Business
Leadership for a Sustainable Future
As a business owner or manager, you no doubt rely on
common
sense for your success. You treat your customers and employees well,
offer high-quality products and services, and keep costs in line. But
there's another level of business sense that, although not yet the
norm, becomes more important every day.
UnCommon Sense
will help you design more efficient operations that reduce waste and
pollutants, decrease water and energy
consumption, and expand purchases of local and nontoxic products. We
will introduce you to concepts of social cohesion for the workplace and
explore how your business may enhance community progress. You will
receive ongoing guidance in all these areas as you
initiate, manage and track
the changes within your company. Each business that completes the
program will be profiled in a sustainability report to be published
yearly by YBP. This report will quantify how our collective business
efforts are improving the region’s economy, communities and
environment.
THE
PROGRAM
UnCommon Sense
is a two-year
leadership program that is helping businesses become more sustainable
in all aspects of their operations. Responsible businesses in our
region are recognizing that a healthy environment and strong
communities are vital to their longterm prosperity. By adopting
sustainable practices, each business can help preserve the
region’s social and natural assets, strengthen the local
economy,
and enhance the growth potential of its own business in the process.
The program encourages its participants to incorporate
environmentally-sound and community-friendly practices that make
long-term business sense for a variety of enterprises within the
Greater Yellowstone area.
YOUR LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT
UnCommon Sense is much more than a manager or employee training program
in sustainability. Each business is expected to apply what they have
learned back at the workplace and to measure and report their
accomplishments over a two-year period. Many businesses become leaders
within their industry sector and have impact well beyond their own
establishment. To “graduate” from UnCommon Sense,
participants prepare a written summary of their improvements and
operational results, and make a multi-media presentation to YBP and
their peers.
To be successful, businesses need to identify two individuals who can
attend workshops, sit in on conference calls, and implement action
plans between workshops. This will ensure that vacations, work
pressures and unexpected events will not preclude full participation in
the program. Most businesses find that their representatives need an
internal working group back at the business to carry out the action
steps and make long-term operational changes.
TO APPLY:
Please describe your interest in
sustainability by
completing the application form and answering three
questions ( Apply
online here).
Submit your completed registration application to the YBP office no
later than March 1, 2008. A team member will be available to
consult
with your business should you have more questions about the program.
The number of businesses accepted for this third class of UnCommon
Sense may be limited to ensure a quality experience for all
participants. The first workshop is set for April 24-26, 2008 in West
Yellowstone, MT.
PROGRAM FEES AND LOGISTICS:
$1,200 OVER TWO YEARS (payable in two annual installments), plus
workshop costs (travel, lodging and meals). Interested
businesses should become YBP members before they apply for UnCommon
Sense. Fees cover all instruction and materials for seven modules
taught over the course of four workshops plus graduation recognitions
at the fifth session. Workshop meals are covered for two persons per
business (delete this sentence). Monthly conference calls and ongoing
support from YBP staff and learning team advisors also are included.
Please budget adequate funds for travel, lodging and meals so
representatives can attend workshops that will rotate around the
Greater Yellowstone region. Allocate sufficient staff time to allow for
completion of pre-assignments such as facility audits, waste
inventories and employee surveys. UnCommon Sense has been a
transformational experience for the first three classes of
participating businesses, and their success is a reflection of the time
and resources committed to the program.
THE PROGRAM FORMAT:
UnCommon Sense integrates education and peer-support by requiring
businesses to attend five group workshops over a two-year period and
participate in monthly teleconferences. Each training module explains
how to conduct self audits, make operational improvements and measure
and communicate results. In addition, participants are assigned to a
“learning team” led by an experienced advisor who
serves as a resource and coach.
Module 1 (Workshop 1): Leading the Way
In Leading the Way, businesses gain knowledge about initiating and
managing organizational change: they learn how to organize a
sustainability working group, identify internal champions, create a
sustainability mission statement, and communicate that mission with
employees and clientele.
Module 2 (Workshop 1):
Waste-Stream Management
Module 2 looks at effectively reducing waste, segregating the waste
stream, and cost-effectively transferring waste to its next
destination. Businesses learn how to identify local and
regional waste management resources, and how to audit and measure their
waste stream. They create a system for reduction, reuse and
recycling and communicate their waste management policies with their
employees.
Module 3 (Workshop 2):
Responsible Purchasing
Responsible purchasing means to consider what is in the products that
are used to operate each business and from where those products
come. Businesses learn how to create a purchasing tracking
matrix to track information on purchasing habits. They create
a purchasing policy and communicate with vendors the implications of
their new policy. They also identify products to analyze for
preferred alternatives.
Module 4 (Workshop 2):
Social & Community Investment
Module 4 helps businesses build strong social structures to strengthen
their businesses AND enhance the social fabric of their
communities. Businesses learn how to define social
sustainability both inside and outside their organizational walls, and
develop a work plan for social sustainability.
Module 5 (Workshop 3):
Resource Management—Energy Efficiencies
In the Energy Efficiencies module, businesses learn how to complete
baseline energy audits and create a system for tracking their
usage. They plan for and implement facility improvements, and
track the results over the course of the program.
Module 6 (Workshop 3):
Resource Management—Water Efficiencies
Water use is an important, and sometimes overlooked, component of
sustainability. In Module 6, businesses learn how to complete
a baseline for water usage and track utility data, and how to identify
areas with the greatest potential for improvements.
Module 7 (Workshop 4):
Transportation Efficiencies
The Transportation Efficiencies module looks at how people
and goods are moved across the region, and how customers access each
business. Businesses perform a baseline audit to identify
transportation needs, and they learn about CAFÉ standards
and local alternative fuels and transportation options.
Module 8 (Workshop 4):
The Business Response to Climate Change
The Business Response to Climate Change is the
“Closing the Loop” module. Businesses
learn about Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Carbon Offset programs, species
extinction, and other environmental issues not yet addressed.
From that point they decide, “What next?”
Program Review and
Graduation (Workshop 5)
Learning Teams report on their individual and collective
progress; participants receive certificate of program completion.