May 13, 2013; 12:00-2:00 p.m.
WMSBF Monthly Meeting
Grace Legacy Builders
501 Broadway NW Grand Rapids

This month we  explore a bit of Grand Rapids’ West Side.  Join us as we meet in a church building being renovated from a fire; dine on local Indian food; hear presentations on performance-based building design, the Grand Rapids Whitewater project, and local Active Commute Week Challenge & activities. Following the meeting, there will be a tour of the building that received the most LEED Platinum certification points in the world - so try to carve out a little extra time.

Presentations:

Winner:  Michele Van Houten - The Country Cemetery 

Honorable Mentions:  Theresa Hogerheide - From Vine to Virtue & 

Anne Reynolds - Constructive Dissent

Gabe Wing, WMSBF Board President, welcomed members and guests to Calvin College’s Bunker Interpretive Center, which once again graciously provided a beautiful setting for recognition of our annual Essay Contest winners and a celebration of Earth Month.

This year’s theme was the Value of Virtuousness, inspired by Kim Cameron’s January presentation on Positive Organizational Scholarship. Click HERE for more information on the essay contest and to read the essayists’ thoughtful reflections.

Contributing to the meeting were Brock Rodgers, izzy+, who shared a personal Earth Day retrospective; Lindsey DesArmo, GVSU, who promoted Active Commute Week in May; Deanna Demory, United Way, who planted a few seeds of collaboration; and Dan Schoonmaker who offered a rapid-fire review of West Michigan Environmental Action Council’s past, present, and future initiatives.

Special thanks to members of our essay review panel, who have already begun  discussions on topics and expanded outreach for next year’s essay contest: Dave Aupperlee, BISSELL; Shelley Irwin, WGVU; Terri McCarthy, Wege Foundation; Brenda Moore, Grand Rapids Urban League; Su Paauwe, NTH Consultants; David Rinard, Steelcase; Dan Schoonmaker, West Michigan Environmental Action Council; Justin Swan, Organicycle; Jennifer Wammack, IDa Design; Gabe Wing, Herman Miller; Lisa Locke, WMSBF.

We invite you to play an active role in steering the course of this vibrant organization. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else for a two-year term or would like more information, please contact Lisa Locke at llocke@wmsbf.org.  Click HERE for a Board Member Job Description and HERE for a Nomination Form. Nominations are due April 15.

2013 Scholarship & Golf Outing

The WMSBF scholarship application process is open to students in any field of study at any of the accredited four-year universities and colleges in Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon Counties. Applications are due May 6.  The WMSBF scholarship committee will review all applications and conduct interviews of the top candidates. The $5,000 scholarship will be awarded to the student who most convincingly shows an in-depth understanding of sustainability, embodies the ideals and goals of the WMSBF, and has submitted the most plausible and implementable suggestions for enhancing integration of sustainability into their school’s operations or within their community.  FLYER and APPLICATION for the 2013 Scholarship are available through these links and on our website.  Contact Lisa Locke, llocke@wmsbf.org for more information. 

SAVE THE DATE:  Monday, August 12, 2013; 8:00 a.m. scramble.
New location this year – Sunnybrook Country Club in Grandville, http://www.sunnybrook.com.

The Scholarship Golf Outing is a fundraiser designed to raise $5,000 in order to encourage college/university students to integrate sustainability into their particular discipline. Your Sponsorship will help ensure we reach our goal!! Contact Lisa Locke, llocke@wmsbf.org for more information on sponsor, donor, and volunteer opportunities.

Matt VanSweden, Integrated Architecture, will lead a presentation and discussion on Living Building Challenge, https://ilbi.org:

• a PHILOSOPHY, ADVOCACY PLATFORM AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM.  Because it defines priorities on both a technical level and as a set of core values, it is engaging the broader building industry in the deep conversations required to truly understand how to solve problems rather than shift them.

• an EVOCATIVE GUIDE. By identifying an ideal and positioning that ideal as the indicator of success, the Challenge inspires project teams to reach decisions based on restorative principles instead of searching for ‘least common denominator’ solutions. This approach brings project teams closer to the objectives we are collectively working to achieve.

