Green Initiative for Regional Chamber

Cool Cities Chairwoman Diana Christopulos chats with Chamber's Kathy Baske-Young^

The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce plans to become a partner with Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition, launching a green initiative for its members.

“This is a voluntary program that will give interested businesses an opportunity to reduce waste and save money while being green business stewards of the region," says Chamber President Joyce Waugh. "It’s a way for even small firms that want to brand themselves as being green, to do so.”

The program will be based on a green checklist developed by Cool Cities Coalition that includes water use, waste disposal, indoor air quality pollution control and energy use.

The Chamber will help by providing information, networking, small business assistance, and advocacy for over 1,300 members, which employ over 90,000 with an estimated annual payroll of $2.7 billion. For its part, Cool Cities includes many regional leaders in energy conservation, renewable energy and green business practices. Its 165 affiliates represent over 15,000 citizens. Cool Cities Chairwoman Diana Christopulos talked of the huge environmental strides that have been made during the last year by the business community in Roanoke. Companies, she says, have come to undeerstand that "getting the waste out of the system" and a "change of behavior" have positive impacts on the bottom line.

Christopulos stressed that "we already have great success stories here in the Roanoke Valley. In fact our region is already being recognized as a statewide leader:

• "The elected officials of (the Valley) have made unanimous commitments and significant progress in measuring and reducing their carbon footprints.
• "Roanoke County Schools avoided almost $4.7 million in utility costs between 1998 and 2006 through conservation and efficiency. The school system's energy manager became known as the 'prince of darkness' because so much of the savings came from things like turning off the lights and computers when they weren't in use.
• "Hollins University, Ferrum College, James Madison, Virginia Tech and Lynchburg College have made substantial public commitments to become greener and more sustainable.
• "When the Clean and Green busienss coalition reduced its collective carbon footprint by over 13 percent in one year--a prodigeous accomplishment--the Orvis representative said, 'We weren't picking low hanging fruit off the trees; we were stumbling over it on the ground."

Cool Cities will develop program content and verify that applicants complete checklist requirements. The Chamber believes that this third party verification strengthens the integrity of the program. Says Waugh, “Our goal is to conduct a pilot program with up to 10 businesses this summer and move forward this fall with the on-going program. Businesses that meet the elements on the checklist will be recognized in a number of ways, including a listing in the Chamber’s quarterly Business Connections magazine and given a special designation. The pilot will give us a chance to work out all the details.”