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Cville Launches Green Business Alliance

RadioIQ

Thirty percent of Fortune 500 companies have announced plans to cut carbon emissions, and now small businesses in Virginia are getting on board.  The Community Climate Collaborative in Charlottesville announced formation of a Green Business Alliance with 16 founding members doing their part to slow global warming.

The Green Business Alliance is a diverse group with members providing everything from medical and financial services to catering, legal aid and rock band representation, but two founding members come from surprising sectors. 

Liza Borches is with Carter Myers Automotive.  “We have installed solar on four of our dealerships," she says. "We were the first dealership to be fully powered by the sun in the state.”

They recycle waste oil and filters, and expect to be selling many more electric cars.

“I think it’s 91 new EVs that are coming in the next two years,” Borches says.

Gordon Sutton is preparing for that change.  He’s president of Tiger Fuel, where demand for gasoline is flat.  “A lot of that’s being driven by the pandemic, " he says, "but especially in the Charlottesville community you see a lot of EVs, and so we’re starting to install EV chargers.”

And for good measure his firm – which uses solar panels on its properties – just bought a solar company, Alt Energy. 

Also in the mix, Indoor Biotechnologies, which makes allergy testing supplies.  CEO Martin Chapman says that company put 400 solar panels on its roof.

“I can monitor on my phone everyday to see how it’s working," he says.  "I can monitor each individual panel if you want."

What prompted the company to install those panels?

"There were some incentives from the city, but also we regard it as our social responsibility to move towards clean energy,” Chapman explains.

Collectively, the alliance employs 2,300 people and has pledged to cut climate emissions 45% by 2025.  I’m Sandy Hausman.

For more information go to:  https://theclimatecollaborative.org/gba

***Editor's Note: Tiger Fuel is a financial supporter of Radio IQ.

Sandy Hausman is Radio IQ's Charlottesville Bureau Chief