Arizona Business Groups Host Green Summit
By John Guzzon
Modern Times Magazine
Aug. 3, 2011 — The Arizona Manufacturers Council, a newly formed group created by the joining of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Association of Industries, and Arizona Businesses Advancing Sustainability are hosting an Environmental and Sustainability Summit Aug. 10 to 12 at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.
The first day is dedicated to a tradeshow and the final day is dedicated to a golf tournament. The middle day, however, Aug. 11, will be chock full of speakers from industry and state and federal government environmental stewards.
The Arizona of Environmental Quality will dominate the first morning as Director Henry Darwin and the directors of air and water quality divisions as well as the director of waste services will make presentations and participate in a question and answer session. The directors are also expected to share the key issues the divisions are working on, as well as their enforcement and regulatory priorities for the coming months.
The remainder of the morning will include presentations from the Maricopa Air Quality Department, law firm Polsinelli Shughart, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Arizona Rep. Amanda Reeve, a district 6 republican appointed to legislature by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Feb. 2010, will address the summit during luncheon. The post-lunch schedule includes the president of Arizona Businesses Advancing Sustainability, a program manager for Arizona Public Service Co. and the spokesman for Tucson Water.
The mission statement for the Arizona Manufacturers Council states that the group is dedicated to providing a strong voice to the state’s manufacturing industry at the state capitol in order to create a globally competitive environment for the manufacturing sector of the economy that promotes innovation and further investments in research and development. The main policy issues for the Arizona Manufacturers Council include the environment, energy, education/workforce development, human resources, and intellectual property.
The Arizona Businesses Advancing Sustainability is a formal association of Arizona businesses committed to sustainable practices that promote strong communities, successful businesses, a healthy environment, and sound public policy. The businesses in the group meet four times a year to hold in-depth dialogues among participants to share, learn from, challenge and test the sustainability practices that are in place — or in developmental phases — in our companies. The group says the overarching goal is for Arizona businesses to step forward together and grow sustainability concepts and activities in Arizona’s diverse communities.
Some of the charter members of Arizona Businesses Advancing Sustainability are Basha’s, APS, Wal-Mart, Cox Communication, Sundt and The Business Journal.
John Guzzon is editor of Modern Times Magazine.
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