Green Innovations 2009 symposium

GREEN BAY — Businesses and organizations interested in improving their bottom line with innovation and sustainability will want to register for, or participate in the “Green Innovations 2009: Connecting Natural Capital to Economic Competitiveness” symposium, held at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Earth Day, April 22.

The all-day symposium, hosted by UW-Green Bay’s new Environmental Management and Business Institute, will showcase greener thinking and greener technologies in a variety of ways.

The “Green Innovations” symposium features:

• Keynote speakers who are experts in business aspects of sustainability and energy management and the impact on the economy;

• Breakout sessions on developing human capital for sustainability, transitioning to sustainability, and the profitability of sustainability;

• An Entrepreneurs Showcase with exhibitors displaying their products and services in energy technologies and discussing their best “green” business practices. Learn what’s ahead in innovation in biomass conversion, energy-saving devices, renewable energy sources and more;

• Networking opportunities with investors, community leaders, business leaders, educators and students.

“This is an opportunity for businesses and individuals to see what’s out there to aid with sustainability challenges,” said UW-Green Bay Interim Chancellor David Ward, who will introduce the symposium with Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton. “’Greener’ technologies will protect the environment while also helping businesses become more prosperous.”

Keynote speakers include Bob Willard, a leading expert on the business value of corporate sustainable strategies and author of “The Sustainability Advantage”; and Larry Weyers, the executive chairman of Integrys Energy Group. The luncheon speaker is Dennis Winters, chief of the Office of Economic Advisors at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Sessions include the following speakers:

Morning Session
Track 1: Developing Human Capital for Sustainability
• Mike Kraft, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs at UW-Green Bay
• Rob Bermke, Senior Environmental Engineer at Georgia Pacific
• Jeff DeLaune, Renewable Energy Solutions Development Leader at Johnson Controls, Inc.

Track 2: Transition to Sustainability
• Steve Dunn, Ph.D., CPIM, Chair of Supply Chain and Operations Management at UW-Oshkosh
• Tim Weyenberg, CEO at Foth, LLC

Track 3: Profitability of Sustainability
• Paul Lemens, Director of Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UW-Green Bay (facilitator)
• John Hippensteel, Owner of Lake Michigan Wind and Sun
• Daniel De Buhr, President and co-founder of AgrEnergy, LLC
• CJ Schmidt, Managing Member of Fiber MX, LLC

Afternoon session
Track 1: Developing Human Capital for Sustainability
• John Katers, Associate Professor of Natural and Applied Sciences at UW-Green Bay (facilitator)
• Amy Kox, Sustainable Programs Manager at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
• Jennifer Sims, Green Bay HS&E Leader at Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company

Track 2: Transition to Sustainability
• Kurt Waldhuetter, Regional Director of Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Network (Facilitator)
• Chris Calawerts, President of ENCAP
• Les Smith, Senior Management Customer Quality Assurance, Tufco Technologies, Inc.
• Bob Pederson, President and CEO, Goodwill Industries

Track 3: Profitability of Sustainability
• John Stoll, Co-Director of Environmental Management and Business Institute at UW-Green Bay (facilitator)
• Don Draxler, Director of Global Environmental Affairs, Oshkosh Corp. and Sue Murawski P.E., Senior Environmental Engineer, Oshkosh Corp.
• Joe Kramer, Senior Project Leader, Energy Center of Wisconsin
• Ken Buelow, Dairy Manager of Holsum Dairy

Registration for attendees and exhibitors is due by Wednesday, April 15.

Registration materials are available online at www.uwgb.edu/embi/workshop, or by calling (920) 465-2642. Showcase exhibitors should call Christina Trombley in the Small Business Development Center, (920) 496-2117.

The symposium is made possible by the partnerships between UW-Green Bay, the Small Business Development Center, the New North and financial support from Foth, Baylake Bank, Wisconsin Public Service, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Schreiber Foods, FEECO International and ENCAP.

