In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

n Business, November-December, 2006, Vol. 28, No. 6, p. 8

NATURAL GAS TRUCKS ON STREETS OF SMITHTOWN, NEW YORK
Starting in January 2007, the only refuse collection trucks on the streets of Smithtown, New York will be ecofriendly compressed natural gas vehicles made by firms like Autocar. The Autocar Xpeditor WXLL natural gas refuse trucks are key components of the Smithtown program. “We have been providing natural gas trucks for more than seven years,” says Tom Vatter, Autocar senior VP of marketing. “We've

Ialso introduced a hybrid-drive refuse truck called E3 which reduces fuel consumption and emissions.”
Headquartered in Hagerstown, Indiana, Autocar, LLC has more than 200 employees. Its sales have nearly doubled in the past two years. Autocar is a subsidiary of Highland Park, Illinois-based Grand Vehicle Works Holdings, LLC.

CAR MAKERS USE SAFE PLASTICS FOR INTERIORS
Ford and Honda have made significant improvements in using safer plastics in their cars, reports the Ecology Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan - joining Toyota as leaders in the shift to sustainable plastics for interior auto parts. The average vehicle uses 250 pounds of plastic - for seat cushions, arm rests, dashboards, etc., mostly with harmful chemical additives like PVC. These additives off-gas and leach, contaminate air, and create dangerous by-products like dioxin. Toyota has pioneered development of an “ecoplastic” made from sugar cane; Daimler-Chrysler has increased its use of renewable materials such as flax and abaca fibers; Ford has developed a soy-based foam that it will soon use for seating.

SUSTAINABLE HARVEST WINS SPECIALTY COFFEE AWARD FOR 2006
The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) recognizes companies that have created innovative projects to expand sustainability within the coffee world. Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers' Relationship Coffee model won the SCAA's Sustainability Award for 2006. The model is based on quality control, transparency of all business information, traceability of coffee from cooperative to cup, and pretrade financing. “Our Relationship Coffee redefines the role of the importer,” says David Griswold, founder of Sustainable Harvest Coffee. “We strive to bring the growers and roasters on either end of the chain together to cultivate their relationships and communication.”
Based in Portland, Oregon, the firm reinvests profits into farmer educational training programs. Grower assistance comprises nearly 50 percent of its annual budget, which includes services such as business training, marketing, access to markets, preharvest crop financing and certification support. A leading provider of organic and fair trade coffee to the North American specialty market, Sustainable Harvest imports millions of pounds of coffee from small farmer cooperatives in 12 nations in Africa and Latin America. For more information, visit www.sustainableharvest.com. The Specialty Coffee Association's website is: www.scaa.org.

FEATURED NEXT ISSUE: HOW LAKE CHAMPLAIN CHOCOLATES BECAME A MODEL OF SUSTAINABILITY
In the first In Business issue for 2007, Jim Lampman - founder and president of Lake Champlain Chocolates - explains what it takes to turn a former broom bristle factory into a shining example of natural light and oh-so-natural delectable goodness. With its energetic role in achieving LEED certification (the national standard developed by the U.S. Green Building Council) to the hand-painted mural about chocolate that hangs in the employee cafeteria, the company has managed to stay in Burlington, Vermont which Lampman says is a “wonderful place to have a business. It's not all about the bottom line. It's also important to have an inspiring environment to work in and an emphasis on quality of life.”
As author Molly Farrell Tucker recounts the history of Lake Champlain Chocolates, the company was founded in 1983, where it built a reputation for hand-rolled truffles. Most recently, the company introduced an organic line of chocolates. “Our customers appreciate Lake Champlain Chocolates being environmentally responsible,” explains Lampman.
In the words of architect John Anderson, “The LEED process dovetailed with Jim Lampman's desire for a healthy environment. We put in several skylights because people work better with natural light. At the end of the day, if you don't have an environment that people like to be in, you can't say you've achieved sustainability.”
You'll get the complete, captivating story of Lake Champlain Chocolates in your coming In Business issue.

COOKING SKILLS LAUNCH “KITCHEN FOR HIRE” SHARING CONCEPT
Federal, state and local laws and regulation governing food safety, zoning and building safety make it illegal in the United States to use home kitchens to produce most kinds of food for sale. Those rulings have led to the concept of shared-use commercial kitchens - and specifically an idea called “Kitchen for Hire.” Recently, the New York Times profiled several persons who started such a firm and are in the business of “helping entrepreneurs.” Priscilla Maddox and Joan Reid and others used $60,000 from their savings to buy the 10-burner stove, refrigerators, freezers and other equipment of a former restaurant in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn, New York. Among the renters are a caterer, a two-person company that produces sauces and those making and marketing baked goods and hand-made fresh dog food.
In New York, production of most food requires a “full-scale food processing facility subject to licensing and inspection.” Notes Bob Weybright of the Cornell Cooperative Extension: Shared-use kitchens are also an alternative for businesses whose volumes are too small to interest copackers, companies that manufacture the recipes of other companies. Cornell University has a list of small copackers and commercial kitchens operators with names like: Hometown Foods, LLC; Hudson Valley Food Works; Massachusetts Avenue Project; Urban Horizons; Women's Community Building; Arbor Hill Bakery and Once Again Nut Butter.

MAKING RECYCLED PLASTIC COMMERCIAL PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Safeplay Systems built wood and metal playgrounds, but then decided the future of commercial playground equipment was in recycled plastic. According to Bill Orser of the company, while searching for sources of better recycled plastic, the owner of the firm met a leading polymer chemist at a cocktail party in Atlanta. “After explaining our need for strength in recycled plastic,” recalls Orser, “the chemist was on our team. Approximately six months and several thousand dollars later, Ecoplay was born. It is Safeplay Systems' proprietary extruded postconsumer HDPE with a tensile strength of 3800 PSI. Once we had the formula for Ecoplay, we purchased an extruder and began manufacturing our own recycled plastic. Coming from 1989 and a dumpster full of wood, metal and paper being picked up weekly to 2006 and the same dumpster picked up quarterly, we have made progress.” Bill Orser, Safeplay Systems, www.safeplaysystems.com.

BRINGING INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES TO MARKET
Testifying before the House Agriculture Committee, Robert Walker - CEO and president of Bixby Energy Systems - detailed how fuels engineered from agricultural materials (also known as biomass) can provide sustainable solutions to energy needs. Biomass from plant-derived organic matter includes wood waste, aquatic plants, animal waste, municipal refuse, etc. There are more than 10,000 different kinds of biomass materials, explained Walker.
Using his firm Bixby Energy Systems - and its MaxFirey biomass stove heating systems as a real eye-opening example for the public's commitment in biofuels - Walker told the committee that in its second year (FY 2005-06), the MaxFire stove was expected to achieve $3 million in sales. (Bixby actually posted sales of $8.3 million.) Goal for this fiscal year was projected to be three to four times higher.
Bixby raised in excess of $22 million to fund its R&D, production and marketing.

ECOFRIENDLY JEWELRY COMPANY REACHES OUT FOR STYLE AND ETHICAL SOURCING
Natural untreated gemstones, extracted through environmentally sound mining practices, are featured in the Moonrise Jewelry line of products. “With the release of our Premier Eco-Jewelry Collection, we're fulfilling consumers' desire to buy products that are not only stylish but sustainable,” explains Liz Watson, designer and cofounder of Moonrise with Meredith Restein. Based in Eastville, Virginia, the firm promotes economic empowerment for women of all backgrounds in its rural community. By keeping production local rather than outsourcing it overseas, Moonrise Jewelry maintains high standards of quality while providing valuable work opportunities to local women. Visit www.moonrisejewelry.com.