Local Business take lead to move Sustainable Green Development in the NEPA Region
A chance meeting at a Charity Wine event last October between two business men from different business sectors and 1,000 miles apart looks to provide the catalyst to move Sustainable Green Development forward in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
It was a beautiful October day at Misericordia University at the igourmet.com Fork & the Cork event, when Frank Lawler read the banner “GreenNEPA” and immediately thought, “What the heck is that about”.
As Mr. Lawler started viewing the promotional material and four laptop computers set up Richard Evans came up to him with a welcome and a simple “great day for the event”, Mr. Lawler immediately started drilling Mr. Evans with questions.
In the next hour the groundwork began to create a blueprint to facilitate Sustainable Green Development resources for the NEPA region.
Mr. Lawler, president of RejuvenEssence, a high end spa with two locations located in Wilkes-Barre and Scranton who relocated back the NEPA region 13 years earlier to open the spa’s already had a passion related to the environment and incorporated his beliefs into his new Spa’s, but as he looked around the NEPA area he felt the region in general was a little behind the times and didn’t see anybody promoting the concept or principals. Mr. Evans, CEO of the Community Greenhouse Foundation located in Florida had the same feeling related to the NEPA region related to Sustainable Green opportunities and seen it as a “sleeping giant” for the resources available to communities moving toward a Sustainable future.
A lot has happened in the six months since that chance meeting, our country is an economic train wreck all around and the Federal Government has created a large sum of Funds (Recovery Act of 2009) to jump start the economy. It doesn’t matter whether you support the Recovery Act or not, the fact is it can provide an opportunity for communities to start moving toward a more sustainable future.
Mr. Lawler and Mr. Evans have tapped into each other’s resources and common vision to position some projects to incorporate sustainable green principles into their development and construction plans, establish the GreenNEPA Steward program, create working relationships with local not for profit groups who focus on similar issues and bring a seminar (Recovery Seminar) to the NEPA region that could facilitate major opportunities and movement for local leaders to move the region toward a Sustainable Green region.
In the next few months don’t be surprised if you start seeing and hearing the words GreenNEPA.com as a resource in the Northeaster Pennsylvania Region and the term “Sustainable Green initiatives” from local leaders.
One thing for sure, behind any of that news or information will be Frank and Richard, all because of a chance meeting on a beautiful October day in NEPA.
GreenNEPA created by Longbow in partnership with Community Greenhouse Foundation
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