Tag Archive for 'Sustainability'

Oregon Governor Sustainability Winners Honored at Northwest Environmental Conference

Published on December 4, 2012 in Corporation, Headlines, Press Releases, Secretary Brown and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

PORTLAND – Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown and the Oregon Sustainability Board will honor five Oregon companies for their commitment to sustainable business practices at the NEBC/AOI Northwest Environmental Conference & Tradeshow on December 4.

This year’s winners of the Governor’s Sustainability Awards are: Grand Champions – Mountain Rose Herbs and Hopworks Urban Brewery; Technology Award – EasyStreet Online Services; Manufacturing Award – Oregon Iron Works; and Rising Star – Bridgetown Natural Foods.

“The winners truly represent the best Oregon has to offer in sustainable business practices,” said Secretary of State Kate Brown. “We can all learn so much from these companies, as we continue to rebuild Oregon’s economy.”

The 24th NEBC/AOI annual conference is the Northwest’s largest and most comprehensive environmentally focused conference and trade show and will highlight such issues as: environmental protection and compliance; resource and operational efficiencies; health and safety practices; sustainability programs; product standards; and environmental economics.

In 2006, then Governor Ted Kulongoski issued an Executive Order directed the then Oregon Economic and Community Development Department (OECDD) [now known as Business Oregon] to establish an awards program to promote and advance the inclusion of sustainable practices in government and the private sector.

More on the 2012 Oregon Sustainability Award Winners:

Mountain Rose Herbs

Mountain Rose Herbs has been known for its uncompromising commitment to organic agriculture, sustainable business practices, and a steadfast focus on the pure aesthetics and freshness of botanical products. Their wide range of certified organic product offerings includes bulk herbs and spices, aromatherapy and essential oils, tea and tea supplies, and natural health and body care. Every aspect of product creation is carried out in accordance with strict quality control and organic handling procedures by employees who care. The company employs numerous energy efficiency measures including a lighting program that has reduced electricity usage for lighting by more than 40%. It is also enrolled in EWEB’s Greenpower program to cover all electricity use, and purchases carbon offsets for all aspects of company operations including shipping, travel and operations.

Hopworks Urban Brewery

Hopworks Urban Brewery and Hopworks BikeBar are Portland’s first Eco-Brewpubs. Its stated mission is to “produce world-class beer and food as sustainably as possible. The brewery offers handcrafted organic beers and fresh, local ingredients, all served in sustainably-built and operated buildings with a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Hopworks incorporates many aspects of sustainability: from composting to rain barrels, and from pervious pavers to hand dryers. Hopworks brewery is 100% renewably powered and “cradle to gate” carbon neutral. The company has purchased BEF Water Restoration Credits for more water than their facilities use and is working towards a zero landfill goal. Currently, less than 10% of waste is sent to landfills.

EasyStreet Online Services

EasyStreet is Oregon’s locally-headquartered enterprise-class IT Services provider. EasyStreet helps its customers integrate Cloud, colocation, Internet connectivity and related services to create the flexible computing infrastructure that meets their needs. The company buys offsets for 100% of the electricity, water and natural gas it consumes in its data centers — resulting in zero carbon footprint operations. Its innovative cooling systems that significantly reduce energy consumption that allow data center to save over 1.5 million kWh per year.

Oregon Iron Works

Oregon Iron Works, Inc. (OIW) is a world-class metal fabricator headquartered in Clackamas, Oregon with factories in Oregon and Washington. Founded in 1944, we have an exceptional history and success in both commercial and government contract work. OIW specializes in mechanical and electrical integration and complex fabrication across diverse industries. The company implemented significant energy efficiency upgrades to lighting, HVAC and process machinery. EE upgrades have saved them over 1.6 million kWh and over $100,000 per year. It also installed a 30.8 kWh solar PV array and is planning to add 300% more solar within the next year.

Bridgetown Natural Foods

Bridgetown Natural Foods is an emerging, fast-growing contract manufacturer of all-natural, organic, kosher and gluten-free healthy snack products. The company has an 110,000-square-foot facility in Portland’s Lents neighborhood. Bridgetown currently is working toward becoming a zero-waste-to-landfill operation. The company sells unusable food product/waste to local hog farmers, refurbishes used equipment in-house and has implemented energy efficiency measures in lighting, process machinery and facility cooling.

