Local MI Chambers Host Clean Energy Discussion with Governor’s Office

The Lansing, Saginaw and Traverse City Chambers of Commerce co-hosted a briefing call with representatives from Governor Rick Snyder’s office to exchange ideas on the state’s clean energy goals. During the briefing, approximately 50 chamber officials and member companies learned about the state’s energy goals and shared information about their energy projects and experiences.

Valerie Brader, Michigan’s senior policy advisor on energy, told the chambers that the state is likely to seek an increase in its energy efficiency and renewable energy standards. She said she was gratified to hear about the activities already being undertaken by chambers and asked them to share their stories more widely to help build support for innovative energy policy in the state.

The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce, for example, told the participants about a very well received revolving loan program to fund energy efficiency retrofits. The Saginaw Chamber said it hoped to involve its members in one of the state’s new energy working groups and the Lansing Chamber discussed its continuing efforts to guide innovative energy policies in the state.

The call also featured a briefing about the surprising bipartisan momentum in Congress around energy efficiency legislation.

A summary of energy efficiency legislative initiatives in Washington can be found here. A short profile of the Traverse City program can be found here. 

Foster City Chamber Teams Up With Cleantech Open Accelerator

The Foster City Chamber in California continues to enhance its reputation as an innovator by co-hosting a forum with the Cleantech Open and IBM to educate local businesses about the upcoming national 2014 Cleantech Open Accelerator.

The forum will feature leading architects and technology entrepreneurs focused on designing smart buildings that can reward owners with significant energy savings. The chamber’s member companies will learn about the latest in smart building design and software.

Chambers around the country may want to share the Accelerator link with their entrepreneurial businesses. The Foster City Chamber of Commerce is here. 

Local TN Chamber Guides Members Toward Efficiency Incentives

In 2010, the Bartlett Area Chamber launched an innovative new energy efficiency service for its member companies that helps assess energy use, plan upgrades and implement action plans. In a two-year period, the chamber helped 43 companies implement efficiency projects valued at $5.5 million.

“Over and over again, we realized that most commercial buildings are wasting anywhere from 20 percent to 30 percent of their energy,” said Chamber CEO John Threadgill. “In this economy, our members can’t afford to throw their money away. Energy efficiency is the solution.”

More recently, the Bartlett chamber began working with the county’s Economic Development team to educate companies about the available tax benefits for energy efficiency and similar resource saving programs.

Click here to read our profile of the Bartlett Area Chamber and how it created a staff position to help its member companies with energy efficiency.

Local Chamber in Gadsden, Florida, Installs Solar System on Office Building

Demonstrating the power of local chambers to lead by establishing pilot projects, the Chamber of Gadsden County in Florida has announced plans to become the first business in its area to install a fully integrated solar energy system.

The chamber will install four solar panels capable of generating 1 kilowatt of energy on its building. The project will demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating a solar system into an existing building as an alternative energy source.

According to Independent Green Technologies, the company handling the installation, the parties have agreed to a barter relationship. The chamber gets a solar installation and Independent Green Technologies receives a membership to the Gadsden chamber.

The Gadsden Chamber is online here. Independent Green Technologies can be found here.

Cleveland Chamber’s Small Business Partner Promotes Energy Efficiency

The Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), Cleveland Chamber of Commerce’s Small-Business Partner, released a new video illustrating how small businesses can save money through energy assessments. The video features Mike Mitchell, owner of Mitchell’s Ice Cream, and how he saved thousands of dollars on his energy bills.

COSE has a strong record of producing creative materials to bring the energy efficiency message to its member businesses. See here for its “Seven Steps to Energy Efficiency and Savings” offers a turnkey set of solutions to identify energy savings.

Local MN Chamber Uses Energy Efficiency as Retention Strategy

With local energy rates increasing, the Hibbing Area Chamber of Commerce in Minnesota wondered what it could do to help its member companies survive. “For us, it was not only helping reduce energy waste,” said Lory Fedo, chamber President and CEO. “We are helping people stay in business because they just cannot afford these utility bills.”

