Henry McKoy has stepped down from the Institute for Sustainable Development Board as he takes up new challenges at the North Carolina Department of Commerce. McKoy shares the Institute’s passion for helping businesses become more competitive, environmentally responsible and engaged with their communities.

“The N.C. Department of Commerce has named Henry McKoy assistant secretary for community development. McKoy joins the department from Fourth-Sector Financial, a financial-service firm focused on the green and sustainability sectors.

“We are very pleased to have Henry McKoy join our Commerce team,” said Secretary of Commerce Keith Crisco in a release. “Gov. Perdue has made community economic development and the green business sector two of her top priorities. Assistant Secretary McKoy’s experience in these important areas and his strong leadership skills make him the ideal person for this job.”

McKoy spent more than 15 years in corporate finance, banking and technology for Central Carolina Bank, National Commerce Financial and SunTrust. He also has extensive community experience and has worked with more than 100 nonprofits since 1993. He founded the nonprofit think tank, OneVoice Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship in 1999, which he still chairs, to focus on the connections between social innovation and entrepreneurship.

“I am very excited to join the Commerce team,” McKoy said. “North Carolina’s communities, especially our less prosperous ones, are working hard during overcome these difficult economic times, and need as much support and assistance as we are able to provide them. I look forward to working with the talented staff of Commerce’s Division of Community Assistance to do so.”

McKoy has served as a member of the state’s Economic Development Board, charged with developing a strategic economic-development plan for North Carolina. He will oversee Commerce’s community-development programs, which provide the state’s less prosperous communities with resources and services to help them plan for growth, encourage economic development and address community needs. Services include:

•Providing support to small businesses in designated small and less prosperous towns through Gov. Bev Perdue’s Main Street Solutions program.

•Revitalizing downtowns and small communities through existing Main Street, Small Town Main Street and 21st Century Communities programs.

•Upgrading infrastructure, fostering entrepreneurship and providing housing and other opportunities through administration of the federal Community Development Block Grants program, the state’s Industrial Development Fund and the N.C. office of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

•Tapping into the local work-force development programs and assisting communities with recruitment, retention and expansion of new and existing companies.

McKoy graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and has pursued graduate studies in environmental management and policy at Duke University.” Click here for the full story in the Charlotte Business Journal.

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(Carrboro, NC) “Chapel Hill Tire co-owner Marc Pons says auto repair, once considered a “dirty” industry, is today among the nation’s most eco-friendly.

Not only do most auto shops recycle automotive fluids and used parts, but they also keep cars running at peak efficiency, causing less damage to the environment. What’s rare is an auto shop that invests in solar energy and recycled products.

In July, Pons received the GreenPlus North American Sustainable Enterprise Award for making environmentally friendly changes at Chapel Hill Tire Car Care Centers in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Chatham County.

The award is sponsored by the Durham-based Institute for Sustainable Development, which Pons learned about as a Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce board member.

The nonprofit institute works to help small businesses focus on people, planet and performance – the “triple bottom line,” said Kirsten Hausman, director of client relations and communications. Public and private partners include the Durham and Chapel Hill-Carrboro chambers, Duke and UNC.

Chapel Hill Tire’s most extensive changes are to the Carrboro shop, which made its official debut Aug. 26 at the chamber’s Business After Hours event.

Pons said the Green Plus certification process helped him see new ways Chapel Hill Tire could give back. The business has a long history of community outreach, including support for the ArtsCenter, Rainbow Soccer League, Builders of Hope and the CORA Food Pantry in Chatham County.

Solar array: The centerpiece of the Carrboro store’s renovation is an 82-panel solar array on the roof. It will generate about 21,000 kilowatt hours a year, said Strata Solar project manager Jay Cobb.

For comparison, that’s about twice the energy the average U.S. home uses annually.

Strata Solar, formerly Solar TechSouth, is a local company specializing in residential and commercial solar options. Architect Jack Haggerty designed the new Carrboro store, working with Strata Solar to install the 16.4 kilowatt photovoltaic solar system.

Chapel Hill Tire saves about $400 a month by selling the power to Duke Energy, Pons said. The project also qualifies for federal renewable energy tax credits of nearly 65 percent, he said, and will pay for itself in five years.

In the meantime, it has saved the shop enough money to hire five new employees and build three new state-of-the-artwork bays.

