UW-Green Bay announces speakers for ‘Green Innovations’ symposium on Earth Day

GREEN BAY — On Earth Day, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay will launch its Environmental Management and Business Institute (EMBI) by hosting the “Green Innovations 2009: Connecting Natural Capital to Economic Competitiveness” symposium. The all-day symposium will start at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 22, on the UW-Green Bay campus, 2420 Nicolet Drive.

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and UW-Green Bay Interim Chancellor David Ward will introduce the day’s events.

The symposium features group discussion sessions with experts in fields ranging from the paper industry, dairy farms, energy companies and more. It will showcase greener thinking and greener technologies in a variety of ways, including keynote speakers, breakout sessions, exhibitions and networking.
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
• Leif Nygaard, Appleton Service Branch Manager, serving Northeast Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Johnson Controls

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

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.

Registration for attendees and exhibitors is due by Wednesday, April 15. The $159 attendee fee includes materials, lunch, breaks and parking. The showcase exhibitors participant fee is $87.50. Payment is due at time of registration.

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.

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