Start a Program

Step 1. Find Partners – Developing a successful program requires getting buy-in from key people in your community. 

Consider:

• Which agencies might benefit from a green business program that results in reduced solid waste, reduced water pollution, reduced water and energy consumption, and reduced carbon emissions?
• Are there any public initiatives or mandates that require reduced pollution or resource consumption?
• Which elected officials might benefit from associating with the program and could act as champions?

Step 2. Consider Funding – Developing funding starts with creating a budget. Create a preliminary budget before meeting with the stakeholders, since the budget and funding will necessarily be part of the first stakeholder meeting. Use feedback from the meeting to refine the budget, and update potential sources of funding.

Basic green business budget components include:

• Member dues to CAGBN (waived first year, then $5,000 + (.3795 x the number of businesses in jurisdiction).
• Overhead/fiscal services: sometimes waived, but typically 7-15%
• Coordinator: Generally, a 25-50% FTE is required to coordinate a program initially.
• Fiscal agent: think strategically whether you want your fiscal agent to be a government entity, an NGO, or a utility. There are constraints and freedoms within those choices.

Step 3: Start the Process – Now that you’ve secured stakeholders and funding for the program, you’re ready to plan the process by which businesses will get certified. This is also when you complete the application to the Network!

Target business sectors. Choose the sectors, or types of business, that the program will include. Most programs start with an “office/retail” sector, since this is the most common type of business. Then decide which other types of businesses you want to address. Dry cleaners? Auto body shops? Printers? Decide which sectors the program will start with, and you can expand later.

Checklist measures. Consider which checklist measures you would like to include for each business sector. 

Compliance Inspectors. Decide which areas of environmental compliance, and for which sectors, your program will check. 

Auditors. Decide how your program will audit the checklist measures. 

Pilot group. Before kicking off the full program, pilot your process to find out what works and what doesn’t. This is a key step to ensuring that your program succeeds!

Step 4: Stay Connected while you recruit and recognize businesses.

Celebrate  the success of your businesses and utilize the resources of the network!