Surveying The Green Valley – Does It Extend Beyond The Green Energy Sector?

I have been considering the degree of progress already made toward developing The Green Valley as a magnet sector in Vermont’s economy. Official statements on The Green Valley from State officials focus on green energy companies. The growing green energy sector in Vermont already includes a variety of energy producers, manufacturers of products for the energy industry, and service providers for the energy industry (see my February 2, 2008 posting on Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie’s “Green Valley” speech).   It seems to me that the Green Valley concept should include not only the energy sector but the entire green business sector, including green businesses in consumer products and specialty foods, and any other company producing a “green” product or service in Vermont.  Or, is the green energy sector so specific and unique that it is not appropriate to commingle green energy companies with other types of green businesses into a unified green business sector? I posed this question to Dotty Schnure, Manager of Corporate Communications at Green Mountain Power, http://blog.choose2bgreen.com/. Dotty agrees that it makes sense to think of The Green Valley as broader than the green energy sector. She points out that Green Mountain Power is focusing on more than producing environmentally friendly energy. They also are working on environmentally-friendly measures in the company’s supply chain, employee commuting patterns (financial incentive for employees to purchase a hybrid), energy consumption, transportation systems, corporate food service, solid waste management, and operational practices, among others. Green Mountain Power is pursuing an integrated effort to adopt green measures in all aspects of the company, not only the power they produce and sell. In this respect, Green Mountain Power is the same as every other “green” company in Vermont, and it is appropriate to consider Green Mountain Power in the same green business sector along with environmentally-friendly consumer goods and specialty food companies in Vermont. This perspective makes sense to me. It appears that other green energy companies in Vermont also are focusing on more than their green energy product. NRG is a good example, www.nrgsystems.com. NRG manufactures measurement instruments for the wind energy industry. NRG also built its own office green building, adopted green measures in its operations, and actively encourages employees to reduce their personal carbon footprint (see NRG’s Core Values statement on its web site). Developing a diversified green business sector creates a synergy across industries that can help all of the green companies in Vermont, now and in the future, to benefit from a “green” cache that is rapidly becoming a feature associated with the “Vermont” brand.