For more information, please refer to http://www.sustainableoregon.net or contact Andrea Cantu-Schomus (503) 986-2368 or Mark Brady (503) 689-5638.

 

Secretary Brown to announce legislation creating a new corporate entity for sustainable businesses

Published on September 28, 2012 in Headlines, Press Releases, Road Trips and Secretary Brown. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , , , .

SALEM – On Monday, October 1, Secretary of State Kate Brown will be at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland to discuss Benefit Company legislation, at the first annual Oregon Social Business Challenge sponsored by the Oregon University System.

“Together with a group of Oregon Business Leaders we have created legislation that gives Oregon businesses the freedom and legal protection to pursue more than just profit,” said Secretary Brown. “We hope to join the 11 other states that have already passed similar laws meeting the growing needs of entrepreneurs and investors who want to use their business as a tool to solve social and environmental problems.”

Secretary Brown will join more than 1,000 Oregonians at the sell-out event next Monday featuring Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient and leading thinker on micro-lending, in a bid to show average Oregonians that state higher education is making the world a better place.

Secretary Brown will be available to media after the opening ceremony.

When:              Monday, October 1st, at 12:00 PM

Where:             Oregon Convention Center

777 Northeast Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard

Portland, OR 97232

Secretary of State’s public-private partnership creates jobs in eastern Oregon

Published on May 3, 2012 in Archives, Press Releases, Road Trips, Secretary Brown and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Press Release
May 3, 2012

SALEM – Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown will celebrate the public-private partnership with Chaves Consulting, Inc. at a ribbon cutting ceremony at 2 p.m. on May 4, 2012 in Baker City, Oregon. This unique partnership allows the Secretary of State’s office to implement the first statewide electronic records management solution, the first of its kind in the country. Oregon’s Records Management Solution (ORMS) is estimated to create more than 25 jobs in eastern Oregon.

“In rural eastern Oregon 25 jobs is significant; it is equivalent to 2,500 jobs in the Portland metro area,” said Secretary Brown. “I am so proud of this partnership. The work allows us to create jobs, preserve Oregon’s history and provide better services to Oregonians at a lower cost.”

ORMS allows for the simplification of records management across the entire state and local government using Hewlett Packard’s software called TRIM. Additionally, this single records management system will enable Oregon to gain economies of scale, cost savings, as well as greater efficiencies due to the consolidation of workloads and reduction of duplicative storage. The system copies, stores, archives and retrieves records creating less work for staff. It also reduces the chances of losing records and is sustainable, decreasing the need for paper and storage.

Cities such as Beaverton, West Linn and Milwaukie; state agencies – Public Utilities Commission and pilot field offices from the Department of Human Services Children, Adults and Families Division; Tillamook County and Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District have all joined as pilot agencies. Additional state and local government agencies are expected to join this year.

The ribbon cutting ceremony will take place at the Synergy Data Center in Baker City. This state of the art facility houses stores the data for ORMS and other clients such as the Wyoming and Missouri Secretaries of State.

For more information, please contact

Andrea Cantu-Schomus
Communications Director
Oregon Secretary of State
503-986-2368
503-507-0082

Secretary Brown Speaks at Nike/Oregon Community Foundation Event

Published on October 15, 2011 in Headlines, Press Releases, Secretary Brown and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .
kate-brown-at-nike-employee-grant-fund-10-12-2011-sml

Secretary of State Kate Brown joined Patrice Thramer, Nike’s Director of Sustainable Business and Innovation, and Kathleen Cornett, the Oregon Community Foundation VP for Grants and Programs, to present the Nike Employee Grant Fund’s contribution back to the Portland metropolitan area. This year, 27 non-profits and schools are sharing the Nike Employee Grand Fund gift of $300,000.

Most of the $300,000 is going to projects that relate to sports or physical fitness. However, significant grants also go to long-term investment in the environment and the health and well-being of children and families. “These 27 organizations and their programs embody the kind of community-building efforts that are vital for creating a strong, healthy Oregon,” said Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown. The foundation has provided more than $500,000 in support since its start in 2010.

Speaking at the event, Secretary of State Kate Brown quoted Studs Terkel: “Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say:  This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better.”

