GreenLane Lunch -- Oct 6th, 12-1:30pm, Bold Steps Panel

Find out how businesses are getting noticed

The Mayor's Bold Steps program recognizes the sustainability efforts businesses are making today. This award honors businesses that make decisions based on the concept of the triple bottom line, which includes taking extra care in how they treat people and the planet, while supporting economic prosperity.

If you win, you receive $5,000 worth of free advertising, recognition from the Mayor at a public event, and future opportunities to promote your award to all concerned clientelle.

Who's coming?

Mayor Kitty Piercy; Carolyn Stein, BRING; Ian Hill, SeQuential Biofuels; Julie Tilt, Hummingbird Wholesale; Charlie Ruff, Oregon Country Fair

Mayor Kitty Piercy will open the program with information about the impetus behind the Bold Steps program. When she first ran for Mayor in 2003, Ms. Piercy unveiled an economic development strategy that focused on building a sustainable economy. She rightly predicted that sustainability would grow in importance as an economic engine and she wanted to position our community in the forefront of this new economy. The Bold Steps program is one of many initiatives that were generated by the Mayor's emphasis on building a sustainable economy.

Carolyn Stein

Carolyn Stein of Bring Recycling and director of Bring's Re:Think program will moderate the panel of speakers.

Ian Hill

Co-founder Ian Hill of SeQuential biofuels will share his story of how and why they are a Bold Steps award winner. According to the Bold Steps judges, SeQuential is very strong in all areas of the triple bottom line.  They pay their workers above average industry wages, sourced all their building material for their Eugene station within a 50 mile radius and use 100% EWEB wind power to cover what their solar array doesn't provide.  SeQuential actively reaches out to create partnerships in the community whether with local schools or local business. Their boldest step is moving their biodiesel pricing away from being directly tied to petroleum markets. They are doing this by sourcing all biofuels sold at the Eugene station from within Oregon.  Over 80% of that biofuel is from used cooking oil and the remainder is from non-GMO canola grown in rotation cycles with food crops.

Julie Tilt

Hummingbird Wholesale has been working with local farmers in the Willamette Valley to grow organic beans, grains and seeds for over 10 years. The company currently has 8 farmers growing in the valley, four of which are grass seed farmers who have converted conventional land to organic.  Sustainability is integrated at every level of the organization, from mission statement to company policy, to packaging and transportation systems.  Hummingbird also has a strong social equity commitment to hiring and retaining a diverse staff.

What you can expect

The program is a collaborative effort between a number of community volunteers, Cumulus media group and Mayor Kitty Piercy. Learn from a panel of businesses that have received this award about their bold step - how they pursued it and lessons learned.  Then, discuss with fellow GreenLaners at your table what bold steps your organization might take.

More about Bold Steps

The Bold Steps program grew out of Mayor Piercy's Sustainable Business Initiative (SBI). Rusty Rexius and David Funk, co-chairs of the SBI, were speaking at an event attended by the manager of Cumulus Radio. The manager, Michael O'Shea, stepped up and said that he wanted his six stations in the market to do something to help propel the issue forward. From that offer the Mayor developed the idea of an award and PSA program. The program consisted of PSAs promoting sustainable measures businesses and residents could instigate immediately. Understanding that no business was totally sustainable, the Mayor suggested that an award be given regularly to businesses that were taking steps toward sustainability. Jennifer Bell developed the "Bold Steps" name for the award and co-wrote the initial PSAs with David Funk.

Previous winners

• Hummingbird Wholesale
• Mountain Rose Herbs
• SeQuential Biofuels
• Slocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine
• Bike Friday
• Organically Grown
• Isler CPA
• EuroAsian Automotive/AutoHaus
• Oregon Country Fair.

Cumulus publicizes the winner (worth thousands in advertising value) and runs a series of PSAs about sustainability on Cumulus stations.   Nominations may be submitted at any time, and all nominations are kept on file for future consideration.  Nominations are accepted www.sustaineugene.com The steering committee selects a winning application every 2 months.