2009 State of Green Business Forum

On February 2, 2009, some leaders from business, government, nonprofits, and academe gathered in San Francisco for the 2009 State of Green Business Forum, featuring the launch of State of Green Business 2009, showing how, and how well, U.S. companies are implementing environmental initiatives. Speakers and panels from leadership companies and think tanks shared their insights and experiences on such topics as green design innovation, water as a business issue, buildings and energy efficiency, green jobs, the new Obama administration, and more.

The event opened with an overview of the second annual State of Green Business 2009 report which can be downloaded on GreenBiz.com. The remainder of the day consisted of five individual panels - Innovation As a Green Strategy, Is Water the New Carbon?, Energy Efficiency Rises Again, The Green Jobs Opportunity, President Obama and the Green Economy.

The Innovation As a Green Strategy discussion was the most interesting of the five. The panel consisted of a diverse group with a fascinating insight into green strategy. The discussion focused on integrating green thinking into a companies business model and changing the overall culture all the way through the supply chain. This concept leads to a few other thoughts which will be shared in a future post.