Details on ‘Green Innovations 2009’

Registration Deadline: Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Fee: $159 includes materials, lunch, breaks, parking. Payment due at time of registration
Showcase exhibitors participant fee: $87.50
Register online: Registration materials are available online at www.uwgb.edu/workshop or call (920) 465-2642 or (800) 892-2118.
For questions call (920) 465-2642 or (800) 892-2118. Showcase exhibitors should call Christina Trombley in the Small Business Development Center, (920) 496-2117.
Web site: www.uwgb.edu/embi/

About the speakers:
Keynote: Bob Willard
Bob Willard is a leading expert on the business value of corporate sustainability strategies. He has given hundreds of keynote presentations to corporate, government, university, and non-governmental organization audiences. Willard applies business and leadership development experience from his 34-year career at IBM Canada to engage business leaders in proactively avoiding risks and capturing opportunities associated with sustainability issues.
He is the author of “The Sustainability Advantage,” which quantifies potential bottom-line benefits from using sustainability strategies, and “The Next Sustainability Wave,” which shows how to convince senior executives to commit to sustainability strategies. He has a bachelor’s degree from McGill University (1964), a master’s degree from the University of Toronto (2000), and a Ph.D. in sustainability from the University of Toronto (2005).

Keynote: Larry Weyers
Larry Weyers is the executive chairman of Integrys Energy Group, a holding company with utility and non-regulated subsidiaries in the energy industry, including Wisconsin Public Service Corporation. He has been with the company since 1985.
Weyers currently works with various local, state and national organizations and is on the boards of Bellin Health, the Green Bay Packers, Green Bay Packaging, and the American Transmission Company. He is also a member of the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Doane College in Nebraska, and master’s degrees in engineering from Columbia University in New York and business administration from Harvard University. He is a registered professional engineer.

Luncheon Presenter: Dennis Winters
Winters is the chief of the Office of Economic Advisors at Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. He has expertise in economic analysis, modeling and forecasting; encompassing everything from designing commodity derivative strategies to assessing long-term policy initiative scenarios. Winters’ areas of focus will include regional and national macroeconomics, energy and labor markets, and economic impact analysis.

Schedule of events:
8:30 a.m. — Welcome from Chancellor David Ward
8:35 a.m. — Keynote, “The Business Case for Sustainability” with Bob Willard
9:45 a.m. — Keynote, “Green Energy” with Larry Weyers
10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. — Entrepreneurs Showcase
10:45 a.m. — Concurrent breakout sessions
• Developing Human Capital for Sustainability
• Transition to Sustainability
• Profitability of Sustainability
Noon — Lunch and presentation, “Our Future Workforce” with Dennis Winters
1:45 p.m. — Concurrent breakout sessions
(Same lineup as above)
3 p.m. to 7 p.m. — Earth Day activities on campus and in the community, open to the public, free.

Video Transcript

Green Innovations 2009: Connecting Natural Capital to Economic Competitiveness

Prof. Kevin Fermanich
EMBI Co-Director
EMBI stands for Environmental Management and Business Institute. It’s our new institute that we began last fall to bring together our programs and strengths in environmental science, environmental policy and planning, as well as our business program. What’s new about it is that we’re combining the business programs into these other strengths that we have on campus.

TEXT
What is the “Green Innovations 2009 Connecting Natural Capital to Economic Competitiveness” symposium all about?

Prof. John Stoll
EMBI Co-Director
We’re going to try to have an event that brings together people from the business community to talk about sustainability as sort of a way to introduce EMBI to the public, that we’re here on campus. We’ll try to work with people and also get an education for business and community members in the area with a focus on sustainability and other kinds of content issues.

TEXT
What will the symposium feature?

Prof. Kevin Fermanich
We’ve got speakers that are going to be talking about the human capital needs of combining business interests and environmental interests, as well as talking about why this is good for the triple-bottom-line, talking about sustainability in the business context.

We’re going to have an entrepreneurial showcase that is featuring businesses and organizations that are working in this area of sustainability and business and the environment. We’ve had a number of organizations contact us who are interested in building capacity to deal with these issues of business and future sustainability.

TEXT
So why come to the “Green Innovations 2009: Connecting Natural Capital to Economic Competitiveness” symposium?

Prof. John Stoll
We hope to make connections between the students and faculty on campus with businesses to get a better understanding of their human capital needs for dealing with issues of sustainability and the environment in the future; to connect with other businesses; to learn a little bit more about ways to be profitable and still incorporate issues of sustainability and caring for the environment for the future.

Prof. Kevin Fermanich
We think this is a new opportunity for folk in the NEW North Region, in that it’s a chance for us to talk about where the intersection between business and the environment, and how what’s good for the environment is good for business. We are hearing a lot about green business and new innovations in that area and we think it’s going to be one way for keeping our area competitive in this economic environment.

Sponsors
UW-Green Bay
Foth
FEECO International
ENCAP Corp.
UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
NEW North
Baylake Bank
Wisconsin Public Service
Schreiber Foods

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