In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

IN BUSINESS WORLD

In Business, May/June, 2004, Vol. 26, No. 3, p. 4

FIRST CLASS OF MBA GRADUATES IN SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Last month, Bainbridge Graduate Institute (BGI) awarded MBAs in Sustainable Business to its first-ever graduating class. The innovative curriculum preserves the rigor of a traditional MBA program, while infusing corporate ethics, environmental sustainability and social responsibility throughout every

course. Founded in 2002 by Gifford Pinchot, his wife Elizabeth and Dr. Sherman Severin, the school enrolled its first class of 18 MBA students followed by another 21 in fall 2003, with an additional 50 students enrolled for next term. “The 'green economy' now represents more than $230 billion in socially and environmentally responsible products,” notes Rick Bunch, executive director of BGI which is based on Bainbridge Island, Washington. “Our flexible, independent program allows BGI's curriculum to keep pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the sustainable business market.” For more information, contact Amy Bunch at (206) 842-8349 or visit: www.bgiedu.org.

CENTURY OF THE SMALL BUSINESS
“Shirking the bigger-is-better mantra, small businesses across the continent are discovering that small-sizing their operations can take advantage of efficiencies, reduce the ecological impacts of their operations, and restore an emphasis on quality of life for employees and owners while building stronger local communities,” write Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko in their new book, Rural Renaissance. Their own bed-and-breakfast enterprise - Inn Serendipity in Browntown, Wisconsin - was featured in an In Business report in Summer, 2001. That article described how their business plan was based on their natural surroundings - including an organic farm, locally-grown foods, products used at the Inn, renewable energy use, and their “guests with an interest in sustainable living.”
Blending lots of inspiration with practical how-to tips, Rural Renaissance - published this month by New Society Publishers, $22.95 - focuses on the American dream of country living for contemporary times. In the authors' words, the book is about a “creative, nature-based and more self-sufficient lifestyle that combines a love of squash, solar energy, skinny dipping and serendipity.” The book has helped to launch the Rural Renaissance Network to provide practical resources and examples of real-world transitioning. Visit www.ruralrenaissance.org; or www.inn-serendiptiy.co or e-mail: johni- vanko@tda.net.

LIVING ENTERPRISES ON A SMALL PLANET
David Korten - board chair of the Positive Futures Network which publishes YES! magazine - gave the closing plenary talk at the Second BALLE Annual Conference in Philadelphia last month. The following is an excerpt from his conclusions:
“True prosperity, security, and meaning are all found in the life of vibrant, interlinked communities that offer every person - without exception - the opportunity to contribute their creative energy through joyful, creative, engaged relationships with one another and the Earth to Creation's search for ever unfolding possibilities. Life in community is essential to the realization of our humanity.
“This is the larger context of the work of BALLE. Our mission is to nurture the formation and connection of living enterprises that function as communities within communities to support the realization of the fullness of our human possibility. Such enterprises offer the prospect of unleashing the entrepreneurial potentials of the species to the end of creating a world that works for every person and the whole of life. As Empire has dehumanized the workplace, we seek to humanize the workplace by organizing it to function as a values based community in a mutually accountable relationship to the larger community it serves.
“In these turbulent and frightening times, it is important to remind ourselves that we are privileged to live at the most exciting moment in the whole of the human experience. For this is the moment when we are being called by the deep forces of creation to awaken to a new consciousness of our human possibilities and to embrace the responsibilities to one another and to the planet that go with our collective presence on the living jewel of life called Earth. It is the time of our Coming of Age on a Small Planet.
“The choice is ours. The work starts here. Now is the hour. We're the ones we've been waiting for.” - David Korten

