The California Air Resources Board held its second CoolCalifornia.org Small Business Award ceremony, honoring ATDynamics, South San Francisco and 22 other small businesses from across the state for their climate-smart actions. The program recognizes California small businesses that demonstrate leadership and made notable, voluntary achievements toward reducing their climate impact.
“These California small business owners demonstrate passion and conviction for reducing their impact on the environment,” says Mary Nichols, CARB chairman. “And they continue to think of ways to improve operations and save money while educating their peers, clients and employees about climate-smart actions.”
The 23 award winners were selected from 85 competitive applicants representing a variety of business sectors. These businesses took an array of actions to save money and improve their operations, facilities and practices while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Steps taken include installation of compact fluorescent lights, solar panels and energy-efficient computer servers; elimination of toxins and solvents; use of eco-friendly products; and adding automated thermostats and lighting fixtures.
Five businesses received the Business of the Year award for demonstrating exceptional climate change management practices and communication, 18 were acknowledged with the Climate Leader award for taking proactive steps to reduce their impact on our climate and communicating this information to their employees and customers, and nine were awarded certificates of recognition for taking steps to establish innovative, more sustainable business practices.
These businesses come from 20 California cities and represent 15 industries, including manufacturing, trucking, food service, printing, laundry, hotel, agriculture and construction. The award winners were ranked by 20 two-person teams of scorers comprised of staff from public agencies and private businesses. CARB staff and leadership further reviewed scores and conducted site visits and environmental reviews to arrive at final decisions.
