Cleveland, June 11, 2010 — The Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE) is one of five finalists for the Green Plus™ Chamber of the Year Award. The Institute for Sustainable Development and Partners for Livable Communities (PLC) examined two dozen chambers before deciding on COSE (small business partner of The Greater Cleveland Partnership) as one of the top five most sustainable chambers. Green Plus™ will announce a Chamber of the Year on June 18 which will recognize the U.S. or Canadian Chamber of Commerce that has set the most impressive example of sustainability in its community or for the continent.
Green Plus™ judged chambers on four criteria: Regional Leadership in Sustainability; Assisting Members in Improving Their Sustainability; Making the Economic Case for Sustainability to the Community; and Leading by Example. COSE is performing well in all four of those areas of operations.
COSE was recently designated as an Administrator in FirstEnergy’s Energy Efficiency Collaborative and was an active part of the Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Summit. COSE has developed an extensive array of educational, technical assistance and incentive programs to help its members become more sustainable, especially in the area of energy efficiency.
COSE is currently implementing several of their own energy efficiency initiatives and will debut the COSE Lighting Retrofit Program for their members at the end of June. They have also partnered with the Institute for Sustainable Development and Case Western Reserve University to produce a research piece on the ROI of energy efficiency for small businesses.
In addition, COSE is actively engaged in making its own business operations sustainable. COSE offices have high efficiency lighting, furniture made of recycled materials and natural cleaning supplies.
About COSE
COSE is one of Ohio’s largest small business support organization, striving to help small businesses grow and maintain their independence. Comprised of more than 17,000 member companies, COSE has a long history of fighting for the rights of all small business owners, whether it’s through group purchasing programs for health care, workers’ compensation, or energy, advocating for specific changes in legislation or regulation to benefit small business, or providing a forum and resource for small businesses to connect with and learn from each other. (www.cose.org)
# # # # #