After exploring options, Hibbing launched a “Business Energy Retrofit” program in cooperation with the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board and the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency. Working together, they established a “one stop shop” for area businesses that include audits and step-by-step programs to help implement efficiency retrofits.

IRRRB has invested $750,000 in the program. Approximately 50 businesses have taken advantage of the mixture of grants and low-cost loans. Another 100 are on a waiting list with the next phase of the program anticipated this spring. “The beauty of the program is that it assists businesses regardless of their size and projects,” Fedo says. “And we get healthier businesses and happy members.”

The Business Energy Retrofit application can be found on the chamber’s website here. A brochure on the BER program from the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency can be found here.

2014 Clean Energy Investment Briefing

Local Chambers Well Positioned To Foster Economic and Job Development in Clean Energy Space

With developments in clean energy and renewables coming at an ever-faster pace, local chambers of commerce are well positioned to harness the energy of entrepreneurs and investors to build their communities in profitable and sustainable ways.

That was the message delivered by clean energy experts who spoke to chamber executives during the annual clean energy investment forecast hosted by Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy. The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce joined the briefing as a featured speaker, highlighting the critical role that chambers can play in convening stakeholders, creating public-private partnerships to create clean energy hubs and hosting demonstration projects.

Michael Haley of the Greater Raleigh Chamber’s Economic Development Office described how his region undertook a survey of area businesses and found an emerging hub of smart grid firms that allowed the region to create a Smart Grid Cluster that the chamber then sought to develop through traditional chamber roles such as conveners, partners, amplifiers and economic and job development.

Also speaking to approximately 60 chamber representatives from around the country, Sheeraz Haji, CEO, Cleantech Group, told local chambers that market disruption is still ongoing in the transportation, lighting and home energy sectors presenting new opportunities for local businesses. Matthew Nordan, Managing Partner of MNL Partners, a clean energy investment firm, described how clean energy companies are positioning themselves in the US and abroad and how cities are attracting investment by creating a start-up ecosystem where they provide start-ups with shared space and capital equipment, demonstration sites and more.

Local Chambers Voice Support for Renewable Energy

The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber are speaking out in support of wind energy. Their statements of support come as the state legislature in Kansas once again considers measures to repeal the state’s renewable energy standards.

Commenting on a recent poll finding that 91 percent of Kansas voters strongly support using renewable energy, Jim Heeter, President and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, told reporters that “the state’s renewable energy policy has helped foster new business and jobs in Kansas.” And Jason Ball, President and CEO of the Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce, said that “policies such as the Renewable Portfolio Standard support companies that currently provide jobs in Kansas, and it keeps Kansas competitive when recruiting new employers and investment to the region.”

According to the poll, voters overwhelmingly believe that renewable energy leads to new investments and jobs in the state.

Local MI Chambers Open Energy Dialogue With Policy Makers

Local chambers in Michigan organized a luncheon and briefing with Governor Rick Snyder’s office to discuss the development of the state’s ten-year energy plan. Only hours before the Governor’s “State of the State” speech, his chief energy advisor, Valerie Brader, told more than a dozen chamber CEOs that the governor believes expanded energy efficiency and renewable standards will be a key part of the plan. Local chambers were encouraged to provide input into this key economic development opportunity for the state.

The program was co-sponsored by the Lansing Chamber of Commerce, the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce, the Saginaw Chamber of Commerce, and Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy. Co-hosts Tim Daman (CEO, Lansing Chamber) and Doug Luciani (CEO, Traverse City Chamber) shared their clean energy economic development projects with the Governor’s representatives and their chamber colleagues.

See Governor Snyder's video on setting goals for “No Regrets” energy future by 2025.

Local MA Chambers Hear Potential For Offshore Wind Development

Early last year, the New Bedford Economic Development Council established a special wind energy center to boost efforts to develop the offshore wind industry in this southeastern Massachusetts town. Last weekend, the Mayor of New Bedford told a roomful of local chamber of commerce executives that wind energy will transform his city’s economy.

Speaking to the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, Mayor Jonathan Mitchell said that the state is building a $100 million facility at the New Bedford port to support the construction, assembly and deployment of offshore wind projects and said that nearly a quarter of the nation’s wind energy resources sit just a few miles from this historic whaling community.

