Networking Breakfast debrief

The Alliance just recently hosted its first Networking Breakfast, and we were thrilled to have a wide variety of Chicago industries represented in 40 attendees: Builders, Real Estate Professionals, Consultants, Product Designers, Public Relations Firms, Interior Designers, Suppliers of green products, City officials and International representatives, Educators, Conservationists, and more.

In addition to networking, conversation, and great food, we also talked about Global Warming and how it affects Chicago businesses. Angela Leontis also spoke about the status of the Chicago Climate Exchange and Associate Membership for small and office-based businesses. Joe Shacter from the Environmental Law and Policy Center also spoke about their regional Greenhouse Gas Emissions Registry program.

Resources that were made available at the breakfast are now available online: www.sustainablechicago.biz/resources.

We handed out a few Compact Fluorescent light bulbs to emphasize not only the need for all actions to reduce energy use- both large and small- but also that as a business community, we can have a much more significant impact on sustainability in Chicago when we aggregate our enthusiasm and our resources. To that end, the Alliance is currently developing other ways to challenge the membership to reach specific sustainability targets. We’re investigating a partnership that would allow members to offset carbon emissions, as well as other ideas.

We got a lot of great feedback about how we can make the next event even better. We look forward to seeing you at our next Networking Breakfast on November 17, where we’ll be talking about Selling Sustainability- how do you communicate your commitment to sustainability to potential customers when competitors are trying to send a falsely ‘green’ message?

See you at Green Drinks – Business Edition next week. The topic is “Learning from Sustainable Business Leaders: PortionPac”.

5:30-8pm
Jefferson Tap & Grille, 325 N Jefferson
$7
No RSVP required

Chicago-based Portion Pac embraced sustainability principles early-on in its development. A manufacturer of commercial cleaning supplies, it continues to aggressively integrate environmentally- and socially-responsible practices into their products, and services while also managing significant growth. COO Burt Klein join us for a discussion of where the company has succeeded, the challenges they still face, and lessons they have learned along the way.