These days, free knowledge is like free money. Hudson Valley business people are able to take advantage of the knowledge to garner the money under an ongoing program run by nonprofit business groups.
Two courses, offered at the Newburgh Ramada Inn, are now completed and a third will be offered in February, designed to provide in-house expertise to make green business practices pay off for businesses.
The Dutchess County Workforce Investment Board and the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center Inc. (HVTDC) have already teamed up twice to provide free “Green Team Leader” training. The program was originally slated for Dutchess County business professionals, but has since expanded to the Hudson Valley. It has received high marks from the business people who have completed the four-day courses.
In February, the seminars will be offered again, still free of charge, but with a wider field of information for a multicounty field of students.
The idea is to help businesses learn how to go green in ways that generate bottom-line savings. “We”™re trying to make business leaders aware of ways they can apply efficiency initiatives within the green arena to their businesses,” said Phyllis Levine, manager of marketing and administration at the HVTDC.
Eighteen business professionals completed the most recent symposium. Sessions ran four days, six hours per day.
The program information aims to develop a “green team leader” for businesses who can then identify ways to reduce expenses related to, for example, business waste stream and energy usage.
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There is also a comprehensive review of available resources and outreach programs geared towards the transformation to energy efficiency, sustainability, reduction of toxic chemical use, air emissions and waste generation was provided.
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This state-funded seminar series was sponsored by the Hudson Valley Green Talent Pipeline Partnership, a collaboration of the Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), from Dutchess, Orange , Rockland , Sullivan , Ulster and Westchester counties, plus a separate push from the city of Yonkers.
In what Levine called “a little bit of a twist,” the course in February will be open to both working business people looking to take information back to their workplace and also to people who are currently unemployed and are seeking to broaden their expertise. And there will be a small amount of new curriculum information to highlight what students can do to make their homes greener and more efficient in terms of energy use and reducing wasteful expenditures.
Presenters so far have included Don Perry, managing director of Shiva”™s Karma, a green-themed strategic management consulting firm; the national Green Building Council; Tracey Hall, director of buildings and grounds at Sullivan Community College; and Patrice Courtney-Strong, owner of Patrice Courtney Strong”™s Consulting, which provides marketing and education outreach to 20 counties for the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority under the Energy Smart Communities program.
For more information, call 896-6934, ex. 3001.