Mayor Mitchell thanked the New Bedford Chamber of Commerce, a partner in the wind energy center, and urged the other chamber executives from Massachusetts to fully explore renewable energy resources for their own communities. CICE was one of the sponsors of the MACCE meeting and hosted a clean energy table to share information about clean energy opportunities for chambers.

Mayor Mitchell’s state of the city address from 2013 can be found on the New Bedford Chamber of Commerce website here. 

MT's Laurel Chamber Celebrates the Holidays by Saving Energy

To mark the holiday season, we offer something a bit ‘lighter’: the Christmas tale of Montana’s Laurel Chamber of Commerce, which this year added new sparkle to its downtown holiday decorations by swapping out more than 1,000 bulbs with new energy-efficient lights. The new bulbs are expected to last 40 holiday seasons!

“For the first time, we proudly present the community with street decorations that are newly rewired and include all new LED bulbs,” Chamber Executive Secretary Joanne Flynn said.

See this short video about the many advantages of LED lights over regular incandescent light sources here.

An article in the local Montana newspaper describes the chamber project and the advantages of LEDs (light-emitting diodes), such as lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robustness, and smaller size.

CT's Middlesex Co Chamber Boosts Clean Energy Financing Program

The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce is promoting an innovative finance program for energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades to their member companies. This week, the chamber held an educational session on Connecticut’s PACE program following an address by Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy that was attended by more than a thousand business leaders from around the state.

PACE or Property Assessed Clean Energy is a finance program that allows commercial and industrial building owners to do energy upgrades and avoid upfront capital costs. Nearly 60 towns have already opted into Connecticut’s PACE program.

More information on Connecticut’s PACE Program can be found here. Check here to see if your state is one of 31 that already have PACE programs. An article about the Middlesex Chamber’s event is here.

Michigan Chambers Bring Clean Energy Message to Congress

The Lansing Regional and the Saginaw County Chambers of Commerce traveled to Washington last month to promote clean energy policy with members of the Michigan congressional delegation. The chambers also discussed the economic benefits of the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, a bipartisan bill sponsored by U.S. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

The DC visits by the Lansing and Saginaw chambers continue the effort by local chambers from around the country to highlight the economic opportunities associated with clean energy. Earlier this year, Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy brought several dozen chamber executives — including Michigan’s Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce — to Washington for a series of meetings on the Hill.

“Policies that encourage energy efficiency create an environment that drives business growth, investment and economic development” said Kristin Beltzer, senior vice president of government relations at the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce. Veronica Horn, executive vice president of the Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce, said, “Congress should pass policies that increase our energy efficiency and help spark new businesses and investment.”

The Traverse City chamber’s write up of its Washington experience with links to its Energy Efficiency Loan Fund is here. A related case study from the Flint & Genesee Chamber, “Sparking Clean Energy Connections in Michigan,” can be found here.

Local NC Chamber Innovates With EV Charging Stations

Local chambers of commerce are natural partners for innovative demonstration projects. In North Carolina, for example, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce is encouraging early adoption of electric vehicles by maintaining two plug-in electric vehicle charging stations at the chamber’s headquarters.

The chamber sees its headquarters as a natural location for the charging stations since the building serves as a visitor’s center as well as gathering spot for regional businesses. The demonstration project helps position the chamber as a leader in cutting edge technologies while also preparing the community for a modern electric vehicle infrastructure.

A news release from the Asheville Chamber announcing the plug-in program can be found here.

OMA to Brief Local Chambers on Ohio’s Renewable Energy Law

The Ohio Manufacturers’ Association and Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy are hosting a telebriefing this week for Ohio chambers of commerce to explain the economic benefits of the state’s existing clean energy regulations and why OMA opposes pending efforts to undermine the law.

The manufacturing association, which represents many of the state’s largest energy users, believes that the state’s existing renewable energy law helps businesses save money on their utility bills and increases their competitive advantage. OMA opposes SB 58, a pending proposal to undermine the law, and is co-hosting a briefing call with CICE on Wednesday, November 6th to talk with Ohio chambers about the benefits of the state’s existing renewable law.