Pons said they had wanted to give the shop, built around 1905, a modern appearance. When Walker’s Auto Parts moved out in 2008, they saw an opportunity.”

Please click here for the full article by Tammy Grubb for The Chapel Hill News.

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Company is the First Quick Oil Change Company in the Country to Achieve Certification

(Berea, Ohio – September 1, 2010) Lube Stop receives Green Plus™ Certification from the Institute of Sustainable Development for its innovative and sustainable business, environmental, and community-focused practices. Lube Stop is the first quick oil change company in United States and the second company in Ohio to achieve Green Plus Certification.

Green Plus Certification is a rigorous certification and education program that certifies small businesses and nonprofit organizations in the areas of triple bottom line sustainability. The points-based certification process includes an 86-question online diagnostic survey, a customized evaluation and planning process, thorough document review and verification, and a site audit.

“Lube Stop’s innovations – which save money and protect its hometown environment – have made it one of the first auto-related businesses in the country to achieve Green Plus Certification,” said Chris Carmody, executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Development. “Lube Stop is a national leader in demonstrating how doing the right thing by one’s community and environment is also good business,” Carmody concluded.

Lube Stop began the Green Plus certification process in January 2010 and achieved certification in seven months. The company adopted several new sustainability practices based on the diagnostic survey results and the requirements of the certification process. Specifically, a company-wide recycling program was developed with Republic Services and Allied Waste eliminating 75% of the company’s waste stream, several practices were implemented at the new corporate headquarters including low-VOC paint and Interface flooring, and 30% post-consumer recycled paper was adopted company-wide at no additional cost.

“According to a 2009 Grail Research report, 93% of consumers find a company’s sustainability practices important to their purchasing decision,” said Tom Morley, president of Lube Stop. “Green Plus is the standard for small business sustainability recognition and certification, a certification that will grow increasingly important as more and more small businesses try to position themselves as ‘green.’”

About Green Plus:
The Green Plus™ program helps educate and certify small businesses and nonprofit organizations in the areas of triple bottom line sustainability (people, planet, and performance). As the flagship program of the Institute for Sustainable Development, Green Plus™ focuses on an organization’s policies and procedures and therefore applies to businesses across sectors and industries. Green Plus is the official small and medium sized enterprise sustainability program of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives comprised of 1,300 members nationally.

About The Lube Stop, Inc.: 
Lube Stop helped revolutionize the oil change concept in 1985. Today, Lube Stop is Ohio’s largest independent quick oil change company, operating 37 Lube Stop locations in Cleveland, Akron, and Canton, and services more than 25,000 customers a month. Lube Stop is now spearheading the adoption of sustainable business practices within the industry and is the first quick oil change company to establish a formal sustainability program and to offer a re-refined oil change service which it trademarked as EcoGuard®. Visit LubeStop.com to learn more.

Consumers are demanding ‘green’ products from what they consider to be responsible companies. Large buyers (notably Wal-Mart), are demanding higher environmental standards from their suppliers in order to reduce costs and socially responsible business practices to burnish their image and avoid bad press. Now banks and insurance companies are giving companies another reason to go green and sustainable: Liability.

In Lenders Back Off of Environmental Risks, Tom Zeller Jr. writes for the New York Times, “After years of legal entanglements arising from environmental messes and increased scrutiny of banks that finance the dirtiest industries, several large commercial lenders are taking a stand on industry practices that they regard as risky to their reputations and bottom lines.”

Zack Phillips of Business Insurance recently wrote about a parallel development: environmental law suits aimed specifically at company directors and officers: “At the same time, disclosure requirements related to greenhouse gas emissions are increasing, legal observers say. An Oct. 27 bulletin from the Securities and Exchange Commission reversed a previous agency rule and allows shareholders to request information about financial risks from social and environmental issues, including climate change.”

The bottom line? Just as customers and large buyers want to reward businesses for green and responsible behavior, banks and insurance companies do not want to be liable – financially or otherwise – for negative environmental and social practices.

Here’s a further excerpt from the New York Times piece discussing how Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse,Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Royal Bank of Canada and others are pulling back from businesses whose operations may be creating environmental hazards – and therefore liabilities – for lenders.

“In the most recent example, the banking giant Wells Fargonoted last month what it called “considerable attention and controversy” surrounding mountaintop removal mining, and said that its involvement with companies engaged in it was “limited and declining.”

