope that my work represents a divergence from what is usually considered ‘successful’ and, instead, offers a sustainable, accessible, and authentic way to ‘live well in one’s place.’”

Norman Christopher To Be Inducted into Sustainable Business Hall of Fame

September 6, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Aaron Bouwkamp

Norman Christopher, Executive Director for the Office of Sustainability Practices at Grand Valley State University, will be the 2018 inductee into the West Michigan Sustainable Business Hall of Fame. Known equally for his work promoting sustainability within the university and the community, Christopher has been a fixture in local sustainability for many years.

Among other accomplishments, he helped establish sustainability as the seventh value of the university and helped establish the Grand Rapids Community Sustainability Partnership.

The Sustainable Business Hall of Fame is a lifetime achievement award that recognizes extraordinary contributions to the growth of sustainable business in the West Michigan area over the course of a career. View past inductees here.

This year’s selection committee included Kris Spaulding, Gayle DeBruyn, Eric Saigeon, Autumn Sands, Sara Meyer, Tom Newhouse and Mark LaCroix. The award will be presented at the 5th Annual Triple Bottom Line Bash on Wednesday, October 10 at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts. You can learn more about the event here.

Christopher is is a past chairman of the Family Owned Business Council, a 2000 graduate of Leadership Grand Rapids, and a co-founder of the Grand Rapids Community Sustainability Partnership. He was appointed to serve on Governor Granholm’s Michigan Climate Action Council; and by the United States Department of Commerce to serve on their Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee.

He is currently a member of the Grand Rapids Community Sustainability Partnership Leadership Team; chair of the BIFMA and NSF e3 Furniture Sustainability Standard Joint Committee; and on the board and advisory groups of Seeds of Promise, Valley City Sign, and the Sabal Pointe Condominium Association. He has also contributed numerous articles and papers to journals and periodicals. Submitted book chapters include Sustaining Michigan: Metropolitan Policies and Strategies, Michigan State University Press; and The Handbook of Sustainability in Management Education, Elgar Publishing. He is the author of the book Sustainability Demystified! – A Practical Guide for Business Leaders and Managers.

In addition, Christopher is a seasoned executive with background and experience in various management capacities including President, CEO, and COO responsibilities. He has improved business performance at chemical companies such as Lubrizol Corporation and Haviland Enterprises in Grand Rapids.

He holds degrees from University of North Carolina and the University of Connecticut, and completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard University.

WMSBF September: Evidence-Based Hiring for Diversity and Inclusion

August 29, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum will feature one of West Michigan’s most successful diversity and inclusion programs at its monthly forum on Monday, September 10 at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s. The event will also feature a town hall discussion for local organizations impacted by the rapidly emerging recycling markets crisis created by international trade policies.

This month’s featured speaker is Shana Welch, Executive Director of Talent Acquisition, Trinity Health Michigan Region. Mercy Health fills 3,200 positions per year, including 2,100 external hires. When the healthcare system developed an Evidence Based Selection Process (EBSP), the goal was to reduce turnover and improve job performance. After its launch in 2010, the EBSP strategy successfully accomplished those goals, in part, by eliminating biases that traditionally hamper the hiring process.

Mercy Health has increased its diverse hiring from 18 to 38% over a period of three years. Other data derived from the new system reflecting decreased turnover, improved customer satisfaction, and improved employee morale could be interpreted as showing racial discrimination is simply not good for business.

After the featured presentation, representatives from the WMSBF Solid Waste Task Force will share ways in which their organizations have been forced to respond to China Sword, both positive and negative, including pricing adjustments, operational improvements, and material restrictions, among others. This will be an open forum for participants to discuss their challenges and gain insights from mutual perspectives. The Solid Waste Task Force is a the forum’s leadership committee for commercial recycling.

Lunch is $15 for members and $20 for non-members if paid online prior to the event here.

September 10: How Is China Sword Impacting West Michigan Recycling?

August 29, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Daniel Schoonmaker

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum will host a town hall discussion for local organizations impacted by the rapidly emerging recycling markets crisis created by the Chinese National Sword trade policies at its monthly forum on Monday, September 10 at Mercy Health Saint Mary’s. The event will also feature a presentation highlighting best-in-class diversity and inclusion practices at Mercy Health System.