A fact sheet from the Ohio Manufacturers’ Association is here.

Grand Slam on the Economics of Wind For Local OH Chamber

Earlier this month, the leading newspaper in Van Wert County, Ohio, published a front-page story about the record high sale of farmland adjacent to two wind farms. “If anyone was worried that the value of farm ground in Van Wert County was going to fall after two wind farms were constructed in the area,” the newspaper wrote, “it appears they needn’t have worried.”

Several pages later, the paper carried an op-ed from Susan Munroe, President and CEO of Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce. Munroe’s article – which also ran in two other area newspapers – told the story of Iberdrola Renewable’s Blue Creek Wind Farm and welcomed the economic development potential of wind energy.

“It doesn’t get much better than today’s issue of the Times Bulletin,” Munroe said. “The front page lead article covers the record-breaking auction sale of local farmland that borders Blue Creek Wind Farm, debunking the myth that wind farms bring down bordering property value. This article combined with my op-ed piece on today’s Opinion page makes it a good day for wind energy and economic development in Van Wert County!”

Munroe’s opinion article (as published in the Van Wert Independent) can be found here. The front-page story about the sale of farmland can be found here.

Salt Lake Chamber: Clearing the Air to Make Business Stronger

Over the last five years, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce has played an increasingly central role in regional efforts to cut air pollution, making an economic development case for clean air.

Last weekend, Ryan Evans, the vice president for business and community relations for the chamber, published an op-ed in the Salt Lake Tribune, explaining that local chambers know that clean air is important for economic development and that private sector solutions are better than government mandates.

“Clean air and energy make good business sense,” Evans wrote, “and we’ll continue to share our perspective about how local businesses will play a significant role in moving the country forward.” Utah Governor Gary Herbert recently appointed Ryan to a statewide Clean Air Action Team.

Evans opinion article can be found here. The news release from Governor Herbert’s office about the Clean Air Action Team can be found here.

William Rudolph and the Toledo Chamber: A Case for Clean Energy

William Rudolph, chairman of Rudolph/Libbe Companies, leads one of Ohio’s largest construction services companies. He also serves on the steering committee of the Northwest Ohio Solar Initiative of the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce and believes strongly in the economic development case for clean energy.

His belief in clean energy and the bottom line is so strong in fact that he recently joined dozens of local chamber of commerce representatives in Washington to talk about energy innovation and the bottom line.

“Our representatives and legislators were glad to hear from people from their district about the importance of energy efficiency and clean energy in the success of business,” Rudolph told Toledo-area reporters about the reception he received during the trip, which was organized by Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy. 

Watch Rudolph make the business case.

The homepage for Rudolph/Libbe’s solar initiative is here.

Amidst Shutdown, Chambers Bring Clean Energy Message to Washington

Braving a government shutdown and a Capitol Hill lockdown, local chamber of commerce leaders last week delivered a powerful message of clean energy as an engine of economic development directly to five U.S. Senators and an equal number of House members and their staffs.

“Through shutdown and lockdown, our delegation demonstrated the can-do attitude of local chambers,” said Diane Doucette, CICE Executive Director. “Local business leaders are engines of growth and perhaps the best hope we have to lead our economy toward energy innovation.”

Joining the trip were chamber leaders from Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Virginia, South Carolina, Missouri, Utah, Indiana, Tennessee, California and Texas. The executives told the members of Congress of their strong support for the Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill and discussed other energy initiatives.

An oped about the trip written by Susan Munroe, President of Ohio’s Van Wert Area Chamber of Commerce, can be found here. A column in Breaking Energy by CICE Executive Director Diane Doucette can be found here. 

Local MI Chamber Offers Energy Efficiency Microloans

The Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce of Michigan has expanded a loan program to help local businesses reduce electricity consumption and lower utility bills.

In partnership with Traverse City Light and Power, the chamber established a $200,000 Energy Efficiency Revolving Loan Fund that promotes energy savings among businesses in the utility’s service district. Loans can be made for companies to invest in energy efficiency measures identified through a comprehensive energy audit.

The description of the loan program on the chamber’s website can be found here. A news release from the utility about the program is here. A news story on the program from Midwest Energy News can be found here.