The bank was a small player in the sector, representing about $78 million in bonds and loan financing for such companies from 2008 to April of this year, according to data compiled by the Rainforest Action Network, an environmental group tracking the issue.

But the policy shift by Wells Fargo follows others over the last two years, including moves by Credit Suisse,Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase,Bank of America and Citibank, to increase scrutiny of lending to companies involved in mountaintop removal — or to end the lending altogether.

HSBC, which is based in London, has curtailed its relationships with some producers of palm oil, which is often linked to deforestation in developing countries. The Dutch lender Rabobank has applied a nine-point checklist of conditions for would-be oil and gas borrowers that includes commitments to improve environmental performance and protect water quality.” For the full piece by Tom Zeller Jr. for the New York Times, please click here.

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Join the Green Plus Team at Certified Green Plus Chapel Hill Tire Care Thursday, August 26 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. for the Chapel Hill – Carrboro Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours (click here for a radio piece on Chapel Hill Tire’s sustainability efforts).

In order to earn its Green Plus Certification, owner Marc Pons conducted an upgrade of one of his old garages to improve its environmental impact while saving the company money:  “The sustainable retrofitting of the facility, built around 1905, included a solar panels system and three new state-of-the-art service bays, constructed of salvaged and recycled materials, where possible, and equipped with the latest automotive diagnostic equipment.

Other green features include insulated low-e windows, energy-efficient LED lighting, dual-flush toilets, interior finishes such as low-VOC paints, and reduced impervious surface landscaping with rainwater collection cistern, which not only beautifies the building but also reduces stormwater run-off. Pons introduced the Triangle to EFO (Environmentally Friendly Oil) for oil changes and NitroFill tire inflation system to boost tire efficiency and life and reduce tire waste.” Please click here for the full story from the News Herald.

Event Information

Business After Hours – 5:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, August 26 – Chapel Hill Tire Car Care Center, Carrboro location
No registration required. Free for Chamber Members.

Questions? Contact Laura Morrison | 357.9989
lmorrison@carolinachamber.org

Chapel Hill Tire Car Care Center, located at 203 W. Main Street in Carrboro, will host and sponsor
August’s monthly evening networking event. The Non-Profit Spotlight is Green Plus. No registration required. Please note that this event will be held on the fourth Friday in August.

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“She had invested all of her savings in the business, and she did not want to see it go under.

But her loan applications were rejected repeatedly at banks in San Jose. Then she found Opportunity Fund, a local microlender that has teamed up with Kiva.org, one of the best-known international microlenders. Kiva, which has lent more than $150 million in 53 countries, had just begun a pilot program lending to business owners in the United States.

Through Kiva, Ms. Keppert obtained a $6,500 loan that she has three years to pay back and that carries a 6 percent interest rate. She used the money to buy an ice maker, a generator to save on propane costs and large signs to advertise her business.”

For the full article from the New York Times, please click here.

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In partnership with Next American City and Partners for Livable Communities, the Institute for Sustainable Development will make its first Green Plus City Award for a U.S. or Canadian town or city that has demonstrated exemplary leadership in making its community more sustainable in Feburary. The Institute for Sustainable Development is a non-profit partnership of university and business leaders with the mission of aiding smaller enterprises and their communities become more sustainable, fostering a new generation of sustainability leaders, and promoting dialogues about the theory and practice of sustainability across cultures. Green Plus, the Institute’s flagship program, exists to educate, network, and reward small enterprises in their triple bottom line efforts.

About Next American City

Next American City is published by The Next American City, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting socially and environmentally sustainable economic growth in America’s cities and examining how and why our built environment, economy, society and culture are changing. Its team achieves this goal through the publishing of a print and online magazine, events across the country, and advocacy on issues central to the future of cities.

About Partners for Livable Communities

Partners for Livable Communities is a national, nonprofit leadership organization working to improve the livability of communities by promoting quality of life, economic development, and social equity.

For questions about this award, please email khausman@gogreenplus.org.

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“Chapel Hill Tire Car Care Center owner Marc Pons won a national award for his exceptional commitment to a sustainable community and his pioneering leadership in bringing green principles to the automotive care industry.

The Institute for Sustainable Development announced the winners of the Green Plus North American Sustainable Enterprise Awards at a recent ceremony at its RTP headquarters. Green Plus is an institute program that educates and certifies small and medium businesses across the country in triple bottom line sustainability in the areas of people (employees and community), planet (interaction with and use of the natural environment) and performance (strengthening business for optimal performance).

