Corporations Now Reporting Sustainability

While sustainability is usually associated with nonprofit organizations and government planning, corporations have begun to take sustainability seriously and are reporting their progress to their shareholders.

These Corporate Sustainability Reports (or CSRs) are popping up on the websites of major companies like Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Coca Cola, Nike, GE, UPS and Nokia. These reports can include data on carbon disclosures, emissions, water usage and challenges in implementing sustainable growth policies.

CSRs should be transparent and authentic, as they are telling their customers and stakeholders what they are doing to help people, the planet and the economy. Data should be measured comparatively and the corporation should provide a baseline for the statistics that they provide. Sections can include balancing short and long term profitability, management of economic and environmental issues, risks and opportunities.

If you’d like to read some real reports, here is a list from Triple Pundit that ranks the top 10 sustainability reports from the past year. Does your company produce a sustainability report? Will it in the future? Hopefully at least one of these answers is yes!

Not Just Another Day at the Office

Two heads are better than one. Right?

That’s part of the idea behind the Allentown Economic Development Corporation‘s Hive 4A project. Hive 4A, as it describes itself on their Facebook page “is an entrepreneurial development initiative of the Allentown Economic Development Corporation. It includes a hackerspace and a coworking space, sharing a building with a business incubation program.”

I spent this past Tuesday working at Hive, instead of in the CACLV building in Bethlehem (where RenewLV is located). The idea of coworking spaces is fairly new to me, so I was not sure what to expect walking in the door. Hive currently occupies a temporary space in the old Mack building at 905 Harrison in Allentown. The room is set up with several long tables, where people can sit, pull out a laptop, and work for the day. A more permanent coworking space is planned to be completed in the same building by around mid-May. There were a wide range of people working on this particular day—a neighborhood revitalization consultant, a web designer, a magazine writer, an economic development advocate, and a social media intern/smart growth supporter—all sharing the coworking space.  Every now and then, one person would ask for another’s opinion or advice (“I’m working on a few logos for this project, which do you prefer?”), while the occasional conversation would yield some interesting news or resources. For example, while talking briefly about RenewLV, one person introduced me to the Indie City Index, which examines independent retail vitality in metropolitan areas—research has shown that “independent retail produces local wealth by recirculating dollars within the community,” but that’s another discussion.

Hive also includes a Hacker space, basically an “open community lab” with workshops for hobbyists and product developers.

Coworking is a very neat concept, one which seems to be catching on. Lt. Governor of California Gavin Newsom of California made headlines this week by deciding to use a shared work space in San Francisco, rather than the more-expensive state office building where the lieutenant governor usually works. In addition to saving money, Newsom cites the benefits of the “entrepreneurial energy” in the shared space.

You can read more about the coworking space at the AEDC’s blog. For now, the space is open every Tuesday, with a 5-day-a-week setup coming soon. Give it a try this month!

Education, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Nov 19 at Bridgeworks

In its landmark study on boosting Pennsylvania’s economic competitiveness (Back to Prosperity), the Brookings Institution highlighted the importance of providing educational opportunities that lay the groundwork for innovation and entrepreneurship. Creating a culture of entrepreneurship is key to helping revitalize older core communities in the Lehigh Valley and across Pennsylvania. Further, creating an economic culture in which new ideas and firms can flourish would help Pennsylvania reverse the “brain drain” that sees many younger, educated workers leave the state.

For RenewLV’s next brown-bag session, we’re pleased to be partnering with the Allentown Economic Development Corporation to hold a panel discussion on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and its importance for cultivating innovation, entrepreneurship and a vibrant regional economy. The expert panel includes:

Steve Melnick, Vice President of Entrepreneurial Development, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation
Kelly Rosario, STEM Director, Allentown School District
Troy Thrash, Executive Director and CEO, DaVinci Science Center
Todd Watkins, Director, Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity & Innovation, Lehigh University

This session will feature brief presentations from each of the panelists, followed by time for Q&A and discussion.

Please join us on Friday, November 19, from 12:00 to 1:30pm at AEDC’s Bridgeworks Enterprise Center, 905 Harrison Street in Allentown. Please note that a light lunch will be provided, thanks to support provided by the Enterprise Zone Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

I hope to see you on the 19th at Bridgeworks. If you plan to attend, please RSVP by emailing sbliss@renewlv.org or calling 484-893-1060.