State’s future requires triple bottom line thinking (WV Sunday Gazette-Mail, Feb. 10, 2019)

State’s future requires triple bottom line thinking (WV Sunday Gazette-Mail, Feb. 10, 2019)

Recently, I attended two different economic forecast meetings in the Kanawha Valley and would like to share some thoughts as a small business owner and environmentalist regarding the future of our state. I am sole owner of a professional services company and while the new federal tax law is helping me financially in the short term, tax law in general does not influence my business decisions when it comes to hiring and expanding. Long-term economic growth would be the driving factor, and what I’ve seen forecasted is more of the same level of thinking and keeping of the status quo.…

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Nature As A Model For Success

(from The State Journal 4/4/14) Green building and issues of sustainability appear to be at a crossroads in West Virginia.  Several factors contribute to this.  One, the state legislature adopted the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 for energy use in commercial buildings last fall.  Now, West Virginia energy standards are finally in line with the majority of the country, including our neighboring states, yet still not at the forefront of current code adoption.  (Maryland adopted the most recent energy code, ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010.) Two, the so-called “war on coal” and the collateral damage of climate change from burning fossil fuels has heightened…

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Triple Bottom Line

Whether we realize it or not, right now we’re seeing what happens when one leg of the Triple Bottom Line is broken.  We all understand a company’s “bottom line.”  Indeed, Freedom Industries must be well aware of this common business phrase.  But when we only consider the financial bottom line in decision-making (Economy), we leave the other two legs of Equity and Environment potentially damaged. Economy, Equity and Environment – the “three E’s” making up the Triple Bottom Line.  Also think of it in terms of the “three P’s”: Profit, People, Planet. We’re sold different stories regarding what our priorities…

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