Contact: Contact:
WI Sustainable Business Council Green Masters Program
Tom Eggert Kevin Banas
Executive Director Program Coordinator
tom@wisconsinsustainability.com kevin@wisconsinsustainability.com
Madison – The WI Sustainable Business Council is today announcing the 2016 Green Master level companies at the 9th Annual WI Sustainable Business Conference. The Conference is being held this year at Empire Screen Printing. With just under 200 Wisconsin businesses currently participating in the Green Masters program, being recognized and celebrated in front of peers makes attaining the Green Master status especially meaningful.
This year, 35 companies are being recognized as Green Masters. Each of these companies scored in the top 20% of all applicants during the year. Of these companies, 25 are retaining their Green Master status from last year, and we welcome 10 as new Green Master companies this year.
Becoming a Green Master has never been easy, and this year the minimum score for becoming a Green Master rose from 524 to 554. This select group of the state’s sustainability leaders have made huge improvements in each of the 9 areas that the program assesses, and they continue to raise the bar for others. The 2016 Green Masters are as follows:
2016 Green Masters
ABB Inc., New Berlin
Alliant Energy Corporation, Madison
American Family Insurance, Madison
Appleton Coated, Combined Locks
Appvion, Appleton
Bounce Milwaukee, Milwaukee
CNH Industrial, Burr Ridge
Didion Milling, Johnson Creek
Evolution Marketing, Oconomowoc
Fairmount Santrol, Menomonie
Frito-Lay, Inc., Beloit
Green Bay Packaging, Green Bay
Homburg Contractors, Monona
Hudson Hospital and Clinics, Hudson
Hurtado Zimmerman SC, Wauwatosa
Inpro Corporation, Muskego
KI (Krueger International), Green Bay
Kohl’s, Menomonee Falls
Lands’ End, Dodgeville
Laser Pros International, Rhinelander
Madison Gas and Electric, Madison
Masters Gallery Foods, Inc., Plymouth
Menasha Corporation, Neenah
Mercury Marine, Fond du Lac
Oshkosh Corporation, Oshkosh
Outpost Natural Foods Coop
Phillips-Medisize, Eau Claire
Rockwell Automation, Milwaukee
SCA Tissue, Neenah
ThedaCare, Appleton
Transwestern Sustainability Services, Milwaukee
Trek Bicycles Corporation, Waterloo
UW Health, Middleton
Waste Management of Wisconsin, Inc., Germantown
Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation, Madison
Program Director, Kevin Banas, says, “It’s really exciting to see new businesses join the program, and to see businesses that have been participating for a few years continue to make improvements. It takes vision, commitment, and work to make business-wide changes that improve overall sustainability. Seeing so many businesses in Wisconsin working towards a better future is great to see.”
The Program is comprised of a very diverse group of Wisconsin companies. They range from small businesses to multinationals. This year, the program recognizes companies from eighteen different sectors. The largest sector is Manufacturing, which 25% of participants describe being part of. It is followed by the Professional sector with 10% of participants. Other sectors include Business to Business Trade, Construction, Energy, Food-Agriculture, Health Care, Hospitality, Printing, and Paper and Packaging
Over the years, participants have made huge sustainability accomplishments, and have made the program more competitive. This year, the average score across all sectors was 431 compared to an average score of 385 last year. To put that into perspective, the average score was only 70 in 2009! This year alone, we welcomed nearly 30 new applicants, and look forward to future growth.
Each of the companies will be introduced and celebrated at the WI Sustainable Business Conference. According to Tom Eggert, Executive Director of the WI Sustainable Business Council, “One of the highlights of the conference each year is the introduction of each of the Green Masters companies. I know the privilege of being recognized in front of your peers is a big incentive for companies to continuously improve, and the competitive nature of staying at the front of the pack causes Wisconsin companies to rise above their peers from other states.”
The Green Masters Program is a free, points-based recognition and assessment program that enables Wisconsin businesses of all sizes and from all sectors to receive recognition for their sustainability initiatives. Developed by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council and Wisconsin businesses, in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the goal of the program is to not only recognize work that is being done, but to give companies a way to benchmark their efforts and compare their performance to other companies within the state. To be eligible to apply, businesses must take at least one action in each of the nine sustainability categories: energy, carbon and other emissions, water, waste management, transportation, supply chain, community and educational outreach, workforce, and governance.
For more information, or a complete list of all program participants, go to: http://www.greenmastersprogram.com. Both Kevin and Tom are available for any additional questions.
