FedNor funding will help make city greener

For the past six months, Jennifer Harvey has been working on a business plan for Sustainable Sudbury, a local initiative to help make businesses and institutions more environmentally friendly and profitable.

"The goal of that program is to help organizations in Greater Sudbury set environmental targets and achieve them," Harvey said Wednesday.

"Whether it's a greenhouse gas target, whether it's a wastewater reduction target, we're going to be helping them achieve their targets and goals."

The hope is they will be able to reduce the carbon footprint of businesses and institutions in ways that benefit the environment and the organizations themselves. Harvey said it sets Sudbury up to become a centre for such efforts in the region.

"We're going to be the hub for the sustainable economy in Northern Ontario and we're going to be empowering through events, resources, supports, workshops — every type of support that we can give organizations to help them achieve their sustainability goals," she said.

Harvey was speaking at reThink Green on Wednesday, where officials gathered for the official announcement that FedNor was providing $85,500 to support three internships — at reThink Green, the Sudbury Arts Council and local software company Symboticware Inc.

"Many small businesses and community partners across our city directly benefit from FedNor contributions,” said Ward 12 Coun. Joscelyne Landry-Altmann. “These investments lead to sustainable growth in our community."

Sudbury MP Paul Lefebvre said the funding is part of the federal government's commitment to support the continued growth and prosperity of the area.

"To encourage economic growth, the Government of Canada is making strategic investments in green technology, providing more support for companies seeking to export those technologies and lead by example," Lefebvre said.

"A great example of this forward-looking environmentally conscious business approach is our host, reThink Green. By bringing together grassroots community stakeholders, businesses and government, reThink Green promotes creative collaboration and dialogue on local and global environmental issues."

He said the $85,000 is aimed at creating jobs and supporting certain sectors of the local economy, including tourism, technology and innovation, environmental sustainability and economic development and business growth.

"While on the job, these interns will gain valuable work experience, completing a variety of tasks, such as data collection, statistical analysis and, in the case of our youth intern working at reThink Green, implementing Sustainable Sudbury, a program designed to reduce the carbon impact of companies while increasing their profitability."

Rebecca Danard, reThink Green's executive director, said the funding announced Wednesday is a big boost to organizations like hers.

“We're in the process of launching a new program called Green Economy North,” Danard said. “It's a target-based sustainability program for businesses and organizations. Getting this program off the ground has really been the work of Jennifer.

"She's been developing a business plan that makes sense for Northern Ontario for this program, working on some funding applications and sponsorship packages so that we can get the support we need to start this.

"The program relies on having some capital to start the startup program, as well as memberships from businesses and organizations, who will pay us a membership to join this program."

Appropriately enough, the program will officially launch on April 22, Earth Day, Danard said.

For her part, Harvey said the new program will require a permanent manager, so there's a chance she could parlay the internship into a long-term gig.