Chinese National Sword is the colloquial name for several related trade policies that have recently restricted imports of scrap material and recycling commodities to China, once the largest destination for U.S. recycled material. Representatives from the WMSBF Solid Waste Task Force will share ways in which their organizations have been forced to respond to China Sword, both positive and negative, including pricing adjustments, operational improvements, and material restrictions, among others. This will be an open forum for participants to discuss their challenges and gain insights from mutual perspectives. The Solid Waste Task Force is a the forum’s leadership committee for commercial recycling.

Three speakers will frame the conversation with remarks from varying perspectives: Matt Flechter, Recycling Market Develpment for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will introduce the issue and its impacts. Padnos Sales Associate Lynn Mulder will share how lower prices and fewer buyers are impacting what can be recycled by local businesses. Steelcase Environmental Scientist Heidi Frasure will share how the office furniture maker has been forced to make investments and adopt new practices in order to maintain its recycling program. Other experts will also be on hand to answer questions from attendees and provide insights.

Also on the agenda is featured presenter Shana Welch, Executive Director, Talent Acquisition Trinity Health – Michigan Region Saint Joseph Mercy Health System & Mercy Health. She will highlight several of the health care system’s best practices, including its evidence-based hiring process. By removing the implicit bias and using a set of measurable standards for all potential job candidates, Mercy Health has increased its diverse hiring from 18% to 38% over a period of three years.

Lunch is $15 for members and $20 for non-members if paid online prior to the event here.

Register for a WMSBF Luncheon Subscription

August 28, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Aaron Bouwkamp

WMSBF if offering luncheon subscriptions for use at its monthly forum events. Subscribers receive 11 meetings worth of registrations at a discounted overall rate of $150. As part of the luncheon subscription, WMSBF will pre-register subscribers for all of the luncheon events for which the subscriptions applies. Subscribers are also able to transfer lunch passes to other individuals in the event that they are unable to make a particular Forum meeting.

As with previous years, the subscription is applicable to all luncheon programs, but does not include the Triple Bottom Line Bash. Please note that the luncheon subscription will be applicable to the following 11 meetings that occur after the purchase a luncheon subscription.

Organizations and/or individuals interested in a luncheon subscription can contact Leann Lyden at lyden@wmsbf.org.

WMSBF Highlighting Member Organizations with Best-in-Class Recycling Efforts

August 28, 2018/in WMSBF News /by Aaron Bouwkamp

WMSBF is looking to recognize member organizations with best-in-class recycling efforts, highlighting success stories via case study to list participants as a Circular Economy Leader within the Forum’s network. These case studies will also serve as a resource to members and stakeholders who are looking to improve their recycling and waste diversion efforts, as well as assist the Forum in building up our recycling knowledge & consultative expertise for use in the Imagine Trash Partner Program. We will also utilize these results to potentially include the participating businesses in our selection of the Circular Economy Leadership Award and/or Sustainable Business of the Year Award at end of each year during the annual Triple Bottom Line Bash awards gala.

Participating organizations will be asked to meet for a 90 minute on-site visit, which includes a discussion and tour of the facility to be highlighted in the case study.

Interested organizations can contact Aaron Bouwkamp at abouwkamp@wmsbf.org to schedule a case study visit.

Interested in Developing a Regional Affiliate in Your Michigan or Indiana Community?

August 24, 2018/in MGSSBF News, WMSBF News /by Aaron Bouwkamp

West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum was the first program of its kind in the Midwest. Over the past 25 years it has served as a model for similar programs to launch across the state and nation, having a direct role in the founding of sister programs in Detroit, Kalamazoo and Iowa, as well as our satellite programs in Michigan’s Great Southwest and Muskegon, and a number of other forums that did not prove viable over time.

As part of its current strategic plan, WMSBF is interested in expanding its geographic footprint where there is sufficient interest for a new satellite program. Ideally, we would prefer to partner with existing initiatives seeking new efficiencies of scale, but will consider opportunities at any stage in Michigan or Indiana.

We also interested in seeing our mission spread to other communities in the Midwest and nationally.

If you are interested in hearing more about how WMSBF works and whether its model will work in your community, contact Executive Director Daniel Schoonmaker at dschoonmaker@wmsbf.org.