Conference Will Examine Business and Environment

PULLMAN, Wash. — The ninth annual Environmental Forum for Business Conference & Trade Show
will be held Oct. 20-22 at the Spokane Convention Center. The conference has come to attract the nation’s
leading thinkers on the profitable partnership between environmental and economic forces.
Washington State University is an active participant and sponsor of this year’s forum. Involved this
year are WSU Spokane, WSU’s Program in Environmental Science and Regional Planning, WSU College of
Business and Economics’ Sustainable Development Program and Institute, and the WSU Energy Extension
Program. Also closely involved is the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.
Up to 1,000 businesses are expected for this year’s forum, which is divided into seven conference
“tracks.” These include Alternative Energy for the Next Century; River CPR; Fostering Sustainability;
Sustainable Design and Construction; Socially and Environmentally Responsible Investing; Higher
Education Challenge: Partnerships for Innovation; and the largest track, a 12-part Environmental Business
Forum.
William Budd, chair of the WSU Program in Environmental Science and Regional Planning, is a
featured speaker in the Higher Education Challenge track that addresses the need of colleges and
universities, in partnership with the private sector, to prepare a new generation of environmentally active
business leaders.
Budd speaks of a near future where universities and business interests, especially entrepreneurial, will
form dynamic partnerships to foster a healthy, sustainable future. Budd will detail the successful example
of Trillium Corporation and WSU working together to form the new Sustainable Development Program at
the university.
One of the main speakers for this year’s forum is William McDonough, an internationally recognized
architect and industrial process designer for clients such as Nike, The Gap, Herman Miller, Inc., and
Interface, Inc.
Ray Anderson, founder and CEO of Interface, Inc. and co-chair of the President’s Council on
Sustainable Development, will also appear. Known as an “environmental evangelist” and corporate
visionary, he will “testify” that industry and business will profit by leading the way toward sustainability.
In the first year of his efforts at Interface to create zero waste and zero oil consumption, the company
saved $25 million and profits rose 30 percent.
Other speakers of note include: David Crockett, president, Chattanooga Institute for Sustainable
Communities and Companies; Ian McHarg, “Father of Ecological Planning”; and Hazel Wolf, Seattle’s most
dynamic centenarian, who has helped start more than 20 chapters of the National Audubon Society.
To attend the conference, call Travel Management toll-free at 1-888/771-8717. For a full conference
schedule and detailed information, visit their Web site at www.environmentalforum.org.
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