Eau Claire, WI – Sacred Heart Hospital has been selected by the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce as a “Green Sustainable business." Ten area businesses received the award, and this year marks the first year of the award. The designation is in effect for two years.
According to Chamber President Bob McCoy, “This not only gives businesses an opportunity to receive the designation but, it will show customers and the community that they are committed to being a Green Business. Even if a business didn’t want to go through the application process, just reviewing the areas that they could look to implement would be beneficial to them. This is as much of an educational process as it is a recognition program. The Chamber hopes to have at least 100 business identified and selected by year end.”
Local businesses who received the award are: Sacred Heart Hospital, Applied Data Consultants, Department of Interiors Ltd., Laser Product Technologies, Liberty Exteriors Inc., Luther Midelfort, Phillips Plastics Corporation, RealityWorks, Inc. and Superior Auto Body. These businesses range from five employees to 4,500 employees.
The areas of selection include: 1) Energy Conservation 2) Purchasing 3) Recycling 4) Transportation 5) Social Capital 6) Waste Prevention 7) Water Conservation. Businesses must earn at least 40 points in five categories, if they employee 50 or fewer employees and 60 points in all seven categories if they employee more than 50 employees. The selection is done by a panel of six Chamber member representatives based on an application submitted by the businesses. The committee will meet monthly to review future applications that are submitted to the Chamber.
The goals of the program include:
- To market Chamber members who are proactively engaging in green business practices and operations.
- To serve as an environmental public policy conduit between business and other interested organizations.
- To increase awareness of the economic growth opportunities related to the emerging green economy.
- To connect existing green-focused organizations with other businesses to promote best practices with sustainable business models.
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