• a BEACON. With a goal to increase awareness, it is tackling critical environmental, social and economic problems, such as: the rise of persistent toxic chemicals; climate change; habitat loss; the collapse of domestic manufacturing; global trade imbalances; urban sprawl; and the lack of community distinctiveness.

• a UNIFIED TOOL. Addressing development at all scales, it can be equally applied to landscape and infrastructure projects; partial renovations and complete building renewals; new building construction; and neighborhood, campus and community design.

• a PERFORMANCE-BASED STANDARD. Decidedly not a checklist of best practices, the Challenge leads teams to embrace regional solutions and respond to a number of variables, including climate factors and cultural characteristics.

• a VISIONARY PATH TO A RESTORATIVE FUTURE.

He’ll introduce a group that has formed in Grand Rapids, who has taken this Challenge and added a little West Michigan flair.  Join us as we explore how business, both small and large, can – and should – take on this challenge.

Sponsors for this meeting are Integrated Architecture, Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church & the Grand Rapids Urban League.

If you would like to attend this meeting, you must register by email to llocke@wmsbf.org by Thursday, February 7. Cost of attending is $10 for members/$15 for non-members. Payment may be made by cash or check at the event or by credit card in advance through the home page of our website, Programs & Events/Monthly Meetings on the top menu, http://www.wmsbf.org.  A $1 additional processing charge is included for credit card payments.

Positive energy, the heliotropic effect (organic tendency to lean towards the light), positive deviance, and a virtuous state of being; these were all key ingredients in Dr. Kim Cameron’s presentation on The Value of Virtuousness at Calvin College’s Bunker Interpretive Center. Dr. Cameron, of University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, discussed research on the link between positive energy – or virtuousness – and employee performance in both the public and private sectors. He used empirical data and personal anecdotes to show this link, and to help define ways to increase positive energy and productivity, or a virtuous state within organizations.

Dr. Cameron pointed out that people organize to eliminate deviance from the norm, because deviance is seen as strictly negative. However, eliminating deviance also means taking away opportunities for individuals to be extraordinary. Virtuousness, positive imagery, and positive deviance create a state of coherence, where the mind and body functions are perfectly aligned. More information can be found on the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship website, http://www.centerforpos.org.

Special thanks to Busy Bea’s Services, IDa Design, Lake Affect Design Studio & The CarbonNeutral Company for sponsoring this special presentation to kick off the new year.

2013 Scholarship Recipient

Also at the meeting we introduced our 2012 Scholarship recipient:  Abby Samotis.  Abby is a Junior in the Sustainable Business program at Aquinas. Her passion was beautifully expressed in her essay:  My love for flowers accompanied me to my first job at a local greenhouse. I was living my dream. The hours I spent digging in the dirt, taught me more about life, than any teacher, preacher, or friend.  Seeing how much nature had taught me assured me it needed to stay incorporated in the rest of my life. Congratulations, Abby!!  And our sincere appreciation to all the students who submitted applications.  Our best wishes to you on your sustainability journeys.  We’re counting on you!!

Once again, we will kick off the New Year with a special program at the lovely Bunker Interpretive Center on the Calvin College campus.  Join us for some new insights into Forgiveness, Gratitude, Kindness, and the Value of Virtuousness in the Business World. Our guest presenter is Kim Cameron, William Russell Kelley Professor of Management and Organizations at U of M’s Ross School of Business.

If you would like to attend this meeting, you must register by email to llocke@wmsbf.org by Thursday, January 10. Cost of attending is $10 for members/$15 for non-members. Payment may be made by cash or check at the event or by credit card in advance through the home page of our website, Programs & Events/Monthly Meetings on the top menu, http://www.wmsbf.org.  A $1 additional processing charge is included for credit card payments.

Special thanks to Kentwood Office Furniture for hosting our November meeting and sponsoring the lunch, catered by Goodwill Industries!!

December 10, 2012; 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
December Monthly Meeting
GRCC Applied Technology Center, Rms. 122 & 124
151 Fountain NE, Grand Rapids

Join us for this month’s focus on the Wonders of Waste:

• Roll out of the WMSBF Waste Assessment Guide
• Introduction to EXCHANGE - Materials & Resources Exchange West Michigan
• Introduction to Trash Policy
• Garbage Tour Video
• Trashy party favors

If you would like to attend this meeting, you must register by email to llocke@wmsbf.org by Thursday, December 6. Cost of attending is $10 for members/$15 for non-members. Payment may be made by cash or check at the event or by credit card in advance through the home page of our website, Programs & Events/Monthly Meetings on the top menu, http://www.wmsbf.org.  A $1 additional processing charge is included for credit card payments.