KELLOGG FOUNDATION LAUNCHES $8 MILLION RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM
Last month, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation based in Battle Creek, Michigan announced it will award $2 million each to four rural regional entrepreneurship development systems to produce models for communities. “Unlocking the potential of rural people and communities is at the heart of our work, “ says Rick Foster of the Foundation's Food Systems and Rural Development program. The Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED) will assist in identifying specific areas for creating Entrepreneurial Development Systems.
Applicants may be private, governmental or nonprofit - who will form a collaborative of such groups. Each collaborative must include a lead organization such as a university, community development financial institution and/or other established entity to manage the grant. Application deadline is August 13, 2004. Final awards will be announced in March 2005. More detailed application information can be found on the Kellogg Foundation's web site at www.wkkf.org/ruralentrepreneurs, or the Corporation for Enterprise Development's web site at www.eshipsystems.org. “This program provides a wonderful opportunity for rural America to explore the potential of entrepreneurship for revitalizing struggling communities. The emphasis on encouraging regional collaborations makes so much sense in these times of limited resources and growing need,” says Brian Dabson, President of the Washington, DC-based Corporation for Enterprise Development. “We look forward to working with the Foundation to make it happen.”

ECONOMIC PAYOFFS FROM BUYING LOCAL
According to a report by Dave Smith of the Lawrence, Kansas Community Mercantile co-op, recent studies prove that buying from local businesses pays off in many ways. He cites a study in Austin, Texas that compared the economic activity generated by two locally owned bookstores to that of a large national chain. The results showed that the local businesses generated more than three times the economic activity than the chain bookstore. Specifically, the local bookstore generated $45 of economic impact for every $100 spent, compared to $13 by the chain.
According to the survey, several factors account for this high difference in yield: Locally owned businesses spend more on payroll because they tend to employ their own ad writers, buyers, accountants and other positions, whereas chain stores often centralize these types of positions in a single, headquarter location. Locally owned businesses purchase more from other locally owned businesses than do chain stores
A survey of eight locally owned businesses in Maine revealed the same economic impact as the Austin survey. The locally owned businesses returned 44.6 percent of their revenue to the surrounding two counties and another 8.7 percent elsewhere around the state. By contrast, a similar survey done for a big box retailer revealed only 14.1 percent of its revenue was returned to the local economy.

FINDING NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLENDING INDUSTRIAL BY-PRODUCTS
The Great Lakes By-Products Management Association (GLBMA) would like to hear from potential presenters to speak about case studies of models and approaches to use blended by-products, research, and benefits for generators, processors and end users. The conference will be held December 1-3, 2004 at EPA Region 5 headquarters in Chicago. Submissions should be sent to Susan Basta, Conference Coordinator, PO Box 218148, Columbus, Ohio 43221-8148. E-mail: sciotosue@wowway.com. According to GLBMA, the event “represents an ideal opportunity to combine the mutual interests of various industries in blending opportunities for by-products as well as to explore the regulatory challenges and technical uncertainties that need to be addressed.”

REPLACE “RUINOUS” HYDROGEN PLANS WITH SUGAR ECONOMY
Federal and state plans to build a massive new hydrogen energy system to support fuel cell-powered cars are economically ruinous, says David Morris, vice president of the Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) in a just-published report called “A Better Way of Getting from Here to There.” His report contrasts the high costs and reliance on nonrenewable fuels to generate hydrogen with the near-term feasibility of converting sugars into alcohols, in effect, creating a sugar economy instead of a hydrogen economy.
The Morris report recommends a three-pronged strategy: First, dramatically accelerate use of hybrid vehicles; Second, increase the electric-only driving capacity of the hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) by expanding its battery system and including plug-in capability; Third, use ethanol made from sugars as a primary fuel rather than as now - a 6 to 10 percent gasoline additive. Commercial operations to use sugars extracted from cellulosic resources - grasses, corn stalks, urban organic wastes - are beginning to come on-line. Sums up Morris: “Ethanol is less expensive to produce than hydrogen; it is more environmentally friendly and could bring major economic benefits to rural areas. The new report is available online in PDF format at www.new
rules.org/electricity/betterway.pdf or by ordering a copy from John Bailey at the Institute for Local Self Reliance (612) 379-3815.

