Mayor recognizes first Green City Business
Just seven weeks after attending a workshop and making a pledge to “Green” initiatives, a Fort Wayne company has achieved the City of Fort Wayne's Green City Business designation.
“It is fantastic to see Fort Wayne businesses taking steps to become 'Green'. It's not just rhetoric, our businesses understand their role in the big picture of our country and the world and they're taking steps to insure a better future for our children,” said Mayor Tom Henry.
It's only fitting that WaterFurnace International becomes the first to achieve Green City Business, after all, the company makes geothermal heating and air conditioning units that use the ground to heat and cool homes.
“We are a company committed to the environment, not only with our products we manufacture, but also in how we conduct business around the globe,” said Tony Cooper, president of WaterFurnace's Global Sales Division.
WaterFurnace achieved Green City Business status with a number of initiatives including: installing low flow aerators on sink faucets, installing energy efficient light bulbs, implementing a company wide paper recycling program, cleaning storm drains to allow for optimal runoff, landscaping with native plants to soak up more stormwater, and recruiting another business to go through the process.
WaterFurnace attended a training session sponsored by the City's Environmental and Energy Department early last month. The program helps businesses save money on energy costs and adopt more environmentally friendly business practices. It targets pollution prevention, solid waste reduction, and energy and water conservation.
“We were thrilled with the turnout at our first workshop. We had 33 companies represented and many of them brought several staff members. There's a lot of interest and so we'll be conducting another session early this summer,” said Wendy Barrott, Director, City of Fort Wayne Environmental and Energy Department.
“We really liked the mentoring aspect of the program. The City paired us up with another company that led us to the changes we made. We are committed to mentoring a company ourselves in the near future,” said Joe Bon, Quality Engineer for WaterFurnace.
WaterFurnace is located on Conservation Way, in south Fort Wayne and employs 226. The company designs and builds geothermal units for the heating and air conditioning of both residential and commercial buildings.
Any company interested in attending a Green City Business training session this summer should contact Wendy Barrott at 427-1381.
