A special energy efficiency workshop designed to help small business owners and organization facility managers save real building operations money will be presented in Mason, Cabell and Lincoln Counties in August and September.
The workshop, titled “Get Smart, Get Efficient,” will be offered on Thursday, August 26 at the Lowe Hotel in Point Pleasant, on Thursday, September 2 at the Lincoln County School Board Building in Hamlin, and on Tuesday, September 14 at Huntington’s Kitchen in Huntington. Each will be held from 5:30 p.m. though 7:30 p.m. Admission costs nothing, and anyone who manages buildings is invited.
“A lot of people are talking about energy efficiency, but few are talking directly to small businesses, and even fewer offer real, practical information to small enterprises who grapple daily with rising costs,” says Sarah Halstead Boland, executive director of the nonprofit WVGreenWorks.com, and a small business owner.
“I’ve never spoken to anyone who didn’t want to cut energy costs,” Halstead Boland said, “but it’s really tough for our people in West Virginia to find useful information quickly, and nearly impossible to learn how to finance energy efficiency projects.
“We’ve created a two-hour energy efficiency workshop that focuses on no-cost, low-cost, and incentivized energy efficiency practices. We’ll interact with energy assessment and management tools and resources as well as learn how it all can refresh a business’s marketing message and attract customers.”
According to Halstead Boland, sustainability is driving innovation in at least two ways: it’s forcing business owners to re-examine how they manage their resources, and it provides a timely marketing thrust.
“Owners have to know that customers and everyone don’t want to pay more for negligent and wasteful energy consumption,” she says. “This is not a cost you can just pass on. It’s important to learn what to do.”
The workshops are sponsored by Southwestern Community Action Council, and CEGAS, Marshall’s Center for Environmental, Geotechnical, and Applied Sciences, with funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
For specific information on each workshop and to register, go to www.WVGreenWorks.com or call 304.343.2880.