The WMSBF Energy Committee, supported by the Tools & Resources Committee, will be introducing the Energy Assessment Guide (EAG), a complement to the Primary Self Assessment Guide (SAG) completed by many of you on the Chalk & Wire web-based tool. This is the next phase of our DEQ grant supported pollution prevention project. The SAG included a section on Energy but this guide provides a much more comprehensive approach to evaluating knowledge and integration of energy efficency/conservation practices. It is intended to be a valuable tool to a range of business sizes and sectors. Following background on the process and a look at the final product, there will be table top dicussions to elicit member input. Stay tuned for information on upcoming Waste and Corporate Social Responsibility Assessment Guide roll-outs…

If you would like to attend this meeting, you must register by email to llocke@wmsbf.org (mailto:llocke@wmsbf.org) by Thursday, November 8. Cost of attending is $10 for members/$15 for non-members. Payment may be made by cash or check at the event or by credit card in advance through the home page of our website, Programs & Events/Monthly Meetings on the top menu, http://www.wmsbf.org. A $1 additional processing charge is included for credit card payments.

Dirck Lyon thanking guest speaker, Jim Musial

October 8, around 130 people from around West Michigan gathered at Amway Corporation to hear corporate philosophies, candid insights and creative examples of local CSR projects, practices, and partnerships.

The event was hosted by Amway Corporation, Cascade Engineering, Community Sustainability Partnership, and West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum.

Following welcomes from the hosts, Mayor George Heartwell offered opening reflections. Jim Musial, Vice President of CSR for Wolverine Worldwide, presented on Linking the (WWW) CSR Strategies of Tomorrow to the Legacy of our Past.  Throughout the day, participants were challenged to expand their understandings of the Ethical and strategic meanings of Shared Value;  evaluate their own Corporate Citizenship; pursue Partnerships for Social Impact; and address the Wicked nature of the CSR-related problems we all face.

Bonnie Nawara, Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women; Kyle Whyte, MSU; Jim Musial, Wolverine Worldwide

In fact, Wicked Problems, raised by Kyle Whyte, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at MSU, became the buzz phrase of the day; referring to serious, observable, persistent problems that are difficult to clearly define, predict, measure, or address, much less find consensus on. All the more reason for commanding our most focused, visionnary, and respectful attention.

Operations in Your Water Cycle; Operations to Social Good

Neil Hawkin, Vice President Sustainability & EH&S, Dow Chemical, presented on The Science of Shared Value and Dow’s Four Pillars of Sustainability. Panels addressed social entrepreneurship, water and carbon management, and leveraging core competencies in your business to positively impact human health and well-being and the natural environmental. Dr. Thomas Haas, GVSU President, offered some closing reflections.

We want to express special thanks to our sponsors who all contributed to make this such a successful event: Brewery Vivant, Fifth Third Bank, Lambert, Edwards & Associates, MiBiz & The Right Place. Special thanks also to Amway for providing a wonderful setting and luncheon.

The conversations and charge for new creative initiatives will continue. We’ll keep you informed and engaged in this community challenge.

Speaking in favor of the amendment, Rich VanderVeen, the founder and president of Mackinaw Power, advocated for this action as the only way to ingrain this renewable energy idea into this and future state legislatures.

Steve Transeth, senior energy policy advisor for Clean Affordable Renewable Energy for Michigan spoke in opposition to the amendment, deeming it too restrictive.

Both speakers shared a vision of a Michigan with high renewable energy standards, but the real debate was over the correct course of action.

Following the discussion on the ballot initiative, Habitat for Humanity’s Mary Buikema, Chris Hall, Brandyn Deckinga, and Jon Hankins led a walking tour of Habitat for Humanity of Kent County’s current projects in the Wealthy Heights district. Showcasing the unique work of building and renovating in an historic area, while incorporating green building practices, this neighborhood tour presented some of Habitat for Humanity’s most ambitious projects.