“ENERGY INDEPENDENCE” CONFERENCE IN NOVEMBER 2004
What does it take for young companies to profitably make digesters that can turn municipal and industrial wastes into biogas to produce heat and electricity? How can restaurant grease be turned into biodiesel and sold to car owners? How can we “close the circle” by creating more biobased products? How much higher do gasoline prices have to rise... or how much worse must conflicts in the Middle East get ... before we in North America take major steps toward renewable energy reliance?
These and many more questions promise productive interactive sessions at the Fourth Annual Conference on RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM ORGANICS RECYCLING. The Conference will be held November 8, 9, 10, 2004 at The Hotel Savery in Des Moines, Iowa - and cosponsored by In Business and BioCycle.
Special topics include: Best Ways to Overcome Barriers to Biogas Recovery and Markets; Latest Trends in Landfill Methane Recovery; Utilizing Biogas at Wastewater Treatment Plants; New Technologies and Policies for Creating Green Power; Linking State Recycling Programs to Renewable Energy Goals; Creating Power from Recycled Organics; Fuels and Chemicals from Biomass; Recycling Food Residuals into Energy; Comparing Renewable Energy Systems in North America and Europe; Digesters on the Farm - And Factory; Role of Composting in Renewable Energy; Wood Waste As A Renewable Energy Feedstock. Plus there will be a significant array of commercial exhibits and innovative field trips.
For details about the Fourth Annual Conference on RENEWABLE ENERGY FROM ORGANICS RECYCLING, contact Ann Miller, BioCycle, 419 State Ave., Emmaus, PA 18049, 610-967-4135, ext. 22 or biocycle@jgpress.com.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE CENTER LAUNCHED AT UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Set up as a public/private partnership between the University of Florida and the state's organic farmers, the Center for Organic Agriculture in Gainesville is expected to improve production practices as well as lead to a minor degree program in organic farming. In a report about the Center, the publication of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Resource, notes that “the organics boom isn't limited to the United States,” as organic food sales in the United Kingdom are expected to increase by 75 percent over the next five years. In China, farmers are getting 30 to 50 percent more money for their organic food exports. For more details about the Center, Rose Koenig may be contacted at (352) 392-1987.

GREEN ROOFS ATOP CAMPUS AND INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS
Four years ago, soil scientists at Michigan State University (MSU) advised Ford Motor Co. on installing a 10.6 acre green roof - then the world's largest - on a new assembly plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Last month, MSU installed a vegetative green roof on part of its Plant and Soil Science Building to create a flowering carpet. The green portion will be about 3,500 sq ft with the rest left uncovered for research comparisons.
“Green roofs look great, but if this were just purely aesthetic, it wouldn't fly,” explains Prof. Clayton Rugh; Additional benefits that “will recoup their cost and pay for themselves” are: Reduced airborne pollution; Reduced storm water runoff by greater than 60 percent; Moderate temperatures inside the building; Reduced noise; and Increase roof durability.
Green roofs are a concept especially popular in Germany where some 12 percent of flat roofs are green. Xeroflor America LLC, the company that donated some supplies for the MSU project, is a Lansing-based green roof provider founded by the German developer of the Ford system. The university's Office of Campus Sustainability said that the studies will help determine cost-savings. “MSU needs to be investigating and finding solutions to our looming global climate change crisis,” emphasized Terry Link, director. Green roofs hold a number of intriguing possibilities, including absorbing carbon, reducing heat island effects and adding insulating effects to buildings. Visit: www.hrt.msu.edu/greenroof.

GLOBAL WARMING ACTION URGED BY NEW INDUSTRY/ENVIRONMENTAL
GROUP
Representatives of the auto, coal and oil industries along with environmental and labor groups urged federal officials to spend more to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Last month in Washington, the new group called the Energy Future Coalition announced its support for cutting back oil consumption and carbon emissions by one-third over the next 25 years. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Coalition wants the federal government to spend more on such programs as tax incentives for fuel efficient cars and research into underground storage of carbon dioxide after it is emitted by coal-fired power plants. Vehicles and coal-burning energy plants are two major sources of greenhouse gas.