Tampa’s Leading Sustainable Businesses to be Honored at April 12 Luncheon

Earth Charter US (ECUS) Sustainable Business Coalition, in partnership with The University of Tampa’s Center for Ethics, will recognize 13 local businesses during the fifth annual Sustainable Business Awards luncheon Friday, April 12, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The event will be held on the 9th floor of the Vaughn Center on the UT campus.

Students in the UT MBA program, under the guidance of ECUS founder Jan Roberts, adjunct professor in the Sykes College of Business, and faculty and staff from the Sykes College of Business, developed the criteria for the awards and evaluated the entries. All entries were judged in the categories of people, planet and profit, referred to as the “triple bottom line.”

Companies that will be recognized include a 600-employee manufacturing company based in Clearwater that has so little waste that there is one dumpster on “will call” instead of the typical three times a week pick-ups; an internationally known company that treats its sustainability managers like “rock stars” with hybrid limousine rides to farm-to-fork restaurants for lunch; and the owners of an alternative energy company, who live in zero energy homes and drive electric vehicles that average the equivalent of 800 miles per gallon.

More than 60 Tampa Bay area businesses are prior award winners, including such leading employers as IBM, Mosaic, Xerox and the Tampa Bay Times Forum, as well as many smaller innovative growing companies. These businesses demonstrate business practices that embrace social, economic and environmental responsibility. Companies were nominated or self-nominated for consideration.

Individual tickets for the luncheon and table sponsorships can be purchased at www.earthcharterus.org. For more information, please contact Jan Roberts at jan@earthcharterus.org.