Sustainability Board Members Visit Eastern Oregon Innovators

Published on September 26, 2011 in Headlines, Press Releases, Road Trips, Secretary Brown, Sustainability Board and Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .
Oregon Sustainability Board members tour airport pellet boiler

As the chair of the Oregon Sustainability Board, Secretary Brown is committed to traveling across the state to hear from every Oregonian about preserving Oregon’s natural resources, innovating for the future, and spurring economic growth.

In September, Secretary Brown convened a meeting of the Sustainability Board in John Day and Baker City and was joined by her fellow board members including Willamette University environmental law professor Robin Morris Collin and Trey Senn, director of the Klamath County Economic Development Association.

The first day of meetings took place on September 15 at the Grant County Regional Airport, which completed a noteworthy renovation last year. The airport now boasts a LEED certified, sustainable design that incorporates local and recycled materials. The retrofit has improved energy performance by more than a third.

The airport now doubles as an event and meeting center. Recently one of President Obama’s top advisers, Nancy Sutley, visited the Grant County Regional Airport on her trip to discuss the collaborative approach to forest health taken by Grant and Harney Counties, an approach that not only creates local, renewable energy sources but, also, creates local jobs.

Kate Brown checks out pellet boiler

Kate Brown checks out pellet boiler

During the first day of meetings, the Oregon Sustainability Board heard from the Blue Mountain Forest Collaborative and toured Malheur Lumber Company. Seeing new opportunity in this economic climate, Malheur Lumber Company started to manufacture pellet-burning boilers for sustainably harvested biomass. This investment in the future created at least six new jobs directly related to the new boilers. It has also resulted in the thinning of unhealthy and flammable forest growth.

Grant County Regional Airport features one of these innovative pellet boilers.

Robin Morris Collin and Sara Vickerman enjoy the tour of Malheur Lumber

Robin Morris Collin and Sara Vickerman enjoy the tour of Malheur Lumber

After a night at the haunted Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City, the Board continued their work. Speaking with regional sustainability planners, they learned how historical preservation is at the heart of sustainability planning.

Fun fact: Over 100 Baker City buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

While visiting sites like the underground tunnels, the Board saw how locally sourced and recycled materials are incorporated into historical buildings during preservation projects. They learned about the money energy retrofits save as well as the local employment they engender – all while preserving some of Oregon’s most amazing gems east of the Cascades.

Baker City’s emphasis on preservation has paid off because tourism is one of its largest industries. With its colorful history, Victorian-style houses, and Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, Baker City is a site to see!

The Oregon Sustainability Board

Published on December 4, 2009 in Secretary Brown and Sustainability Board. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Source: Bohemian Nights

Here in Oregon we are proud of our State’s reputation for being a leader, in both thought and action, in the green and sustainable business practices arena. As part of The State of Oregon’s commitment to greater sustainability, the Oregon Sustainability Board was created in 2001, charged with:

Employ[ing] the knowledge, expertise and creativity of Oregons citizens, build[ing] upon existing private and public efforts throughout the state to ensure efficient and complementary results, develop[ing] voluntary, incentive-based and performance oriented systems to supplement traditional regulatory approaches, [using] good science to measure resource use, environ-mental health and costs to determine progress in achieving desired outcomes, and establish[ing] clear measurable goals and targets to guide state efforts toward sustainability

Since being appointed in January of 2009, Secretary of State Brown has chaired the Sustainability Board. In addition to facilitating the meetings, she also sets the strategic direction for the Board, including how the Board’s activities and projects can build on the focus.

On November 20th the Sustainability Board met once again to discuss the progress of ongoing projects and to further develop a strategic vision for the future. During this meeting, the Board determined a major focus will be spotlighting how sustainability can heal the urban/rural divide. Over the next biennium, the Board plans to complete new projects and looks forward to a robust and innovative future.

In addition, the Board will continue to champion its role as facilitator of work on sustainability-related issues within state government and in the broader Oregon community. It will continue to serve as the primary bridge for innovation, environmental stewardship and social equity.

We will continue to post Sustainability Board news and information about upcoming projects on this blog, but until then, to learn more about the Sustainability Board and State Government efforts to promote sustainability in the State of Oregon, check out:

http://www.sustainableoregon.net/oregon/