Pons was recognized for the green renovation of his Carrboro store. The sustainable retrofitting of the facility, built around 1905, included a solar panels system and three new state-of-the-art service bays, constructed of salvaged and recycled materials, where possible, and equipped with the latest automotive diagnostic equipment.

Other green features include insulated low-e windows, energy-efficient LED lighting, dual-flush toilets, interior finishes such as low-VOC paints, and reduced impervious surface landscaping with rainwater collection cistern, which not only beautifies the building but also reduces stormwater run-off. Pons introduced the Triangle to EFO (Environmentally Friendly Oil) for oil changes and NitroFill tire inflation system to boost tire efficiency and life and reduce tire waste.

Pons said he knew that in the areas of people and performance, the company would do well. Since 1953, the company has been known for its commitment to employees and customers and a passion for excellence. Pons’ outreach into the community includes serving as the 2010 vice chairman of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce and being a regular contributor to organizations including Kidzu Children’s Museum, Carrboro Arts Center, Rainbow Soccer League, CORA Food Pantry and Builders of Hope.

But he wasn’t so sure about how his business would fare with the third of the triple bottom line sustainability arena, the planet.

“Green Plus showed us that we could define success in another way, for the planet, and be a responsible business that wants to do the right thing,” Pons said.

“We’ve learned that there are lots of easy steps that any business can take to become greener. It was inspiring and fun because it broadened our thinking and sparked creative ideas,” he said.

“We learned that solar panels were feasible because of the tax credits. This change we’ve made is a win for our customers, the community and our business, because we can work more efficiently and be less wasteful,” Pons said. “We want other businesses in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area to join us in this effort. We’ve proven it’s doable. And, it’s good business because customers appreciate good stewardship and an improved community.”

Please click here for the original story from The Herald.

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www.gogreenplus.org

A stakeholder is an individual or group that is influenced by, or has influence over, a particular entity’s ability to thrive.  In other words, stakeholders encompass just about any party an organization touches.

The process of managing stakeholder relationships, known as stakeholder engagement, refers to the ways organizations engage with a set of their stakeholders in an effort to align their mutual interests, to reduce risk and advance the organization’s performance in terms of people, planet and profit.

Stakeholder engagement may not be a term many smaller enterprises are familiar with, but it’s probably something they’re already doing.  For example, complying with local regulations, building partnerships with local nonprofits, and communicating with your employees are all forms of stakeholder engagement.

Once stakeholders are identified and their interests understood, a whole new lens for organizational activities and strategies can open up.  So how does this relate to Green Plus?  A particularly interesting application of the stakeholder engagement lens relates to an organization’s sustainable practices.  How do organizations, generally, and of differing characteristics, conceive of the connection between stakeholder engagement and sustainability?

To learn more about the interplay between stakeholder engagement and sustainability, the Institute for Sustainable Development has partnered with Cleveland sustainability consulting firm, BrownFlynn, to survey businesses large and small on their attitudes on the topic.  Businesses participating in the study will receive a free executive summary of the survey results – valued at more than $250.  If additional motivation is needed, participating businesses will be entered in to a drawing for an Apple iPad.

To participate in the 8-10 minute survey, please visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RN8TW3F

About BrownFlynn and BrownFlynn Learning
BrownFlynn is a corporate responsibility and sustainability consulting firm. We partner with clients to integrate environmentally and socially responsible practices into their business strategies and help them communicate those messages internally and externally, creating a cultural shift that results in bottom-line impact. Visit www.brownflynn.com for service offerings, case studies and our sustainability resource center.

In 2008, BrownFlynn was named the first U.S. certified trainer for GRI, the international “gold standard” for sustainability management and reporting. This resulted in the launch of BrownFlynn Learning—the Firm’s corporate sustainability education and training division. BrownFlynn Learning teaches companies how to triple their bottom line—environmentally, socially and economically—through workshops, webinars, on- site training, conferences and other venues. Visit www.brownflynnlearning.com for more information.

The Maryland Association of CPAs, founded in 1901, is the only organization in the state of Maryland to exclusively represent the interests of Maryland CPAs. Our members work in public accounting, industry, government, education, and the non-profit sector. Certified Public Accountants meet strong educational and ethical standards while serving their respective organizations and community.