Profitable Florida Business and Going Green

This is a short podcast that covers a little about using green friendly techniques to save money for your Florida business. Ron Johnson from the Small Business Administration (SBA) interviews Warren Brown, the owner of “Cake Love” and was the SBA’s small business person of the year in 2006 in Washington, D.C.

Highlights from the podcast:

Ron Johnson: First, can you tell us about CakeLove and what led you to want to operate an environmentally safe business?

Warren Brown: Sure. Well, CakeLove is a bakery, a retail bakery that sells cakes and cupcakes and other small treats that are all sweet. We bake from scratch, on site, which means that we’ve got a lot of equipment on site, and that means we’ve got, like, gigantic food mixers and a lot of refrigeration, lights, and things like that. And I just believe that every business owner and every citizen that’s — every person that’s walking the face of the earth, really, has got a duty to the earth to make sure that we’re trying to preserve it because it’s rapidly disappearing or just changing — it’s not really disappearing, but I guess changing right before our eyes and if we don’t act together, then the earth is going to become inhospitable for future generations.

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Going Green Can Save You Green

Learn how one environmentally conscious small business owner combines
green business practices with running a profitable company.

( Transcript)

Do you use any green techniques in your Florida business that you would like to share with other Florida small business owners here? Please do!

Small Business and Green Energy

This podcast is an interview put together for the Small Business Administration (SBA). Ron Johnson interviews Jerry Lawson, a manager at Energy Star SB&CN for the Environmental Protection Agency. In this podcast you’ll learn how you can use green energy to further your Florida business.

Highlights from the podcast:

Ron Johnson: So Jerry, let’s get started. What is EPA’s ENERGY STAR Program for small businesses?

Jerry Lawson: Well, to cut through all those words, small business energy efficiency is what we do in ENERGY STAR. More than 75 percent of Americans now recognize our bright blue and white ENERGY STAR label. It is the symbol of energy efficiency on over 50 types of consumer and business products and equipment. For example, we work with hundreds of manufacturers to voluntarily qualify virtually all types of office equipment, many types of commercial food service equipment and other products to earn the ENERGY STAR.

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Ron Johnson: How do new business owners get started and what are some of the simple steps they can take to cut energy cost?

Jerry Lawson: Well, the first place to start is our website. It is www.energystar.gov/smallbiz. Here they can learn several things. First, they can email us any specific questions they have. We have a free online guide we call “Putting Energy Into Profits.” They can use it as webpages or download it. We also have a tool called Portfolio Manager. The basis for it is for them to determine their baseline energy cost from month to month over a year and to be able to accurately measure and verify their savings. We provide free webinars on how to use this and other ways to manage energy performance.

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Putting Energy Into Profits:  Energy Star – Guide for Small
Business

This podcast has some helpful information about how small Florida businesses can begin on the road to lessening energy wastes, using “green” energy, and benefit the environment – all while putting more money in your own pockets.

( Transcript)

Do YOU use any green techniques in your Florida business that you want to share? Share them in the comments below… Thanks!